Thursday, May 5, 2011

Torrance and Theosis

"Since in Jesus Christ there became incarnate the very Son of God whose life and being are eternally grounded in the mutual relation between the Father and the Son, in the communion of love which God himself is in his Being as God, then the mediation of divine reconciliation to mankind in and through Christ means much more than the reconstituting of holy relations between man and God, though it certainly means that. Mediation of reconciliation which takes place within the Person of the Mediator himself means that men and women are savingly reconciled to God by being taken up in and through Christ to share in the inner relations of God's own life and love. It means that the eternal communion of love in God overflows through Jesus Christ into our union with Christ and gathers us up to dwell with God and in God. This is another way of saying that the Incarnation, and the reconciliation that took place within it, fall within the life of God. That is what is implied in the Pauline teaching that Christ, in whom the complete Being of God dwells, dwells in us, so that through a relation of mutual indwelling between Christ and us, we are enfolded within the infinite dimensions of the love of God. The Greek Fathers used to speak of that experience as 'theopoiesis' or 'theosis' which does not mean 'divinisation'. as it is so often supposed, but refers to the utterly staggering act of God in which he gives himself to us and adopts us into the communion of his divine life and love through Jesus Christ and in his one Spirit, yet in such a way that we are not made divine but are preserved in our humanity. That is what constitutes the sustaining inner cohesion of our cognitive union with Christ through faith and the very substance of our personal and corporate union with Christ through the Word and Sacraments, for in Christ our human relations with God, far from being allowed to remain on a merely external basis, are embraced within the Trinitarian relations of God's own Being as Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

- T.F. Torrance, The Mediation of Christ, 74-75, emphasis added.

My issues with this small excerpt are so numerous that I don't quite know where to begin. Therefore, I will outline them:

1. Setting aside Torrance's controversial reading of the Fathers and his reinterpretation of the word theosis, I am unconvinced that the adoption of which Torrance speaks preserves our humanity when this process includes "being taken up in and through Christ to share in the inner relations of God's own life and love. It means that the eternal communion of love in God overflows through Jesus Christ into our union with Christ and gathers us up to dwell with God and in God." How can the human creature share in the inner life of God Himself without becoming divine? How does this not collapse the very Creator/creature distinction which Torrance seems committed to maintain?

2. When the human creature is "being taken up in and through Christ", are we talking about Christ's humanity or divinity? Does it not make a difference?

3. I am often hesitant to read or speak about the subjective reality of revelation that occurs within the individual and made possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. This is mostly due to the fact that I have no idea what individuals mean, Torrance included, when they make statements such as the individual undergoes a "relation of mutual indwelling between Christ and us, we are enfolded within the infinite dimensions of the love of God." What necessary consequences flow from this objective and subjective reality made possible within the individual through salvation? Do I simply cognitively assent that this is truth, do I have an experience that this has actually occurred (such as Christoph Blumhardt's charismatic experiences that radically influenced Barth - the breaking in of the Kingdom of God here and now), or does it simply mean that I slowly and continually seek first the Kingdom of God through self-sacrifice? I continually wonder how the reality of these statements concerning the doctrine of adoption fleshes itself out within the life of the individual.

That seems like enough for now!

7 comments:

Jordan H said...

Perhaps some of your reservations could be circumvented if you looked at "the inner relations of Gods own life and love" as pointing more in the direction of God's being-in-relation, rather than some static substance metaphysic. I'm not saying that that is what Torrance is necessarily implying... but under this framework, theosis becomes less about a divinized humanity and more about our participation in the inner-Trinitarian relations.

Kait Dugan said...

Jordan: Thanks for your insight. But I'm not sure if actualism solves the problem. I'd have to think about that more. While I think it is problematic to maintain a "static substance metaphysic" as you mention, I'm not sure that the answer is to abandon all metaphysical talk in exchange for the notion that God's being is in His acts.

Bobby Grow said...

You should check out my friend's book Theosis In The Theology of Thomas Torrance [Ashgate], by Myk Habets.

Kait Dugan said...

Hi Bobby - Thanks for the rec. I actually checked that book out of the library and would love to read it. Hopefully I will have time!

Bobby Grow said...

Hi Kait,

I just recently wrote a review for Myk's book for the Pacific Journal of Baptist Research; if you're interested I could email that to you (it hasn't yet been published). It's just a basic over-view of the book review, nothing too critical. Yes, time and books are always an issue. :-)

Myk Habets said...

Hey Kait - yeah read my book as I would love to hear your reactions and see if I have helped articulate what TFT may or may not be saying. Also - have you had a chance to finish reading the Trinitarian Theology After Barth book yet? If so - what did you think? Blessings,

Kait Dugan said...

Dr. Habets - Please forgive my very tardy reply. I have been busier than usual in the past week. I have been trying to make my way through your book and the article in Trinitarian Theology but I am still working on it. I would like to finish reading before I offer any opinions. Would it be okay if I e-mailed you once I finished them? It might be toward the end of the summer as all my free time has been taken up with my current class. Let me know. Thanks for reading and commenting!

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