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Participatio Journal of the T. F. Torrance Theological Fellowship Supplemental Volume 4: “Torrance and the Wesleyan Tradition” (2018) PHOTOGRAPH: Thomas Torrance (1871-1959), T. F. Torrance’s father, before going to China, with friends “at Missionary College.” For discussion see p. 4. Photograph courtesy Torrance family; original now in The Thomas F. Torrance Manuscript Collection, Special Collections, Princeton Theological Seminary Library. Participatio: The Journal of the Thomas F. Torrance Theological Fellowship Participatio is an annual, peer-reviewed, open access journal of the Thomas F. Torrance Theological Fellowship (tftorrance.org), a research fellowship within the Christian Church and tradition based on the theology of Thomas F. Torrance. The journal’s mission is two-fold: to apprehend the significance of Torrance’s work and to advance his evangelical and scientific theology for the benefit of the Church, academy, and society. Researchers interested in engaging the theology of T. F. Torrance may submit manuscripts in accordance with the policies specified below. Contributions from diverse disciplines and perspectives will be encouraged to explore the wide-ranging significance of Torrance’s legacy. Occasional miscellaneous issues will include paper presentations and responses from the annual conference, book reviews, etc. For more information see participatio.org. ISSN: 1932-9571 POLICIES FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION: 1. Electronic submission of articles (using a Microsoft Word attachment) should be sent to the Editor (email at top of next page). Please do not submit a manuscript previously published or being considered for publication by another journal. 2. Please use the website template to conform to the following settings: A. Use Verdana 11 font (or 10 for indented quotations and footnotes), 1.5 spacing (including between paragraphs), and American spelling and placement of punctuation. B. Include a title page with: i. title of the article; ii. your name and highest degree; iii. your institutional affiliation and position; iv. your electronic mail address. C. Include headers with your name and an abbreviated title, and centered page numbers as footers. D. Include an abstract of 100-200 words and a total approximate range of 5,000-10,000 words. E. Use footnotes rather than endnotes. 3. All submitted manuscripts will be acknowledged promptly and processed as quickly as possible. Participatio is distributed by the T. F. Torrance Theological Fellowship under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Supplemental Volume 4: “Torrance and the Wesley Tradition” (2018) All manuscripts received: July 31, 2018. Published online: October 5, 2019. Editor: Todd Speidell ([email protected]) Associate Editors: Myk Habets, Alexis Torrance, Bob Walker Asst. Editors and Copy Editors: Steve Chaffee, Jonathan Kleis Asst. Editor / Technology Director: Travis Stevick Asst. Editors: Elizabeth Backfish, Kate Tyler, Dick Eugenio, Jeannine Michele Graham, Paul Owen, Alexandra Radcliff, Jason Radcliff, Andrew Torrance Production Editor: Kerry V. Magruder ([email protected]) Webmasters: Kerry V. Magruder ([email protected]), Brent Purkaple ([email protected]), Gary Deddo ([email protected]) Advisory Board: Jeremy Begbie (Duke Divinity School, NC), Doug Campbell (Duke Divinity School, NC), Elmer Colyer (University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, IA), Ivor Davidson (University of Aberdeen, Scotland), Gary Deddo (Grace Communion International, Charlotte, NC), George Dragas (Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, MA), David Fergusson (New College, Edinburgh, Scotland), Eric Flett (Eastern University, PA), Michael Gibson (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN), Myk Habets (Laidlaw College, New Zealand), Trevor Hart (University of St. Andrews, Scotland), George Hunsinger (Princeton Theological Seminary, NJ), Chris Kettler (Friends University, KS), John McGuckin (Columbia University, NY), Paul Molnar (St. John’s University, NY), Thomas Noble (Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO and Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, England), Andrew Purves (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, PA), Murray Rae (University of Otago, New Zealand), Joel Scandrett (Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA), Victor Shepherd (Tyndale University College & Seminary, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Chris Tilling (King’s College London), Alan Torrance (University of St. Andrews, Scotland), Robert Walker (University of Edinburgh, Scotland). EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President: ThomasNoble ([email protected]) Co–Vice Presidents: Gary Deddo and Paul Molnar Treasurer: Chris Kettler Member at Large: Jerome Van Kuiken Ex officio Members: Elmer Colyer and Todd Speidell (Participatio Editor) ii Contents of Supplemental Volume 4 “Torrance and the Wesleyan Tradition” INTRODUCTION Wesley and Torrance: An Introductory Survey of Comparisons and Contrasts — Thomas A. Noble ...................... 1 ARTICLES All of Him for All of Us: Christ’s Person and Offices in John Wesley and T. F. Torrance — E. Jerome Van Kuiken ........................... 11 Grace and Election in the Theology of John Wesley and T. F. Torrance — Thomas A. Noble ........................................ 39 Overcoming the “Hair’s Breadth” between Methodism and Calvinism — Travis M. Stevick ............................................. 63 John Wesley and T. F. Torrance on Pneumatology, Theosis, and a Breath of Life for Dying Denominations — Jacquelynn Price-Linnartz .............................................. 83 A Catholic Spirit: John Wesley and T. F. Torrance in Ecumenical Perspective — Joel Scandrett ............................................. 112 REVIEWS AND RESPONSES Greg Cootsona, Mere Science and Christian Faith: Bridging the Divide with Emerging Adults — Rodney D. Holder ................. 144 Response to Alexander J. D. Irving: Natural Theology: An Impossible Possibility? — Paul D. Molnar ............................. 148 Travis M. Stevick, Encountering Reality: T. F. Torrance on Truth and Human Understanding — George Hunsinger ........................ 184 WESLEY AND TORRANCE: An Introductory Survey of Comparisons and Contrasts Thomas A. Noble, PhD Senior Research Fellow at Nazarene Theological College, Manchester Professor of Theology, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City [email protected] John Wesley (1703-1791) is one of the major figures of Christian history. Today the World Methodist Council includes denominations claiming over forty million members, while some estimates of members and adherents rise to seventy million and more. But while Wesley has been recognized as the originator of a major Christian tradition, as a great evangelist, and as a key figure in the eighteenth- century revival of evangelical Christianity, it is only comparatively recently that he has been regarded as a significant theologian. George Croft Cell was one of the first to do so,1 but it was really only with Colin Williams’ work that an attempt was made to lay out his thinking as a kind of systematic theology.2 It was the Methodist patristics scholar, Albert Outler, who had the leading role in the rise of Wesley Studies,3 proposing that Wesley should be regarded as a “folk theologian.” That description was perhaps appropriate in a day when Tillich was dominant in America, and theology was almost regarded as a subdivision of philosophy. Today, when theology is primarily related to the Church rather than the academy, it is more 1 George Croft Cell, The Rediscovery of John Wesley (New York: Henry Holt), 1935. 2 Colin Williams, John Wesley’s Theology Today (London: Epworth Press, 1960). 3 Albert Outler, “Towards a Reappraisal of John Wesley as a Theologian,” The Perkins School of Theology Journal, 14 (1961), 5-14, reprinted in The Wesleyan Theological Heritage: Essays of Albert Outler, ed. Thomas C. Oden and Leicester R. Longden (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991); see also the Introduction, in John Wesley, ed. Albert C. Outler (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 1-33. Outler also initiated the new scholarly edition of The Works of John Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon, 1984- ), and edited the first four volumes, Wesley’s Sermons. PARTICIPATIO appropriate to describe Wesley as a pastoral or practical theologian, though not a dogmatician. He was, however, a systematic thinker, and major works by Randy Maddox, Kenneth Collins and others, have examined comprehensively his writings on every major Christian doctrine.4 Thomas Oden brought together a compendium of his doctrines.5 While Wesley was not formally a systematic theologian, it is also true to say that that term is rarely applied to T. F. Torrance. He never occupied a chair of “Systematic Theology”, but rather held the chair of Christian Dogmatics at New College, Edinburgh. As an explicitly confessional study, Christian Dogmatics, centring on the great central dogma of the Nicene Creed, is clearly closely related to pastoral theology. Wesley’s pastoral or practical theology specialized in plain English for ‘plain men’, and his calling was to evangelize the ‘common people’ of his day. Torrance was an academic, and yet he always saw his teaching as fulfilling a call to mission and evangelism. Comparing Contexts The political and social context within which Torrance worked was so different from that of Wesley that it appears to be a different world. Wesley preached, wrote, and rode through the villages and small towns in the peaceful stable, structured, rural society of eighteenth-century England. Foreign wars were fought by professional