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This chapter focuses on Martin Luther and his search for a gracious God. It surveys Luther’s life as a prelude to his theological and biblical studies which culminated in a new understanding of his place before God as he wrestled with the meaning of Romans 1:17. It concludes with a discussion of the history of interpretation of this text and its understanding among contemporary commentators.

This chapter surveys the various hypotheses suggested by scholars for establishing Victorinus’ motivations for commenting on the Pauline corpus. Reader-response criticism is employed to elucidate Victorinus’ intentions toward his audience. The dating of the commentaries, in relation to that of his Trinitarian treatises, is closely examined. Two major thematic complexes emerge from a reading of the extant commentaries on Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians: the Trinitarian Controversy; and justification by faith, often accompanied by polemics against Judaizing Christians. Victorinus’ concern to articulate an understanding of God and Christ consonant with the creed of Nicea is patent, but the attempt to identify that concern as the major motivation for his authorship of the commentaries is unconvincing. Victorinus’ frequent polemics against Jewish practices derives his own concern about Christians engaged in Judaizing — such Judaizing being well-documented by a variety of fourth-century sources. Victorinus’ pioneering employment of the formulation ‘faith alone’ (sola fides) and his understanding of justification by faith does not reach the point of Augustine’s anti-Pelagian exegesis but is not itself reducible to an incipient Pelagianism.

Human beings face two great problems: guilt and death. Although disembodied existence is in some sense possible, it would be an attenuated existence since we are normally embodied beings, and complete and ideal existence for us is embodied. Matter is not evil because it was created by God, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good. We are redeemed from guilt and death by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Despite Catholic and Protestant differences at this point, Christians largely agree that we are justified by faith in Christ. Two different scenarios for the general resurrection are discussed, as well as the beatific vision.

Examines Bunyan’s soteriology as propounded in his doctrinal writings, concentrating on works in which Bunyan’s position on justification, election, antinomianism, and the role of human will in salvation are central. Bunyan’s salvatory emphasis lies less on the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination and more on salvation by grace and justification by faith, according to the Reformed tenets of his covenant theology. Bunyan’s purpose is to comfort rather than condemn anyone terrorized by the ‘law’ (i.e. by any attempt to achieve salvation by works). Two of Bunyan’s texts (A Mapp Shewing the Order and Causes of Salvation, and An Exposition on the Ten First Chapters of Genesis) are read ‘gracefully’: that is, with a revised understanding of Bunyan’s theology and as subversive of narrative expectations.

Chapter 2 begins with a description of the significance of the Psalms in Luther's life, theology, and exegesis. It argues that Luther remains in keeping with the antecedent interpretive tradition by viewing these eight messianic Psalms as being literal prophecies of Christ and as providing clear teachings concerning Trinity and the two natures of Christ. The chapter traces the development of Luther's Psalms exegesis over time by demonstrating new themes, such as the themes of comfort and the teaching of justification by faith alone. The author also shows development in Luther's reading strategies, such as the replacement of spirit versus letter with Law versus Gospel, and particularly points to the negative theological role Jews play in Luther's exegesis. Luther depicts the Jews as the archenemy of Christ and the church—an image that is then redeployed by him against the Roman Catholics.

This chapter explores central Protestant objections to purgatory, namely, that it is not clearly taught in scripture, and it undermines the work of Christ for our salvation and the doctrine of justification by faith. It also examines Protestant accounts of how believers are perfected and made ready for heaven, accounts that provide alternatives to the doctrine of purgatory. These include Lutheran, Reformed, and Wesleyan accounts, with primary focus on classical sources. Contemporary spokesmen are also examined, some of whom show openness to a reassessment of the doctrine.

This chapter applies the pneumatological and affective account of “experience” given in Chapter 2 to examine the work of the Spirit in salvation. It focuses on the movement in contemporary soteriology away from traditional Protestant theologies of justification by faith and towards theologies of participation and theosis. It analyzes a series of recent accounts to demonstrate that soteriologies of participation either have significant difficulties in articulating how the saving work of the Spirit is experienced in bodies (as in Torrance and Tanner), or else end up with a problematically optimistic account of the Spirit’s transformative work in Christians (as in contemporary neo-Thomism). It then argues that Philip Melanchthon’s sixteenth-century account of justification by faith is substantially more successful on both counts. This is due to Melanchthon’s extensive use of affective categories to make sense of how salvation in the Spirit comes to be experienced in ways that are legible in embodied human lives. This section also provides an extended refutation of the “legal fiction” argument against traditional Protestant soteriologies, made recently by Milbank, amongst others. The chapter concludes by drawing on patristic accounts of soteriological participation to argue that affective transformation of the kind described by Melanchthon can be construed as a form of soteriological participation.

A Venetian diplomat, who late in life was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III, Gasparo Contarini favored mild policies aimed at reconciling dissident Protestants with the Catholic Church. At the Colloquy of Regensburg in 1541, Contarini supported the doctrine of double justification (or double justice), which was later rejected by the Council of Trent. Contarini believed this doctrine to be an acceptable compromise formulation that attempted to preserve the best of traditional Catholic teaching concerning grace in combination with the most persuasive elements of the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone.

This chapter addresses the first of the book’s key questions concerning the justification of the doubter: How did Tillich land theologically after the war? This chapter therefore creates a point of reference against which Tillich’s development can be measured. There is a detailed account of Rechtfertigung und Zweifel from 1919, occasionally drawing out contrasts and continuity with the publication of the same title from 1924. Tillich frames the theme as a quest to overcome the division between religious and cultural life, finding unity in one theological principle derived from the doctrine of justification: The principle takes up doubt into itself in believing affirmation of the absolute paradox, i.e. to affirm that doubt does not preclude standing in the truth. In long excursions on certainty and the critique of apologetics as ‘intellectual work’ analogous to works-righteousness, Tillich contrasts his position with Karl Heim (1874–1958) in particular. Against Heim, Tillich insists the doubter should be left with his good truth-conscience since we relate truly to God ‘through unending doubt’.

This chapter introduces Luther’s sermon on usury, and situates it in the context of his day. It then gives a commentary on Luther’s method in the sermon, discussing inter alia such matters as its genre, Luther’s moral understanding of ‘the gospel’ and its relation to financial and commercial matters, and the way in which Luther reads and deploys Scripture in social ethics. Also analysed are the ways in which Luther exploits particular doctrines (such as creation and justification by faith alone) with respect to a moral question, and his core theopolitical concept of the twofold government of God. This chapter analyses the way in which Luther brings these theological motifs to bear on a pressing economic question which confronted him: the rise of the Zinskauf, a method of lending money at interest which circumvented canonical prohibitions on usury.

This chapter argues that the band meeting was the key expression of John Wesley’s synthesis of Anglican and Moravian piety. The chapter describes the ways in which the band meeting expressed each aspect of this synthesis and argues that the distinct theological contribution of the Wesleyan bands was the conjunction of the Moravian emphasis on justification by faith and assurance with the Anglican emphasis on growth in holiness through a disciplined practice of the means of grace. The chapter particularly focuses on the ways in which both Moravian and Anglican piety are expressed in Wesley’s “Rules of the Band Societies.” The chapter then outlines the extent to which Wesley’s insistence on the importance of each aspect of this synthesis led to conflicts with both Anglicans and Moravians. The chapter concludes by arguing that the band meeting was the ideal location for the pursuit of holiness of heart and life in early Methodism.

Gerald R. McDermott considers Jonthan Edwards in a broader evangelical context. Can Edwards be considered an evangelical? Defining the term evangelical is a contested and thorny issue, even more so as it has become entwined with politics. In McDermott’s view, what is at the heart of the matter is one’s understanding of the Protestant principle of sola scriptura and its relationship to the Great Tradition. To probe where Edwards falls on this question, McDermott explores his approach to the key doctrines of justification by faith alone, the analogy of being, and metaphysics, and he compares his approach with typically Catholic and typically Protestant positions. McDermott concludes that Edwards followed not a rigorist but a prima scriptura approach to the sola scriptura principle, one that stands in unison with the Great Tradition and offers guidance for evangelicals today.

Widely recognized as the leading Scottish theologian of the twentieth century, Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007) was noteworthy as a dogmatic theologian for his influential explication of Trinitarian doctrine as it was developed by Nicene theologians. He was also a prominent figure in ecumenical theology, notably working with Eastern Orthodox theologians towards agreement on the doctrine of the Trinity. Torrance contributed greatly to ecumenical dialogue among Reformed, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics, with his innovative and substantive understanding of the Church and sacraments, as well as nature and grace. Torrance’s expertise was not limited to dogmatics as he was also one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century to publish extensively on the relationship between science and theology. Torrance’s influence is indicated by the increasing number of doctoral dissertations devoted to his theology, the existence of a scholarly society formed to discuss and disseminate his ideas in critical dialogue, and the volume of secondary literature devoted to his thinking.

This chapter explores the ways in which Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical settings can add to and change the religious meanings of his texts. Several of Bach’s church cantatas concern the ancient theme of the mundus inversus (World Upside Down), and others provide nonverbal nuances to their consideration of the pastoral and of the notion in Lutheranism of “justification by faith through grace.” Accepting the idea that Bach’s musical settings can theologically expand upon and interpret his librettos need not involve downplaying the aesthetic splendor of his works. In the end, this chapter suggests, moreover, that insisting on exclusively aesthetic contemplation of Bach’s music potentially diminishes its meanings and actually reduces its stature.

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer is a revised recension of a liturgical text, first issued in 1549, which was at once an engine and a product of the English Reformation. This chapter situates the original Prayer Book in that context, and offers a detailed examination of its most contested text: the Supper of the Lord and the Holy Communion. This service was heavily revised in 1552, and the revisions shed light on the intentions of the revisers and the meaning of the revised text, which remains largely the same in the final revision of 1662. Among the theological issues involved were justification by faith, the presence of Christ, the nature of a sacrament, and the purpose of the eucharistic liturgy in a reformed church. This chapter also considers, more briefly, the revisions of other services that were made in 1552.

The conclusion to Part I introduces the reader to the crisis that hit Oxford and other universities in the 1520s with the spread of the Reformation. It briefly explains why Martin Luther’s theology of justification by faith alone was so destructive to the structure of the late medieval church, charts the first signs of Lutheranism in Oxford, looks at Oxford’s first Protestant reformer of significance—the martyr and translator of the New Testament, William Tyndale—and shows how Henry VIII’s ‘Great Matter’—his desire for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon—forced an orthodox and conservative institution down a road it would not have travelled freely.