The Justification Reader

The Justification Reader sets out the classic Christian teaching of "salvation by grace through faith." Distinguished theologian Thomas C. Oden, well known for retrieving the riches of church tradition, here gathers together the early Christian sources on the theme of justification.

Ranging broadly through Christian history and across all branches of the church, Oden cites the writings of such major figures as Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom in the East and Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great in the West. Although Oden presents all the relevant historical texts on justification, the book also includes his own insightful explication of the doctrine. His work shows that what these church fathers teach on justification was restated almost verbatim by the sixteenth-century Reformers and can still be confessed in good conscience by Christians from every communion. Thus this volume both provides a compendium of a central belief of the faith and demonstrates its ecumenical potential.

The first volume in a new series, this book will be an important sourcebook for readers from every tradition.

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The Justification Reader

The Justification Reader sets out the classic Christian teaching of "salvation by grace through faith." Distinguished theologian Thomas C. Oden, well known for retrieving the riches of church tradition, here gathers together the early Christian sources on the theme of justification.

Ranging broadly through Christian history and across all branches of the church, Oden cites the writings of such major figures as Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom in the East and Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great in the West. Although Oden presents all the relevant historical texts on justification, the book also includes his own insightful explication of the doctrine. His work shows that what these church fathers teach on justification was restated almost verbatim by the sixteenth-century Reformers and can still be confessed in good conscience by Christians from every communion. Thus this volume both provides a compendium of a central belief of the faith and demonstrates its ecumenical potential.

The first volume in a new series, this book will be an important sourcebook for readers from every tradition.

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The Justification Reader

The Justification Reader

by Thomas C Oden
The Justification Reader

The Justification Reader

by Thomas C Oden

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Overview

The Justification Reader sets out the classic Christian teaching of "salvation by grace through faith." Distinguished theologian Thomas C. Oden, well known for retrieving the riches of church tradition, here gathers together the early Christian sources on the theme of justification.

Ranging broadly through Christian history and across all branches of the church, Oden cites the writings of such major figures as Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom in the East and Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great in the West. Although Oden presents all the relevant historical texts on justification, the book also includes his own insightful explication of the doctrine. His work shows that what these church fathers teach on justification was restated almost verbatim by the sixteenth-century Reformers and can still be confessed in good conscience by Christians from every communion. Thus this volume both provides a compendium of a central belief of the faith and demonstrates its ecumenical potential.

The first volume in a new series, this book will be an important sourcebook for readers from every tradition.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780802839664
Publisher: Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date: 07/29/2002
Series: Classic Christian Reader Series
Pages: 182
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.42(d)

Table of Contents

Abbreviationsxiv
Introduction1
1.The Promise1
2.The Heart of the Gospel2
A.The Special Comfort of God's Free Grace3
1.The Unique Blessing of Justification3
2.Basic Definitions3
B.The Centrality of Justification in Christian Teaching4
1.The Decisive Baseline of Evangelical Teaching4
2.Why Is It a Comforting Doctrine?5
3.The Limits of Our Powers of Restitution6
C.Why a Justification Reader?6
1.It Provides a Model for Classic Christian Reasoning7
2.Why Is Justification Teaching Especially Pertinent Today?7
3.Simplicity8
4.On the Genre of the "Reader"8
5.Why Have These Texts Remained Shockingly Inaccessible Elsewhere?10
6.A Welcoming Note for Orthodox and Catholic Readers11
Part 1Justification
Chapter 1The Ancient Fathers on Evangelical Justification15
A.Typical Misconceptions of Classic Christian Teaching on Saving Faith15
1.Peacemaking among the Divided Faithful15
2.My Simple Thesis16
3.Why the Classic Christian Consensus Is Not Properly Described as Either European or Western17
4.Why This Presentation of Evidence Is So Urgently Needed amid Uncharitable Polemics among Evangelicals, Liberals, Catholics, and Orthodox Today18
5.How Both Evangelical and Liberal Assumptions Have Tilted the Perception of Ancient Orthodox Christian Salvation Teaching19
6.Liberal Misconceptions21
B.The Unexplored Connection: The Fathers Were Not Ignorant of the Pauline Teaching of Justification23
1.What Is Meant by "Patristic"?23
2.The Unity of the First Five Centuries Contrasted with the Conflict of the Last Five Centuries24
3.Remembering the Fathers' Continuous Immersion in the Written Word26
4.The Practical Impact26
5.Why Dangerous? The Alarming Consequence of the Rediscovery of the Unity of the Body of Christ28
6.Why Does This Recognition Have a Painful Edge for Protestants?28
7.Can Christian Teaching Be Trusted If It Lacks Scriptural Grounding and an Orthodox Historical Textuary?29
8.Ecumenical Dialogue Needs These Arguments29
9.Assessing the Joint Declaration31
10.The Growing Hunger for Greater Evangelical Unity in the Gospel32
11.The Search for Balance and the Hazard of Presenting Too Little Evidence or Too Much33
12.Fairly Assessing the Evidence35
Chapter 2Justification Defined36
A.Rehearsing the Classic Consensus on Justification36
1.What Is Justification?36
2.The Way to Consensus38
3.Representative Reformed Confessions on Justification39
4.The Lutheran Formula of Concord40
5.Baptist Confessions40
6.Anglican Tradition41
7.Wesleyan Traditions41
8.Pentecostal Traditions42
9.Arguing Consensuality43
B.Introducing Locus Classicus Patristic Texts on Justification44
1.Early Eastern Voices on Justification44
2.Early Western Voices on Justification45
3.A Case in Point: Consensual Interpretation of Ephesians 247
4.Whether These Voices Harmonize: Modest Objectives on Doctrinal Concurrence49
C.God's Costly Way of Reestablishing a Right Relation with the Sinner50
1.Comparing Old and New Testament Interpretations of Justification50
2.Old Testament Anticipations50
3.Why Do We So Fiercely Resist Hearing This Good News?51
4.While You Were Yet Ungodly52
D.How Divine Love Brings Sinners into an Uprighted Relation with Divine Justice53
1.Unpacking the Courtroom Metaphor53
2.The Judge and the Law54
3.Elements of the Courtroom Drama54
4.Our Advocate55
5.How Clemency Comes Late in the Trial55
6.The Acquittal56
7.There Is Now No Condemnation57
8.Behavioral Righteousness Distinguished from Juridical Righteousness58
Chapter 3Receiving Righteousness from God60
A.Justified by His Blood60
1.In What Sense Is Christ "Made to Be Sin for Us"?60
2.Expiation62
3.Justified by His Blood63
4.Much More Are We Saved by His Blood64
5.What Is Redemption?65
6.The Exchange65
B.How Righteousness Is Revealed66
1.Righteousness Belongs to God66
2.Righteousness Revealed in Creation and Conscience67
3.Righteousness Revealed in the Gospel68
4.Giving Account on the Last Day68
C.Our Appropriation of God's Righteousness69
1.Christ Is Our Only Righteousness69
2.Sin Made Apparent by the Law70
3.Works Righteousness Rejected71
4.Is the Law Overthrown?73
5.Neither Circumcision Nor Uncircumcision Yields Advantage74
6.Counting All Loss for Christ75
7.The Power of His Resurrection77
Part 2Grace Alone
Chapter 1Why Imputed Grace Dislodges All Boasting81
A.Defining Grace81
1.Scriptural Terms for God's Unmerited Mercy81
2.The Wooing of Sinners83
B.The Nurture of Gracious Ability83
1.The Demeanor of Grace83
2.God's Own Gift of Himself83
3.The Gift84
4.Life as Unearned Gift85
5.Works and Grace Contrasted86
C.How Grace Grounds Justification: By Free Grace We Have Full Satisfaction87
1.We Are Justified as a Gift87
2.Four Related Metaphorical Arenas: Forgiving, Pardoning, Accounting, and Reconciling87
3.Forgiving and Pardoning: Are They Distinguishable?88
4.Distinguishing Pardon and Justification89
5.Only God Can Justly Forgive Sin89
6.Who Can Pardon?90
7.Forgiveness as Given90
D.Imputed Righteousness91
1.The Bookkeeping Analogy92
2.Discharging Sin and Crediting Righteousness92
3.The New Accounting93
4.Remission of Debt94
5.Summarizing the Confluence of Biblical Metaphors94
E.The Fathers Teach the Unmerited Grace of the Triune God95
1.The Grace of the Triune God95
2.The Spirit Is the Gift96
3.The God of All Grace97
F.Receiving Grace, Growing in Grace, Living under Grace98
1.Receiving Grace99
2.Growing in Grace99
3.Living under Grace100
G.How Protestant Definitions of Grace Confirm the Patristic Consensus101
1.Standard Lutheran Confessions101
2.Reformed Confessions102
3.A Congregationalist Standard103
4.A Baptist Standard103
5.Anglican Standards104
6.Wesleyan Standards104
7.Contemporary Evangelicals Speak Together105
8.Conclusion: Whether There Is a Consensual Protestant Teaching of Grace105
Chapter 2Let the Fathers Speak for Themselves on Sola Gratia107
A.By Grace You Are Saved107
1.The Fathers Teach That We Are Freely Justified as a Gift107
2.The Fathers Teach That Faith Alone Saves108
3.The Fathers Teach That Grace Is Unsearchable109
4.The Fathers Teach That Grace Enables Freedom110
B.The Fathers Teach That All Boasting Is Out of Place111
1.No Room for Boasting111
2.Glorifying God, Not Human Works112
3.The Strength of Grace Works Precisely through Human Weakness113
4.The Grace of Resurrection113
C.Grace in Action114
1.How Grace Works114
2.Grace Can Only Be Received115
D.The Gift of Faith and Human Agency116
1.Faith Is a Gift Requiring a Response117
2.Grace and Active Willing117
3.Receptive Faith and Its Activity; Active Faith and Its Receptivity118
E.The Grace of Effectual Calling120
1.Preparing Grace Leads to Calling120
2.Sufficient Grace120
F.New Life under Grace121
1.Dying to Sin, Living to God121
2.Dead in Trespasses, Raised Up with Christ122
3.A Special Grace Is Given to the Humble122
4.Freedom Undiminished by Grace123
5.Using without Abusing Grace124
6.The Grace That Is Coming125
Part 3By Faith Alone
Chapter 1Justifying Faith129
A.What Is Faith?129
1.Faith Defined130
2.Personal Trust130
B.Faith Classically Defined in Hebrews 11:1131
1.The Certainty of What We Do Not See131
2.The Simplicity of Faith131
3.Risk-Taking Trust Is Required to Learn of Faith131
4.Faith's Evidences132
5.Trusting beyond Sight without Doubt133
6.The Condition for Receiving Justifying Grace133
C.Justifying Grace Received Only by Faith134
1.The Gift Requires a Response134
2.Without Faith It Is Impossible to Please God135
3.The Power of Faith136
D.How Faith Is Congruent with Justification136
1.Justifying Faith136
2.Does Faith as Such Justify Apart from Grace?137
3.Whether Faith Is a Condition of Salvation137
4.Faith Requires Renunciation, Freely Resolving to Live a Life of Righteousness138
Chapter 2Faith in God's Righteousness139
A.Approaching God with Grounded Confidence139
1.Faith Is the Work of the Spirit139
2.Faith and the Means of Grace140
3.Gaining Confidence in Approaching God141
4.Confess with the Lips What Is Believed in the Heart141
5.Whether There Is a Patristic Consensus143
B.Biblical Examples of Faith144
1.Faith as Exemplified by Abraham144
2.Righteousness Was Accounted to Abraham Due to His Faith Alone146
3.Distinguishing Implicit from Explicit Faith146
C.Classic Distinctions Regarding Faith148
1.Saving Faith Distinguished from General Human Faith148
2.General Faith and the History of Religions149
3.The Possibility of Faith150
4.Faith as Believing and Believed151
5.Contending for the Faith152
6.How Saving Faith May Be Studied152
7.Historical Faith and Intellectual Assent153
D.An Act of Mind, Will, and Heart154
1.Faith Assents with the Mind to the Truth of the Word155
2.Faith Consents with the Whole Will to Surrender to the Word157
3.Faith Trusts with the Heart in the Living Word157
Conclusion161
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