3 Lessons T. F. Torrance Teaches Us about Science and Theology

Many Christians and skeptics of Christianity believe that science is an enemy of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, this view of the science-faith opposition has deeply rooted itself in popular culture and the church. Because of this popular impression of faith and science, many believers do not give any attention to the work and findings of science, and many skeptics believe that science rules out the need for the Christian faith. However, throughout the history of the church, numerous Christians have engaged in the study of science and theology to show the harmony between these fields.

T. F. Torrance (1913–2007) is a key Christian theologian who showed how scientific and theological studies can have a positive impact on one another. Many scholars consider him to be one of the most significant English-speaking theologian of the 20th century. Torrance had a wide range of theological interests. He wrote on the theology of the church fathers, assisted in the translation of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, and developed a theological vision informed by the sciences. Here are three lessons that Torrance teaches us about the relationship between science and theology:

1. The Scientist and the Theologian are Students of God’s Creation

During a speech that Torrance delivered after he won the prestigious Templeton Prize for his contributions to the fields of science and theology, he pointed out that “The natural scientist inquires into the processes and patterns of nature, and man himself is a part of nature; and the theologian inquires of God the Creator of nature and the source of its created rationalities, to which man also belongs.”[1]

God is the creator of the world investigated by scientists, and theologians may learn a great deal about God and creation from the work of scientists. Because God is the craftsman of the creation studied by scientists and theologians, the findings of science and the teachings of theology should not contradict each other when correctly understood. God does not lie and does not intend to deceive us (Titus 1:2), so there must be harmony between scientific and theological truths.

2.     Jesus’s Incarnation Enriches Our Understanding of Science and Nature

In a somewhat wordy passage, Torrance explains God’s relationship to space and time in light of the  incarnation: “Thus the miraculous activity of God in the Incarnation is not to be thought of as an intrusion into the creation or as an abrogation of its space-time structure, but as the chosen form of God’s interaction with nature in which he establishes an intimate relation between creaturely human being and Himself.”[2]

Torrance believed that space and time, as well as the laws of nature were real and created by God. Torrance also believed that the incarnation was a miracle of God. It is hard for us to wrap our minds around how an eternal God who exists apart from his creation became a mortal man in creation. Yet, we should not understand the incarnation as a contradiction of nature or scientific laws. God is the Creator of nature. He created the laws that govern the universe and upholds these laws (Colossians 1:17), so when God becomes man, he lives in the space and time of his creation and takes on a true human body and nature. Torrance contends that the incarnation “asserts the reality of space and time for God in His relations with us and binds us to space and time in all our relations with him.”[3]

In the past century, we have witnessed an incredible transformation in how we understand the nature of space and time in the universe. Torrance lived through this scientific revolution and recognized its impact on the Christian doctrines of creation and the incarnation. He believed that the teachings of science and the laws of nature are not arbitrary rules made up by scientists to rule out the need for a divine Creator. Instead, scientific findings attempt to provide us with a picture of the real world, and each discovery reveals a new layer of God’s creative work and brilliance. The Christian should not be afraid of the work of scientists but should study science and recognize that this world and its laws is the same world upheld by Jesus and that Jesus enters in the incarnation.

3.     The Early Church Fathers are Valuable for the Science-Faith Discussion

Torrance once wrote, “The foundations of modern science were laid down during the first six centuries through the preaching of the Gospel and the teaching of the Holy Scriptures about the creation of the world out of nothing and the redemptive incarnation of the Word of God in space and time in Jesus Christ.”[4] Christians and skeptics alike may think that ancient thinkers and theologians are outdated or irrelevant when it comes to contemporary conversations about science.

However, Torrance believed that the early church’s teachings about creation out of nothing and the incarnation were crucial for understanding that the world had a beginning, and for properly understanding the nature of space and time. Torrance would go so far as to say that “The great Patristic theology of Alexandria from the fourth to the sixth century may well be the most relevant theology for our modern scientific world.”[5] As strange as it may sound to our modern ears, Torrance believes that a great starting point for those interested in the relationship between science and theology are the writings of the early church fathers and their teachings about Christ and creation.