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 PrintableVersion JustificationWhat's at stake in the current debates?Centre of ReformationJUSTIFICATION As the blurb on the back cover indicates, this volume of essays addresses some key questions for our understanding of justification. They raise issues that lie at the heart of the great divide between Rome and the Protestant churches, as well as those that 'raise tensions even among Protestant denominations'. Flicking through the contents of this substantial paperback the eye is immediately drawn to the first two papers by Robert Gundry and Don Carson. Gundry, an early critic of the new scholarly ways of thinking of Paul and the Judaism of his day, does not believe that the Bible supports the general Protestant view that Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer. In his essay he does battle with John Piper's recent book that challenges Gundry's position. Carson, in his paper entitled 'The vindication of imputation', comes to the defence of the traditional Protestant position and counters the arguments of Gundry. SystematicsPart Two of the book turns from biblical to systematic theology. Here we have a stimulating essay by Bruce McCormack, a leading authority on Karl Barth. He shows that 'the positive imputation of Christ's righteousness' is at the centre of the Reformation understanding of imputation and 'renders superfluous the entire Catholic system of the priestly mediation of grace by the Church'. On the other hand, he argues that, in order to maintain this view in the light of modern attacks, we need to place justification within the context of God's covenant of grace. Against this background he shows how justification can be both judicial and transformative without abandoning the Protestant doctrine. This is followed by Philip Ziegler's essay on the moral dimension of the doctrine. The reader will probably wonder, after perusing this chapter, why theologians express their thoughts with such difficult language! Part Three looks at justification from the field of historical theology with contributions from Baptist, Lutheran and Wesleyan scholars. Interestingly, Mark Seifrid, who generally works in the area of biblical theology, seeks to compare the views of Luther with that of Melanchthon. His aim is to commend Luther's understanding of justification which he finds most faithful to the biblical text. In the process he considers John Piper's position, arguing, unfairly in this reviewer's opinion, that he stands closer to Melanchthon than Luther. To define justification in terms of the imputation of Christ's righteousness is, Seifrid maintains, to adopt a later Protestant understanding. There is an informative piece by Robert Kolb in which he discusses contemporary Lutheran notions. Readers will be surprised to learn that Luther's understanding of justification in terms of union with Christ is now used to support the Eastern Orthodox position on 'divinisation'. An interesting essay by Kenneth Collins assesses the significance of Wesley's teaching by first contrasting Cranmer's theology of justification to the Anglican divines of the 17th century. He considers the contemporary situation and criticises the Lutheran-Roman Catholic 'Joint Declaration' of 1999 for its omissions and ambiguities. Ecumenical issuesPart Four deals specifically with ecumenical issues. The contribution of Tony Lane is stimulating and provocative. He examines the article on justification agreed at the Regensburg Colloquy in 1541 between representatives of Rome and the Reformers. Lane claims that the twofold righteousness, imputed and inherent, distinct yet inseparable, is the way forward in ecumenical discussions on justification. A Roman Catholic theologian, Paul Molnar, considers the views of two 20th-century heavyweights, the Roman Catholic Karl Rahner and the Protestant Karl Barth, sympathising more with the latter than the former. In the light of the 'Joint Declaration', Molnar is concerned that 'differences cannot be covered over with ambiguous language'. Any agreement about justification 'must also be an agreement about theological method'. The final essay by a Wesleyan scholar, Geoffrey Wainwright, is very positive in its assessment of the Ecumenical Movement and especially the 'Joint Declaration'. The book is the result of a conference on justification held in April 2003 at Wheaton College Graduate School. It is a very demanding read and is certainly not recommended for the faint-hearted. Those wishing to find out the current state of play among theologians concerning this most crucial of doctrines need look no further. Philip H. Eveson, © Evangelicals Now - September 2004 |
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