Academic and Church of Scotland minister and former moderator

Born: 30 August 1913, in Chengdu, China.

Died: 2 December, 2007, in Edinburgh, aged 94.

PROFESSOR Tom Torrance, MBE, MA, BD, DD, FRSE, was one of the most learned academics in the Church of Scotland. His reputation abroad was considerable and his wide knowledge of Christian history made him an acknowledged authority, and an eminent lecturer, worldwide. Torrance was highly regarded in the United States and his firmly held ecumenical views marked him out as an enlightened theologian. Torrance was a noted translator and completed two major works - Calvin's New Testament and the writings of the Swiss theologian Karl Barth - and founded the Scottish Journal of Theology. He made significant contributions to the understanding of the Trinity and the relationship between theology and science. In breadth of learning, depth of scholarship, quality of output, ecumenical conviction and devotion to the Christian beliefs, the Church of Scotland had, in Torrance, a humane and gentle man of great wisdom, wit and charm. He has been described by colleagues as "the greatest British theologian of the 20th century". His own son, the Very Rev Professor Iain Torrance (Moderator 2003-04) remembers his father as "broadminded and generous: always direct and robust. He was a great theologian".

Thomas Forsyth Torrance was the son of Scottish missionaries who were serving in Chengdu, China, and he was educated at the Canadian Mission School there and at Bellshill Academy. He then read classics and philosophy at Edinburgh University and Oriel College, Oxford. In 1934, he went to New College to study divinity. His knowledge of all variations of Greek won him a scholarship to study in Palestine and he then continued his studies under Karl Barth at Basel University, in Switzerland. Torrance had read Barth's writings and the two years he spent in Basel left a fundamental influence on Torrance's own beliefs. Later, he described Barth's doctrine of God as "simply the best thing of its kind".

He spent a year in New York, but cut it short in 1939 when war was declared. First, however, he took up a charge at Alyth Barony parish which he often described as the three happiest years of his ministry. In 1943, the Church of Scotland sent him to the Middle East as chaplain for huts and canteens, joining the King's Own Royal Rifles as chaplain in their advance through Italy. At the end of the war, Torrance was awarded a military MBE. He returned to Alyth where he married Margaret Spear, and in 1947 was appointed minister at Beechgrove Church, in Aberdeen. It was while there that Torrance published his first book - Calvin's Doctrine of Man - and founded the Scottish Journal of Theology which he was to edit for 30 years.

In 1952, Torrance was appointed Professor of Christian Dogmatics at New College. He was to fill the post until his retirement in 1979. His principal teachings were concerned with theology but in the postgraduate programme he also taught subjects such as ecumenical and historical theology. In 1952, Torrance headed a team of scholars translating Barth's writings. The breadth of his work outside New College was remarkable, editing learned publications, including the 12 volumes of Calvin's New Testament Commentaries. Theological Science (1969) won the Collins Award for the best book on theology.

Torrance believed firmly in the ecumenical movement and was deeply involved in furthering its aims through the World Council of Churches. He was active in their Faith and Order conferences as early as 1952 and participated in creating a dialogue between the Church of Scotland and the Anglican Church. Indeed, in a dedication to one of his books, Torrance wrote of the former, "the Church of my father and myself," the latter, "the Church of my mother and my wife" and significantly concluded "may they soon be one".

In 1976, he was elected Moderator and it was a post he filled with typical scholarship and dignity. Life and Work magazine described him as "a brilliant, unassuming, immensely likeable man".

After his retirement, he was in receipt of many academic offers: notably from Princeton. But Torrance preferred to stay in Edinburgh and write books such as Christian Theology and Scientific Culture and The Meditation of Christ. His writings have been acclaimed worldwide for their scholarship and his ability to bring together the two disciplines of Christianity and science. The books are, rightly, considered his theological legacy. In 1994, he returned to China to deliver funds for the building of churches where his father had worked almost a century before. It was fitting that Torrance returned to his roots: his zeal as a theologian was founded by his own father's dedication as a missionary.

Iain Torrance talked warmly of his father, "whose faith and love of prayer were paramount. He believed firmly in the power of reconciliation and his scholarship was remarkable - he was an accomplished linguist. He had an immense influence on my career, especially on my first charge as a minister in Shetland.

"His influence also on my brother and sister was equally instrumental: there were many discussions and debates about topical matters around the dinning room table. My father was much sustained by the love and support of our mother - which he often graciously acknowledged."

The Right Rev Sheilagh Kesting, the present Moderator, said: "I was saddened to hear of Professor Torrance's death. He has been a world-renowned theologian and was a leading thinker on the relation between theology and science and I was privileged to have him as one of my professors when I was training.

"During that time he became one of my distinguished predecessors as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The world has lost a distinguished theologian and his family a devoted father."

His many honours included honorary doctorates of divinity - including from St Andrews. Torrance was a DLitt of Edinburgh and, from 1979, an emeritus professor at Edinburgh. In 1979 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Tom Torrance is survived by his wife, their two sons and a daughter.