
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
In one of his posthumously published series of lectures (Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ), TF Torrance writes of the incarnation as God coming from behind the veil of the law. The law is a barrier, a form of bondage, since it is “a form of self-imprisonment because it is the result of sin and because in sin mankind chooses to have the barrier of the law flung round them as a sort of protection from the immediate presence of God.” Yet, “it is God himself who imprisons humanity within that bondage, for by the law, in the thought of Paul, humanity is shut up unto sin and disobedience.” While human beings harden their hearts, God also hardens, and “hands them over to a ‘reprobate mind.’”
Until the incarnation, “God’s mighty saving intervention” when He reveals His righteousness: “then at last God steps out from behind the law, from behind the veil which Moses wore on his face, from behind the veil of the holy of holies, for God unveils himself immediately. He comes to man and apart from law reveals his righteousness to humanity directly in Jesus Christ, cutting through all distance and abstraction, all law and religion, and sets men and women before him face to face.”
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 9:53 am
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