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Iain Torrance
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Iain Torrance
Sir Iain Richard Torrance, KCVO, OStJ, TD, FRSE (born 13 January 1949) is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic. He is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Honorary Professor of Early Christian Doctrine and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, President and Professor of Patristics Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an Extra Chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland. He was formerly Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, and Dean of the Order of the Thistle. He is married to Morag Ann (née MacHugh), whom he met while they were students at the University of St Andrews, and they have two children.
Torrance was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is the younger son of Thomas Forsyth Torrance, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1976. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and at Monkton Combe School in Bath, then graduated MA (University of Edinburgh), BD (University of St Andrews), DPhil (Oriel College, Oxford). His doctoral thesis was entitled A translation of the letters between Severus of Antioch and Sergius the Grammarian, with a theological introduction, and was supervised by Sebastian Brock.
Following Oxford, Torrance was ordained on 23 January 1982 by the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Shetland as minister at Northmavine Parish Church in the Shetland Islands. Northmavine is the most northerly parish on the main island of the Shetland archipelago, and is famous for the stunning cliff scenery of Eshaness.
On 26 July 1982, he was commissioned in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army, as a Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class (equivalent in rank to captain). He was promoted to Chaplain to the Forces 3rd Class (equivalent to major) on 26 July 1988. Between 1982 and 1997, he served as a Territorial Army chaplain with the 2nd Battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers and then the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (Territorial) in 1995, in recognition of twelve years long service in the reserves. From 1997 to 2000, he was a chaplain to the Army Cadet Force. He resigned his British Army commission on 16 February 2000.
After serving for four years in Northmavine, in 1985 Torrance moved to The Queen's College, Birmingham, an ecumenical theological college (mainly Anglican and Methodist) with strong links to the University of Birmingham. There, he taught New Testament studies.
In 1989 he moved to a lectureship in Patristics and New Testament at the University of Birmingham. He was invited to become a member of the International Dialogue between The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1992, becoming co-chair in 1995.
In 1993, he moved to the University of Aberdeen, subsequently being promoted to a personal chair and becoming Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity in 2001.
In 2001 he was appointed a Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland.
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Iain Torrance
Sir Iain Richard Torrance, KCVO, OStJ, TD, FRSE (born 13 January 1949) is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic. He is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Honorary Professor of Early Christian Doctrine and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, President and Professor of Patristics Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an Extra Chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland. He was formerly Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, and Dean of the Order of the Thistle. He is married to Morag Ann (née MacHugh), whom he met while they were students at the University of St Andrews, and they have two children.
Torrance was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is the younger son of Thomas Forsyth Torrance, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1976. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and at Monkton Combe School in Bath, then graduated MA (University of Edinburgh), BD (University of St Andrews), DPhil (Oriel College, Oxford). His doctoral thesis was entitled A translation of the letters between Severus of Antioch and Sergius the Grammarian, with a theological introduction, and was supervised by Sebastian Brock.
Following Oxford, Torrance was ordained on 23 January 1982 by the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Shetland as minister at Northmavine Parish Church in the Shetland Islands. Northmavine is the most northerly parish on the main island of the Shetland archipelago, and is famous for the stunning cliff scenery of Eshaness.
On 26 July 1982, he was commissioned in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army, as a Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class (equivalent in rank to captain). He was promoted to Chaplain to the Forces 3rd Class (equivalent to major) on 26 July 1988. Between 1982 and 1997, he served as a Territorial Army chaplain with the 2nd Battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers and then the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (Territorial) in 1995, in recognition of twelve years long service in the reserves. From 1997 to 2000, he was a chaplain to the Army Cadet Force. He resigned his British Army commission on 16 February 2000.
After serving for four years in Northmavine, in 1985 Torrance moved to The Queen's College, Birmingham, an ecumenical theological college (mainly Anglican and Methodist) with strong links to the University of Birmingham. There, he taught New Testament studies.
In 1989 he moved to a lectureship in Patristics and New Testament at the University of Birmingham. He was invited to become a member of the International Dialogue between The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1992, becoming co-chair in 1995.
In 1993, he moved to the University of Aberdeen, subsequently being promoted to a personal chair and becoming Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity in 2001.
In 2001 he was appointed a Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland.
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