This book explores the history of the theme of 'union with Christ' in the Reformed tradition. After chapters on the legacy of Calvin and Reformed Orthodoxy, the author uncovers three trajectories in American Reformed theology in which salvation as union with Christ is understood in remarkably different ways. The subsequent twentieth-century history of the theme is also explored. This detailed examination of New England Calvinism, Princeton Calvinism, and the Mercersburg Theology highlights the historic diversity present in Reformed thought, and the implications of that diversity for contemporary Evangelical and Reformed thought.
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
Part I Prologue
Chapter 1 John Calvin: Influence and Ambiguity 7
The Centrality of Union with Christ for Calvin 7
Calvin's Doctrine of Unio in Recent Scholarship 8
The Nature of Union with Christ 14
Union by Faith and the Holy Spirit 14
Union with Christ through Word and Sacrament 17
Union with Christ in Baptism 17
Union with Christ in the Lord's Supper 19
"Substantial" Union with Christ 23
Union with Christ and Applied Soteriology 29
Sanctification through Union with Christ 29
Justification through Union with Christ 30
Justification as Forensic and Synthetic 31
The Relation of Justification and Union with Christ 32
The Structure of Calvin's Soteriology 38
Chapter 2 Reformed Orthodoxy and Union with Christ 43
Reformed Orthodoxy and Scholastic Method 44
Reformed Orthodoxy and the Loci Method 45
Reformed Orthodoxy and Resurgent Aristotelianism 46
Reformed Orthodoxy and the Ordo Salutis 52
Federal Theology and the Bifurcation of Union 57
Federal Theology and "Extrinsic Legalism" 59
The Scottish Federal Reconceptualization of Union with Christ 65
The Influence of Pietism 75
Devotional Communion with Christ 76
Puritans and the Sacraments 78
Conclusion: The Federal Orthodoxy Dilemma 81
Part II The New England Trajectory: Imputation Eclipsed
Chapter 3 Jonathan Edwards on Salvation and Union with Christ 87
Edwards and the Reformed Tradition 87
The Philosophical Context of Edwards' Thought 89
The Religious Context of Edwards' Thought 92
Edwards on the Nature of Union with Christ 95
The Human Perspective-Faith as Union with Christ 96
The Divine Perspective-Union with God97
Edwards on Applied Soteriology 100
Justification by Faith 101
Imputation and Original Sin 104
The Relation of Justification and Sanctification 107
Summary-Edwards on Union with Christ 111
Chapter 4 Later New England Thought: Samuel Hopkins and Timothy Dwight 113
Samuel Hopkins 114
Hopkins' Contribution to New England Theology 115
Hopkins on Applied Soteriology and Union with Christ 122
Summary 129
The Rational Evangelicalism of Timothy Dwight 130
Dwight's Relation to Earlier New England Thought 131
Dwight on Applied Soteriology and Union with Christ 134
Conclusions and Observations 136
Part III The Mercersburg Soteriology
Chapter 5 John W. Nevin and Organic Union with Christ 141
Biography 141
The Mercersburg Theology 146
German Influences on the Mercersburg Theology 147
Idealist Ontology and Epistemology 148
Organic Views of History 149
Christocentric Approaches to Theology 150
The Mediating Theologians 152
Nevin's Theological Method 155
The Nature of Union with Christ 158
Union with Christ and Applied Soteriology 168
Sanctification in Christ 168
Justification in Christ 169
Union with Christ and the Sacraments 175
Interpretive Questions and Observations 181
Summary and Conclusions 183
Part IV The Princeton Defense of Imputation
Chapter 6 The Federal Theology of Charles Hodge 187
Biography 188
The Method and Context of Hodge's Theology 189
Scottish Common Sense Realism 189
Religious Experience 193
The Reformed Tradition 194
The Problem of Solidarity-The Defense of Imputation 195
Original Sin and the Solidarity with Adam 196
Soteriology and Solidarity with Christ 202
Applied Soteriology-The Ordo Salutis 208
Applied Soteriology-Justification 211
Ecclesiology and the Sacraments 215
Chapter 7 The Later Federal Textbook Tradition: A. A. Hodge and Louis Berkhof 229
A. A. Hodge 229
Louis Berkhof 233
Conclusions Regarding the Princeton Federal Trajectory 235
Part V Epilogue
Chapter 8 Subsequent Developments 241
The Academic Tradition 241
Evangelical Theology 254
Chapter 9 Retrospect and Prospect 259
Retrospective Observations 259
Prospect 261
A Spiritual and Eschatological Realism 262
A Concrete and Christocentric Soteriology 264
Benefits of a Revisioned Reformed Soteriology 266
Bibliography 269
Index 293
Overview
This book explores the history of the theme of 'union with Christ' in the Reformed tradition. After chapters on the legacy of Calvin and Reformed Orthodoxy, the author uncovers three trajectories in American Reformed theology in which salvation as union with Christ is understood in remarkably different ways. The subsequent twentieth-century history of the theme is also explored. This detailed examination of New England Calvinism, Princeton Calvinism, and the Mercersburg Theology highlights the historic diversity ...