Student Years and Early Years As Professor
Torrance was awarded the Blackie Fellowship in 1936 for study in the Middle East. This was not without its precarious moments as when he was sentenced to death in Basra (Iraq), accused of being a spy. Fortunately, he was able to convince the authorities that he was a theological student and was allowed to proceed to Baghdad and then to Syria. He eventually returned to Scotland, specialized in systematic theology and graduated summa cum laude. After that he studied with Karl Barth in Basel. In 1946 he became engaged to Margaret Edith Spear and completed his doctorate magna cum laude. From 1938 to 1939 Torrance taught at Auburn Theological Seminary in upstate New York and was eventually offered a position in religion at Princeton University which he did not accept because he decided to return home to Scotland with war in Europe on the horizon. From 1939 to 1940 Torrance studied at Oriel College, Oxford. He was ordained as minister on 20 March 1940. During World War II Torrance provided pastoral and practical support to Scottish soldiers in North Africa and northern Italy and was fortunate to escape with his life after coming under fire on more than one occasion. After the war, Torrance returned to his parish in Alyth and later became minister at Beechgrove Church in Aberdeen, following in the footsteps of his former beloved professor, Hugh Ross Mackintosh. He married Margaret Edith Spear on 2 October 1946 in Combe Down Parish Church, near Bath, England. The Torrance family soon included: Thomas Spear Torrance who was born on 3 July 1947 and is now an economist and philosopher of science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh; Iain Richard Torrance who was born on 13 January 1949 and is now the President of Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and Professor of Patristics; and Alison Meta Elizabeth Torrance who was born on 15 April 1951 and is now a medical doctor in general practice in Edinburgh.
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