Athanasius is Torrance’s primary patristic mentor; Torrance mines him for his Nicene doctrine of the Trinity, his incarnational soteriology, and his insistence that the unassumed is the unhealed.[1][2] ## Methodological and dogmatic model – Favorite theologian: Torrance explicitly identified Athanasius as his favorite theologian and set him alongside Barth as a primary dialogue partner.[3][4] – Nicene framework: In works like *The Trinitarian Faith*, Torrance uses Athanasius as the chief expositor of Nicaea, especially for the homoousion as the key to both Trinity and salvation.[5][1] – Knowing God from the Son: He repeatedly cites Athanasius’s principle that God is to be signified from the Son (calling him Father) rather than from abstract attributes, which undergirds his whole epistemology of God’s self‑revelation in Christ.[6][5] ## Incarnation, atonement, and fallen humanity – Incarnation–atonement unity: Torrance follows Athanasius in treating incarnation and atone
Torrance reads Athanasius’s soteriology as inherently theotic and then develops a distinctively Reformed account of theosis: participation by grace in the incarnate Son’s filial life, through real union with his humanity, without collapsing Creator and creature.[1][2][3]
## How Torrance sees Athanasius on theosis
– He takes Athanasius’s formula “God became man that man might become god” as shorthand for a participatory, Trinitarian soteriology: by union with the incarnate Word, believers share in the Son’s relation to the Father in the Spirit.[4][1]
– Torrance emphasizes that for Athanasius divinization is not an elevation by nature but a participation “by grace” in the divine life, grounded in the Son’s homoousion with the Father and his assumption of our humanity.[3][4]
– Following Athanasius, he stresses that deification happens “within the mediatorial life and person” of the incarnate Son—our salvation occurs in the inner relations of the Mediator, not merely in his external relations to sinners.[5]
## Torrance’s appropriation of Athanasian theosis
– Real but mediated participation: Torrance argues that we partake of Christ’s righteousness, life, and sonship only through “real and substantial union” (Calvin’s term) with his human nature, echoing Athanasius’s insistence that what is not assumed is not healed.[2][5]
– Ontological atonement as deifying: The incarnational–ontological atonement (assumption, healing, and sanctification of fallen humanity in Christ) is simultaneously reconciliation and deification, because in being reconciled we are brought to share, by grace, in the Triune communion.[1][2]
– Participation vs imitation: Torrance explicitly follows Athanasius in rejecting a merely moral or Platonic “imitation” model; salvation is participation in Christ’s person and acts, not copycatting an external exemplar.[3]
## A “Reformed” theosis with Athanasian roots
– Myk Habets and others show that Torrance’s soteriology “clearly implies a doctrine of theosis,” but one framed within Reformed commitments (Creator–creature distinction, grace, Christ’s vicarious humanity, justification by Christ alone).[6][7][8]
– In this light, Torrance treats Athanasius’s theosis motif as a central patristic witness that true evangelical (gospel) soteriology is intrinsically participatory and theotic, and not merely juridical or moralistic.[2][1]
Sources
[1] [PDF] Theōsis: A Comparative Study of TF Torrance and Rāmānuja https://digitalcommons.butler.
[2] [PDF] The shape of Torrance theology – Journals https://ojs.st-andrews.ac.uk/
[3] [PDF] Thomas Torrance: Participation, imitation and agency in the … https://repository.nwu.ac.za/
[4] The Patristic Calvinists versus the Medieval … – Athanasian Reformed https://growrag.wordpress.com/
[5] [PPT] Theosis: The Transformation of Human Nature through Participation … https://htrinityportland.org/
[6] T. F. Torrance on theosis and universal salvation https://www.cambridge.org/
[7] Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance | Myk Habets https://www.taylorfrancis.com/
[8] Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance – 1st Edition – Myk Habets https://www.routledge.com/
[9] Defining Theosis | Theology Forum – WordPress.com https://theologyforum.
[10] T. F. Torrance and the Latin Heresy – First Things https://firstthings.com/t-f-
[11] [PDF] Deification of Body and Soul in Athanasius of Alexandria https://place.asburyseminary.
[12] TF Torrance and Reformed-Orthodox Dialogue https://orthodoxbridge.com/
[13] T. F. Torrance and Eastern Orthodoxy – SVS Press & Bookstore https://svspress.com/t-f-
[14] T. F. Torrance: a eulogy – Faith and Theology https://www.faith-theology.
[15] Participation in the Christian Doctrinal and Philosophical Tradition https://www.saet.ac.uk/
