| Summary: | This thesis challenges the account of the reception of Barth's theology within Scotland, offered by T.F. Torrance; with reference to the concept of the self-revelation of God. I demonstrate that Torrance offers an established understanding which I term the Discontinuity Scenario. Thereafter, I contend that within this Scenario there is posited a discontinuity between Barth's thought and that of Ritschl and Herrmann. Equally, I maintain that in Scotland, H.R. Mackintosh is presented as the principal recipient of Barth's thought. Thus, I grant to the Discontinuity Scenario the status of a 'paradigm'. In contrast, I offer an alternative, termed the Continuity Scenario. A central element in this Scenario is the contention that Mackintosh's positive responses to Barth, turned, not on a rejection of Ritschl and Herrmann, but, on an appreciation of the fact that Barth was progressing in the same direction as Herrmann, with respect to an understanding of the nature of God's revelation. Further, I demonstrate that Mackintosh's perspective upon the Ritschl/Herrmann-Barth relationship was a distinctive one. In turning to examine Herrmann and Barth, I maintain that Barth's understanding can only be comprehended in the light of its relationship to the thought of Herrmann. In examining, Torrance's thought, I indicate his indebtedness to Barth, and that, with the publication of <I>Theological Science</I>, he believes he discerns within Barth an epistemology paralleling that found in modern physics; which, in turn, may mutually influence the substantial content of the disciplines of theology and science. I shall contend that this element in Torrance's thought is illegitimate from the standpoint of Barth's thought; on the basis that Barth's understanding of the nature of God's self-revelation is correlated to an understanding of the boundaries of theology, which would prohibit Torrance's understanding. This correlation is one that is also found within the thought of Wilhelm Herrmann.
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