creation, incarnation & dualism

T. F. Torrance, a modern theological heavyweight, lays great emphasis upon the Incarnation—God become man—as the key to Christian theology. Torrance asserts that true Christian theology, to be correct, cannot distinguish between God’s act and God’s person. His act and person are identical! To distinguish the two leads to a dangerous dualism that is one of Christian theology’s worst and most frequent and prevalent error. Torrance writes that even though creation is an act of God, it doesn’t convey his person because it is distinct from God. He created it to be distinct from him. Romans emphasizes that even though we can detect God in creation, we cannot know him. It is because it is distinct from his person. Torrance writes:

“It therefore follows that ‘nothing but God Himself in Person will suffice to bridge the gulf between man and God.’ Creation and providence alike are to be seen as acts of God in which ‘God does not actually convey Himself’”.

I do not pretend to understand this fully, but I know it is important and needs to be understood. I think Torrance is right—we have been seriously infected with Christianity’s worst error: dualism. More to come.

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