Justification by the Word

D. Kilcrease Jack

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Theology
• History of religions
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lexham Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 0001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781683596073
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Justification BY THE Word
RESTORING SOLA FIDE
Jack D. Kilcrease
Justification by the Word: Restoring Sola Fide
Copyright 2022 Jack D. Kilcrease
Lexham Academic, an imprint of Lexham Press
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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are the author’s own translation or are from the ESV ® Bible ( The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ® ), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy Bible, New International Version ® , NIV ® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Print ISBN 9781683596035
Digital ISBN 9781683596073
Library of Congress Control Number 2022933930
Lexham Editorial: Todd Hains, Caleb Kormann, John Barach, Mandi Newell
Cover Design: Kristen Cork, Brittany Schrock
Thanksgiving for the Word
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God gives life to the dead
and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Rom 4:17
Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Ps 107:10–11
Then they cried to the L ORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
Ps 107:13–14
He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
Ps 107:20
Forever, O L ORD , your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Ps 119:89
O L ORD , I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
Ps 26:8
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Blessed Lord, you sent out your word to heal us and deliver us from destruction. Grant that we might so receive and cherish your word that we might embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Contents
A BBREVIATIONS
I NTRODUCTION
C HAPTER 1
Justification and the Word:
Human Experience and Creation
C HAPTER 2
Justification and the Old Testament:
Salvation through the Word in the Hebrew Bible
C HAPTER 3
Justification and Christ:
Salvation Through the Word in the Ministry of Jesus
C HAPTER 4
Justification in Paul:
The Eschatological Redemption by the Word of God
C HAPTER 5
Justification in the Early Church and Augustine:
The Bishop of Hippo’s Theological Foundations
C HAPTER 6
Augustine on Justification:
The Origins of the Augustinian Dilemma
C HAPTER 7
Justification in the Middle Ages:
Augustinian and Aristotelian Legacies in Latin Theology
C HAPTER 8
Justification and Young Luther:
The Genesis of Humilitastheologie
C HAPTER 9
The Reformation Breakthrough:
Luther’s Rediscovery of the Sacramentality of the Word
C HAPTER 10
Justification and Post-Luther Lutheran Theology:
The Outworking of Luther’s Legacy
C HAPTER 11
Post-Reformation Protestant Theology:
The Return of the Augustinian Dilemma
C HAPTER 12
Justification and Election:
God’s Hiddenness in the Means of Grace
C HAPTER 13
Justification and Election:
God’s Hiddenness outside the Means of Grace
C HAPTER 14
Justification and the Sacraments:
The General Concept of Sacraments
C HAPTER 15
Justification and the Sacraments:
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
C HAPTER 16
Justification and the Christian Life:
The Sacramental Word in Action
C HAPTER 17
Six Theses on Justification:
Its Place in Christian Faith and Life
B IBLIOGRAPHY
S UBJECT AND N AME I NDEX
S CRIPTURE I NDEX
Abbreviations
ANF
Ante-Nicene Fathers . Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. 10 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004
Ap
Apology to the Augsburg Confession
CA
Unaltered Augsburg Confession
CD
Church Dogmatics . Karl Barth. Edited by G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance. Translated by G. T. Thomason et al. 4 vols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956–1975
FC Ep
Epitome of the Formula of Concord
ICR
Institutes . John Calvin. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960
LC
Large Catechism of Martin Luther
LW
Luther’s Works [American Edition]. 82 vols. projected. St. Louis: Concordia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1955–1986, 2009–
NPNF1
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers . First Series. Edited by Philip Schaff. 14 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004
NPNF2
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers . Second Series. Edited by Philip Schaff and William Wace. 14 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004
SA
Smalcald Articles of Martin Luther
SC
Small Catechism of Martin Luther
FC SD
Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord
WA
D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesammtausgabe. 73 vols. Weimar: Hermann Böhlau and H. Böhlaus Nachfolg, 1883–2009
WABr
D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe: Briefwechsel . 18 vols. Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1930–1983
WATR
D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe: Tischreden . 6 vols. Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1912–1921
Introduction
C entral to Christian theology is the question of how a sinner is capable of standing as righteous before a holy God. This is not because, following something like a “Central Dogma Theory,” 1 it is possible to reduce all doctrines to a single soteriological doctrine. Moreover, the centrality of the need for eschatological righteousness before God does not mean that other activities (such as moral formation and works of mercy) are unimportant to the life and identity of the Church. Nevertheless, in that at the end of all things humanity’s eternal destiny will be determined by their ability to stand as righteous before a holy God, all other doctrines and works of the Church stand as penultimate to the goal of standing as righteous before the Lord. This status as righteous before God and the eschatological vindication that it brings is what St. Paul called “justification.”
Since Christianity, along with Judaism and Islam, agrees that salvation comes about only by way of attaining a status of righteous, then it is necessarily the case that justification is the central doctrine not only of Christianity, 2 but also of the other so-called Abrahamic religions. All religions are defined by the salvation that they offer. As the content of salvation offered by the Abrahamic religions, justification cannot help but be their central doctrine. 3 This being said, contrary to the implication of Lessing’s parable of the three rings, 4 Christianity’s understanding of justification stands out from the other Abrahamic religions. Whereas Judaism and Islam see no problem with the claim that justification may be wrought through an obedience to the will of the Creator, the project of Christian theology began precisely because the death and resurrection of Jesus called this supposition into question (Gal 2:21). Although broadly speaking, Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians have historically been divided regarding how Jesus’s death and resurrection allow humans to stand as righteous before God (i.e., moral transformation vs. imputed righteousness), over against Judaism and Islam they nevertheless agree that it is ultimately through grace that human beings are placed in the status of righteous.
In spite of this historic division between Roman Catholics and Protestants on the question of justification, there has been an unanimity of focus in both groups on the subjective reception of the righteousness of God. That is to say, both Roman Catholics and Protestants have historically tended to center their theologies of justification on what steps individuals must take to appropriate the merit of Christ. Catholics have debated amongst themselves the necessity or lack of necessity of a certain disposition to divine grace as much as Protestants have debated free will and the signs of authentic conversion. 5 Within the Protestant tradition, these debates are rather ironic in light of the Magisterial Reformation’s emphasis on the externality and unconditionality of grace.
Particularly with regard to the historic Protestant tradition, this point has been made forcefully by Phillip Cary in his essay “ Why Luther is Not Quite Protestant: The Logic of Faith in a Sacramental Promise .” 6 When dealing with justification in the theology of Luther and comparing it to subsequent Protestantism, Cary observes that most Protestants have focused on the reality of faith. In this, faith and its authenticity are considered the decisive factor. This gives rise to the soteriological syllogism that Cary outlines thus:
Major premise: Whoever believes in Christ is saved.
Minor premise: I believe in Christ.
Conclusion: I am saved. 7
Of course, this raises the problem of how one knows that they have authentic faith. Many Protestants have therefore been fixated on discovering secondary signs that confirm the authenticity of faith: a particular kind of conversion experience, good works, wealth, personal holiness or spiritual gifts, and perhaps even snake handling!
When turning to Luther’s theology, Cary observes that the focus shifts from the authenticity of faith to the authenticity of God’s promise made concrete and tangible in the means of grace. Thus, Cary renders Luther’s soteriological syllogism thus:
Major premise: Christ told me, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Minor premise: Christ never lies but only tells the truth.
Conclusion: I am baptized (i.e., I have new life in Christ). 8
As Cary correctly observes, al