Abstract
This is a reprint of Torrance’s 1976 publication and includes a new and helpful introduction by Paul D. Molnar. The work presents an insightful theological account of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, arguing that these doctrines belong essentially to Christ’s person and work and should be understood within the exclusive framework provided by holy scripture.
Torrance grounds his argument in a theological method which he describes and defends in the original introduction. Observing how modern scholars tend to utilize interpretive methods that deny any objective knowledge of God’s self-revelation, Torrance advocates what he calls a scientific approach to scripture that unabashedly asserts God’s self-revelation and its human intelligibility. According to Torrance, God’s self-revelation to the covenant communities of ancient Israel and the Apostolic church generates the witness of scripture and provides the framework within which it is properly to be understood. The language used by these communities to capture God’s self-witness points beyond itself to the God’s objective reality. Thus, the theologian’s task is to penetrate the language of scripture through careful study, allowing its organizing principle (i.e. God’s self-revelation) to control and inform one’s theological reflections (pp. 7–8). In practice, Torrance’s method amounts to something like a grammatical and syntactical analysis of scripture’s words and themes, which in the present book is applied to the study of the resurrection and ascension.
The first chapter examines the concept of resurrection throughout scripture, first by observing the ways in which Old Testament themes point towards the New Testament conception of resurrection and then by discerning the ways in which the New Testament expands or reinterprets some of these older concepts in light of the resurrection event. Following this, Torrance describes the resurrection as an essential component of Christ’s person and work, drawing attention to both its the personal and cosmic implications. Christ’s resurrection is the ‘living atonement’ in which God overcomes sin, guilt, and death, and establishes humanity’s union with God’s self (p. 55). Yet, it is also a cosmic event within history that issues a new creation ‘beyond the corruptible processes of this world’ (p. 86).
The second half of the book turns to the doctrine of the ascension and follows a similar pattern of analysis. According to Torrance, the ascension is the corollary of the resurrection; it is Christ’s exaltation from humility to power and glory whereby Christ presents himself alongside ‘his many brethren’ amidst the new creation and in the eternal presence of the Father (p. 111). What is more, the doctrine of the ascension has important implications for one’s understanding of space and time: ‘In the incarnation we have the meeting of man and God in man’s place, but in the ascension we have the meeting of man and God in God’s place, but through the Spirit these are not separated from one another. . .’ (p. 129).
Overall, Torrance’s work remains thought-provoking. For those who embrace his theological method, Torrance’s analysis and depth of insight into the nature and meaning of the resurrection and the ascension continues to be both refreshing and insightful. Those who prefer more critical methods may find Torrance’s analysis less impressive and perhaps overconfident. In the end, however, anyone seeking a theological engagement with the doctrines of these doctrines that is both erudite and scripturally informed would be hard-pressed to find a better study.