The meaning of history: grace and judgment
“[The Gospel] is indeed God’s almighty power, and so the Gospel is still the secret of what happens in the world. This Gospel of pure grace, which deals with men solely on the basis of the death of Christ, cuts away the ground from beneath our feet and passes a total judgment upon the world for which Christ died. Because it is the Gospel of universal forgiveness, it bears at its heart a divine judgment which is the crucial fact that determines all history, so that every crisis in human affairs falls under its action and reflects its meaning.”
—T. F. Torrance, The Apocalypse Today (London: James Clarke, 1960), p. 117.
Hi Benjamin,
This is perhaps my favourite of all of the quotes you have posted. I find it comforting and utterly profound. Having read these published sermons on the book of Revelation, I am encouraged to go and read them again. What a thinker Torrance is!
Hi Justin -- great to hear from you. I agree with you: it's an excellent collection of sermons. I especially appreciate Torrance's emphasis in these sermons on the direction and meaning of universal history (and of course in this particular quote he's essentially paraphrasing the early Barth).
I reckon it's a shame Torrance hasn't published more sermons!
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