The Justification Reader

By: Thomas C. Oden

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Paperback | 1 July 2002

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306 Pages

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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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Non-Fiction Religion & Beliefs Christianity Christian Theology Aspects of Religion for Non-Christians Worship Prayer

Abbreviations	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
The Promise	p. 1
The Heart of the Gospel	p. 2
The Special Comfort of God's Free Grace	p. 3
The Unique Blessing of Justification	p. 3
Basic Definitions	p. 3
The Centrality of Justification in Christian Teaching	p. 4
The Decisive Baseline of Evangelical Teaching	p. 4
Why Is It a Comforting Doctrine?	p. 5
The Limits of Our Powers of Restitution	p. 6
Why a Justification Reader?	p. 6
It Provides a Model for Classic Christian Reasoning	p. 7
Why Is Justification Teaching Especially Pertinent Today?	p. 7
Simplicity	p. 8
On the Genre of the "Reader"	p. 8
Why Have These Texts Remained Shockingly Inaccessible Elsewhere?	p. 10
A Welcoming Note for Orthodox and Catholic Readers	p. 11
Justification
The Ancient Fathers on Evangelical Justification	p. 15
Typical Misconceptions of Classic Christian Teaching on Saving Faith	p. 15
Peacemaking among the Divided Faithful	p. 15
My Simple Thesis	p. 16
Why the Classic Christian Consensus Is Not Properly Described as Either European or Western	p. 17
Why This Presentation of Evidence Is So Urgently Needed amid Uncharitable Polemics among Evangelicals, Liberals, Catholics, and Orthodox Today	p. 18
How Both Evangelical and Liberal Assumptions Have Tilted the Perception of Ancient Orthodox Christian Salvation Teaching	p. 19
Liberal Misconceptions	p. 21
The Unexplored Connection: The Fathers Were Not Ignorant of the Pauline Teaching of Justification	p. 23
What Is Meant by "Patristic"?	p. 23
The Unity of the First Five Centuries Contrasted with the Conflict of the Last Five Centuries	p. 24
Remembering the Fathers' Continuous Immersion in the Written Word	p. 26
The Practical Impact	p. 26
Why Dangerous? The Alarming Consequence of the Rediscovery of the Unity of the Body of Christ	p. 28
Why Does This Recognition Have a Painful Edge for Protestants?	p. 28
Can Christian Teaching Be Trusted If It Lacks Scriptural Grounding and an Orthodox Historical Textuary?	p. 29
Ecumenical Dialogue Needs These Arguments	p. 29
Assessing the Joint Declaration	p. 31
The Growing Hunger for Greater Evangelical Unity in the Gospel	p. 32
The Search for Balance and the Hazard of Presenting Too Little Evidence or Too Much	p. 33
Fairly Assessing the Evidence	p. 35
Justification Defined	p. 36
Rehearsing the Classic Consensus on Justification	p. 36
What Is Justification?	p. 36
The Way to Consensus	p. 38
Representative Reformed Confessions on Justification	p. 39
The Lutheran Formula of Concord	p. 40
Baptist Confessions	p. 40
Anglican Tradition	p. 41
Wesleyan Traditions	p. 41
Pentecostal Traditions	p. 42
Arguing Consensuality	p. 43
Introducing Locus Classicus Patristic Texts on Justification	p. 44
Early Eastern Voices on Justification	p. 44
Early Western Voices on Justification	p. 45
A Case in Point: Consensual Interpretation of Ephesians 2	p. 47
Whether These Voices Harmonize: Modest Objectives on Doctrinal Concurrence	p. 49
God's Costly Way of Reestablishing a Right Relation with the Sinner	p. 50
Comparing Old and New Testament Interpretations of Justification	p. 50
Old Testament Anticipations	p. 50
Why Do We So Fiercely Resist Hearing This Good News?	p. 51
While You Were Yet Ungodly	p. 52
How Divine Love Brings Sinners into an Uprighted Relation with Divine Justice	p. 53
Unpacking the Courtroom Metaphor	p. 53
The Judge and the Law	p. 54
Elements of the Courtroom Drama	p. 54
Our Advocate	p. 55
How Clemency Comes Late in the Trial	p. 55
The Acquittal	p. 56
There Is Now No Condemnation	p. 57
Behavioral Righteousness Distinguished from Juridical Righteousness	p. 58
Receiving Righteousness from God	p. 60
Justified by His Blood	p. 60
In What Sense Is Christ "Made to Be Sin for Us"?	p. 60
Expiation	p. 62
Justified by His Blood	p. 63
Much More Are We Saved by His Blood	p. 64
What Is Redemption?	p. 65
The Exchange	p. 65
How Righteousness Is Revealed	p. 66
Righteousness Belongs to God	p. 66
Righteousness Revealed in Creation and Conscience	p. 67
Righteousness Revealed in the Gospel	p. 68
Giving Account on the Last Day	p. 68
Our Appropriation of God's Righteousness	p. 69
Christ Is Our Only Righteousness	p. 69
Sin Made Apparent by the Law	p. 70
Works Righteousness Rejected	p. 71
Is the Law Overthrown?	p. 73
Neither Circumcision Nor Uncircumcision Yields Advantage	p. 74
Counting All Loss for Christ	p. 75
The Power of His Resurrection	p. 77
Grace Alone
Why Imputed Grace Dislodges All Boasting	p. 81
Defining Grace	p. 81
Scriptural Terms for God's Unmerited Mercy	p. 81
The Wooing of Sinners	p. 83
The Nurture of Gracious Ability	p. 83
The Demeanor of Grace	p. 83
God's Own Gift of Himself	p. 83
The Gift	p. 84
Life as Unearned Gift	p. 85
Works and Grace Contrasted	p. 86
How Grace Grounds Justification: By Free Grace We Have Full Satisfaction	p. 87
We Are Justified as a Gift	p. 87
Four Related Metaphorical Arenas: Forgiving, Pardoning, Accounting, and Reconciling	p. 87
Forgiving and Pardoning: Are They Distinguishable?	p. 88
Distinguishing Pardon and Justification	p. 89
Only God Can Justly Forgive Sin	p. 89
Who Can Pardon?	p. 90
Forgiveness as Given	p. 90
Imputed Righteousness	p. 91
The Bookkeeping Analogy	p. 92
Discharging Sin and Crediting Righteousness	p. 92
The New Accounting	p. 93
Remission of Debt	p. 94
Summarizing the Confluence of Biblical Metaphors	p. 94
The Fathers Teach the Unmerited Grace of the Triune God	p. 95
The Grace of the Triune God	p. 95
The Spirit Is the Gift	p. 96
The God of All Grace	p. 97
Receiving Grace, Growing in Grace, Living under Grace	p. 98
Receiving Grace	p. 99
Growing in Grace	p. 99
Living under Grace	p. 100
How Protestant Definitions of Grace Confirm the Patristic Consensus	p. 101
Standard Lutheran Confessions	p. 101
Reformed Confessions	p. 102
A Congregationalist Standard	p. 103
A Baptist Standard	p. 103
Anglican Standards	p. 104
Wesleyan Standards	p. 104
Contemporary Evangelicals Speak Together	p. 105
Conclusion: Whether There Is a Consensual Protestant Teaching of Grace	p. 105
Let the Fathers Speak for Themselves on Sola Gratia	p. 107
By Grace You Are Saved	p. 107
The Fathers Teach That We Are Freely Justified as a Gift	p. 107
The Fathers Teach That Faith Alone Saves	p. 108
The Fathers Teach That Grace Is Unsearchable	p. 109
The Fathers Teach That Grace Enables Freedom	p. 110
The Fathers Teach That All Boasting Is Out of Place	p. 111
No Room for Boasting	p. 111
Glorifying God, Not Human Works	p. 112
The Strength of Grace Works Precisely through Human Weakness	p. 113
The Grace of Resurrection	p. 113
Grace in Action	p. 114
How Grace Works	p. 114
Grace Can Only Be Received	p. 115
The Gift of Faith and Human Agency	p. 116
Faith Is a Gift Requiring a Response	p. 117
Grace and Active Willing	p. 117
Receptive Faith and Its Activity; Active Faith and Its Receptivity	p. 118
The Grace of Effectual Calling	p. 120
Preparing Grace Leads to Calling	p. 120
Sufficient Grace	p. 120
New Life under Grace	p. 121
Dying to Sin, Living to God	p. 121
Dead in Trespasses, Raised Up with Christ	p. 122
A Special Grace Is Given to the Humble	p. 122
Freedom Undiminished by Grace	p. 123
Using without Abusing Grace	p. 124
The Grace That Is Coming	p. 125
By Faith Alone
Justifying Faith	p. 129
What Is Faith?	p. 129
Faith Defined	p. 130
Personal Trust	p. 130
Faith Classically Defined in Hebrews 11:1	p. 131
The Certainty of What We Do Not See	p. 131
The Simplicity of Faith	p. 131
Risk-Taking Trust Is Required to Learn of Faith	p. 131
Faith's Evidences	p. 132
Trusting beyond Sight without Doubt	p. 133
The Condition for Receiving Justifying Grace	p. 133
Justifying Grace Received Only by Faith	p. 134
The Gift Requires a Response	p. 134
Without Faith It Is Impossible to Please God	p. 135
The Power of Faith	p. 136
How Faith Is Congruent with Justification	p. 136
Justifying Faith	p. 136
Does Faith as Such Justify Apart from Grace?	p. 137
Whether Faith Is a Condition of Salvation	p. 137
Faith Requires Renunciation, Freely Resolving to Live a Life of Righteousness	p. 138
Faith in God's Righteousness	p. 139
Approaching God with Grounded Confidence	p. 139
Faith Is the Work of the Spirit	p. 139
Faith and the Means of Grace	p. 140
Gaining Confidence in Approaching God	p. 141
Confess with the Lips What Is Believed in the Heart	p. 141
Whether There Is a Patristic Consensus	p. 143
Biblical Examples of Faith	p. 144
Faith as Exemplified by Abraham	p. 144
Righteousness Was Accounted to Abraham Due to His Faith Alone	p. 146
Distinguishing Implicit from Explicit Faith	p. 146
Classic Distinctions Regarding Faith	p. 148
Saving Faith Distinguished from General Human Faith	p. 148
General Faith and the History of Religions	p. 149
The Possibility of Faith	p. 150
Faith as Believing and Believed	p. 151
Contending for the Faith	p. 152
How Saving Faith May Be Studied	p. 152
Historical Faith and Intellectual Assent	p. 153
An Act of Mind, Will, and Heart	p. 154
Faith Assents with the Mind to the Truth of the Word	p. 155
Faith Consents with the Whole Will to Surrender to the Word	p. 157
Faith Trusts with the Heart in the Living Word	p. 157
Conclusion	p. 161
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

The Justification Reader

At a Glance

Paperback

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