Ronald Wallace (theologian)

For the Canadian politician (c. 1916-2008), see Ronald Wallace (politician). For writer, see Ronald Wallace (poet).

Ronald Wallace (1911–2006) was a theologian and Professor of Biblical Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. He was also a member of the Torrance family of theologians.

Career overview

• Brora, Minister without Charge
• 1940 Minister, Pollock Church, Glasgow
• Church of Scotland's Huts and Canteens
• 1951 Minister, St Kentigern's Church, Lanark
• 1958 Minister, Lothian Road Church, Edinburgh
• 1964 Professor of Biblical Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia
• 1977 Near East School of Theology, Beirut

Education

His secondary education took place at the Royal High School. At sixteen he matriculated at the University of Edinburgh and studied a degree in civil engineering. He proceeded to the Faculty of Arts. Studies in Divinity followed; he was a pupil of H.R. Mackintosh and William Manson. While Minister of St Kentigern's in Lanark he gained his PhD on Calvin's Doctrine of the Word and Sacraments.

Family and theological connections

In July 1937 he married Mary Moulin Torrance, the sister of Thomas F. Torrance. They had a son, David, and two daughters: Elizabeth and Heather. Wallace's nephews include theologians Iain Torrance and Alan Torrance; moreover, his son-in-law George Newlands is also an academic theologian.

Sources

• Torrance, I.R. (1 March 2006) "Obituary: Professor Ronald Wallace" The Scotsman