Lexington Books
Pages: 302
•
Trim: 66⅜ x 9
978-1-7936-0051-6 • Hardback • July 2019 • $117.00 • (£90.00)
978-1-7936-0052-3 • eBook • July 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)
Alexander J. D. Irving is visiting lecturer at the London School of Theology and serving a curacy at St Stephen’s Church in Norwich.
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One: The Synthesis of Discursive Reason and Experience
Chapter One: Reality
Chapter Two: Objectivity
Chapter Three: Logic
Part Two: Natural Theology
Chapter Four: The Rejection of Autonomous Natural Theology
Chapter Five: The Reconstruction of Natural Theology
Chapter Six: Natural Theology and Theological Science
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
This probing and wide-ranging study engages sympathetically with my father’s account of theological knowledge in the 1970s and 1980s and successfully brings it into dialogue with contemporary forms of theological method. At the heart of it is a deft reconstruction of my father’s conviction that the incarnation of the Word gave determinative shape to subsequent theology, holding rational structure and material content in interplay. It is an excellent contribution to constructive theology.
— Iain R. Torrance, president emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary
An outstanding analysis of T. F. Torrance's distinctive approach to natural theology, which positions it within his overall vision of Christian dogmatics. Dr. Irving has made a major contribution to our understanding of Torrance's theological relevance for both the academy and the church.
— Alister E. McGrath, professor of historical theology, Oxford University
This work represents a profound contribution to the burgeoning field of studies into the theology of T. F. Torrance, and advances conversation on two fronts. First, Irving locates Torrance’s renowned revisioning of natural theology within its specific intellectual context, namely Torrance’s critically realist synthesis of discursivity and experience, and thereby demonstrates the creativity and import of this revisioning. And second, Irving consequently sheds light on some of its most important yet most complex aspects, including Torrance’s relational analogy between revealed theology—natural theology and physics—practical geometry; his creative adoption of the terms ‘natural theology’ and ‘theological science’; and his core conception of the relation between divine revelation and human knowledge. Both seasoned and fresh readers of Torrance will find much to ponder in this insightful volume.
— Paul T. Nimmo, King’s Chair of systematic theology, University of Aberdeen
Alexander’s work intervenes in a growing discussion surrounding Torrance’s articulation of a reformulated natural theology. He argues that Torrance’s reformulated natural theology functions as a formal theological calculus for material theological claims. Those who would follow Torrance in articulating a truly scientific theology will benefit from Alexander’s careful study.
— W. Travis McMaken, associate professor of religion, assistant dean of humanities, Lindenwood University