This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G. Phd, Mphil, Dclinpsychol) at the University of Edinburgh

This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. T.F. Torrance and the Consensus Patrum: A Reformed, Evangelical, and Ecumenical Reconstruction of the Church Fathers By Jason Robert Radcliff Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh School of Divinity 2013 I, Jason Radcliff, hereby declare that this thesis has been written by me, that this thesis is work carried out by me, and that no part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed: Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. i Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ iv Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1 0.1 Introduction 0.2 Scope of the thesis 0.3 Outline of the thesis 0.4 Conclusion 1. The Consensus Patrum: An historical overview ............................................................... 9 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The Consensus Patrum in Roman Catholicism 1.3 The Consensus Patrum in Eastern Orthodoxy 1.4 The Consensus Patrum in early Protestantism 1.5 The Liberal and Biblicist approaches of 19th and 20th century Protestantism 1.6 Protestant Evangelical Theologies of Retrieval 1.7 Three outcomes of evangelical Theologies of Retrieval 1.8 Conclusion 2. T.F. Torrance’s Consensus Patrum: Catholic themes .................................................. 89 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Torrance’s patristic dogmatics 2.3 Torrance’s use of the Fathers in Trinitarian Faith 2.4 Catholic themes 2.5 Conclusion 3. T.F. Torrance’s Consensus Patrum: Catholic figures and streams .................. 172 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The Evangelical Stream 3.3 The Augustinian Stream 3.4 The Nicene Stream 3.5 The Athanasius‐Cyril Axis of classical theology 3.6 Epiphanius of Salamis, Didymus the Blind, Gregory Nazianzen, and Hilary of Poitiers 3.7 The Cappadocan distinction 3.8 The Byzantine trajectory 3.9 Conclusion 4. The ecumenical relevance of T.F. Torrance’s Consensus Patrum ..................... 239 4.1. Introduction 4.2 The ecclesiastical and ecumenical fruits of Torrance’s retrieval 4.3 Torrance’s ecumenicity 4.4 Torrance’s ecumenical use of catholic themes and figures 4.5 Conclusion Conclusion: An assessment and proposed adoption of Torrance ......................... 272 5.1. Introduction 5.2 A critical appreciation 5.3 A critical adoption 5.4 What is the way forward? Towards an “evangelical patristic theology” 5.5 Conclusion Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 298 Appendix: Patristic sources cited in Trinitarian Faith ................................................ 317 i Acknowledgements I am profoundly thankful for the support and encouragement from many throughout the process of completing this thesis. I am exceedingly grateful to my supervisor, Professor David Fergusson. His selfless devotion to his students is an inspiration and his gentle, pious, and careful guidance has been indispensable. I would also like to thank my many ecclesiastical and academic teachers throughout the years, from whom I have learned so much which has fed into this thesis, particularly, Rev. Jason Rea, Rev. Dr. Rich Grassel, Dr. Jonathan Watt, Dr. Frank James III, Prof. Peter Anders, and Fr. George Dion. Dragas. Fr. George’s evangelical reading of the Fathers, especially Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria, combined with his many stories about his beloved teacher, “Professor Tom”, inspired me to come to New College to write a PhD thesis on Torrance and the Fathers. I would also like to thank the monks at St Gregory Palamas Monastery in Hayesville, Ohio for introducing me to the patristic tradition. Seeing the monks living as contemporary church Fathers ignited my interest in patristic theology in the first place. I am grateful to Dr. Donald Fairbairn for answering my questions and offering insight on the Fathers via correspondence. I also thank the many members of the Torrance family for their kindness towards me during my time in Edinburgh. I am particularly grateful for Robert T. Walker, David W. Torrance, and David J. Torrance for their friendship and deep insight into Christ and his Gospel. I am indebted to the many people and groups who have supported me financially during my doctoral studies, particularly to Gordon‐Conwell Theological ii Seminary and the Cooley family for supporting me as the Robert C. Cooley Scholar in Early Christianity, and Jean Mortland and Covenant Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio, for their financial support throughout both my master’s and doctoral studies in the form of the Jean A. Mortland Scholarship. The prayers and encouragement of many have sustained me throughout this process. Primarily I am thankful for the prayers of my grandparents, Bob and Barbara Radcliff and Nancy and Clifford St Clair, as well as my wider family and friends in America, Scotland, and England. I am profoundly thankful for the perennial support and prayers of my family. My father, Robert, who read through the whole of this thesis, my mother, Donna, and my siblings, Corey, Doug, and Megan, all continuously support me in every way. Most of all, I am thankful beyond expression for my wife, Alexandra; her love, support, encouragement, and care has sustained me throughout the process in infinite ways. I am particularly grateful for such a beautiful editor and conversation partner on the topic of Torrance, the Fathers, and theology. iii Abbreviations PG Migne, J.P. Patrologia Cursus Completus Series Graeca. 165 volumes. (Paris: 1857–1886). PL Migne, J.P. Patrologia Cursus Completus Series Latina. 217 volumes. (Paris: 1844–1864). iv Abstract This thesis offers a constructive engagement with T.F. Torrance’s theological reading of the patristic tradition. It argues that Torrance reconstructs the Fathers into a Consensus Patrum, or “Consensus of the Fathers” consisting of catholic/ecumenical themes and figures. Torrance’s consensus is a creative attempt to produce a Reformed and evangelical version of the consensus which involves significant changes to both standard readings of the Fathers in other approaches to the consensus and Torrance’s own Reformed evangelical tradition. It is unique among other interpreters of the Fathers and ecumenically relevant, offering much to contemporary theology in both substance and method. In order to view Torrance’s project in historical context this thesis examines the notion of the consensus as found in historical Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant theology. Each tradition has a lens through which they view the Fathers: Aquinas for the Roman Catholics, Palamas for the Orthodox, Augustinian themes for the Reformers, and “de‐Hellenization” for liberal Protestants. This thesis places Torrance’s project within other contemporary retrievals of the church Fathers arguing for its uniqueness as a distinctively Reformed evangelical approach to the Fathers on their own terms. It inspects the Torrancian consensus exploring its consistence of a Reformed and evangelical approach to patristic themes and figures, rooted in the primary theme of the Nicene ὁμοούσιον and the primary figure of Athanasius of Alexandria. It examines Torrance’s creative reconstruction of the Fathers into a Reformed evangelical consensus and points to his constructive achievements demonstrating that Torrance’s approach is ecumenically relevant, as seen particularly in his work in the Reformed‐Orthodox Dialogue. A critical adoption of the Torrancian consensus is proposed in conclusion. 1 Introduction Thomas F. Torrance and the Consensus Patrum [T.F. Torrance is] a theologian who is at the same time Orthodox, Catholic and Reformed because he seeks to build up his theology on the one, historical common ground of all three traditions and because he is prepared at the same time to confess in full modesty and sincerity their historical particularities and fortify himself only with their positive forces. Is this not what ought to be commended today across the boundaries of the Christian traditions when Patriarch and Pope and Reformed theologian have been united in reminding the world about the Gift of God’s boundless Love, Grace and Truth in and through Christ and His Church? George Dion. Dragas, “The Significance for the Church

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