Reality and Evangelical Theology by T. F. Torrance (review)

808 llOOK REVIEWS application to the justification of particular Christian claims requires some painstaking work. Abraham's discussion moves in this direction, but at crucial points his arguments thin out and leave us with assertions that are troublesomely ad hoc. Abraham points in the direction of a response to Harvey which would argue that in assessing certain Christian claims (e.g., about the resurrection) the theologian can legitimately appeal to considerations not available to the secular historian, considerations rooted in the wider vision of history which characterizes Christianity and for which (presumably) a complex, cumulative case can be made. But lacking an account of this wider case, and given only arguments which draw too tight a circle of justification, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Abraham's proposed defense of these claims begs the question. There are aspects of Abraham's argument that I have not discussed here, e.g., his comments on natural science in the last chapter. But enough has been said to illustrate both the importance and the difficulty of Abraham 's project. Whether or not his arguments are entirely successful, he makes it clear that the limits often placed upon what is thinkable in contemporary theology are not obvious conceptual or methodological necessities . Without denying the profound impact of modern critical scholarship , Abraham suggests some ways in which classical Christian ideas can be thought under these new conditions. One of the virtues of this project is its tenaciousness in laying bare the grounds for decisions to retain, revise , or reject these classical claims. Bates College Lewiston, Maine THOMAS F. TRACY Reality and Evangelical Theology. By T. F. TORRANOE. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1982. Pp. 168. $8.95 {paper back). The contents of this book formed the 1981 Payton lectures at Fuller Theological Seminary. Ostensibly this seems to have dictated the second half of the title. It may also have prompted the publishers to offer this book as a major effort to transcend the fundamentalist-liberal dichotomy. In reality what we have is a summary of Torrance's solution to the ills of modern theology, together with the implications of that solution for our understanding of scripture, divine revelation, and truth. The central thesis is relatively clear, for Torrance returns to it again and again. Christian theology must get its house in order by allowing the object of theological discourse to control the content of its thought. This is the point of the reference to realism in the title, and for the most BOOK REVIEWS 307 part we are on familiar Barthian territory mapped out in Torrance's inimitable style. At the outset we are told that theology must be bounded by the actual way in which God has chosen to relate himself to us in the world. Torrance knows for sure what God has chosen and how this is to be understood. For him everything hinges on a real incarnation of the eternal Son of God and a real indwelling of God's Spirit in the hearts of human beings. Without these we simply cannot know God. Moreover, it is within the created order that God makes himself known to us and in which we human beings may express knowledge of God. We cannot speak of God except within the world in which God has placed us. For Torrance this is a pivotal issue. It means that human beings are priests of creation, appointed by God to bring to expression the inherent intelligibility of the universe. Indeed through human beings the universe is destined to know itself and to express its intrinsic rationality. We are nature's midwife, enabling it to give birth to structured realities outside of itself. Secondly, because we know God within the universe, then there is a necessary relation between theological concepts and physical concepts, between theology and natural science. For example, just as science must operate under the compelling claims of its object, the created universe, so theology must operate under the compelling claims of its object, God the Creator. Each science operates in accordance with the nature of the realities it is investigating. If we do not adhere to this proposal, the alternative is really subjectivism in both...