The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (1948 Torrance), book
The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (1948) is a book by Thomas F. Torrance.
Abstract
This book argues that the Apostolic Fathers "abandoned" Paul's doctrine of justification by faith. As J. Stevenson wrote in a review of the volume in 1950:
- Dr Torrance shows clearly that all the Apostolic Fathers-even Ignatius-fall short of the conception of Grace which St Paul set forth, and which is implicit, if not explicit, in a considerable part of the rest of the New Testament. They do not, like St Paul, apprehend God's "deed of decisive significance that cut across human life and set it on a wholly new basis grounded upon the self-giving of
God" (p. 133). [Theology 53 (1950) 349-351].
The early Church Fathers advocated works righteousness in opposition to Paul's belief that an individual is justified before God by faith alone.
"T.F. Torrance aims in this book to discover how and why there came about in the early history of the Christian Church the enormous difference that exists between the faith of the New Testament and that of the second and third centuries. He explores how the concept of grace is distinctively characteristic of every doctrine of the New Testament, and yet at the same time is the most sensitive to change."--Publisher description.
Editions
Published in Edinburgh ; London : Oliver and Boyd, 1948.
Reprinted in Grand Rapids : Eerdmans, 1959; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1996; Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter, 2017.
Contents
The teaching of the twelve apostles -- The first epistle of Clement -- The epistles of Ignatius -- The epistle of Polycarp -- The epistle of Barnabas -- The shepherd of Hermas -- The second epistle of Clement.
External links
- [ Google Books]