Justification

This was an excellent read. Braaten is easy to follow and understand, and he articulates this article well. The 1st chapter of the book describes how justification lost its central role in Lutheran theology and needs to be reclaimed, it serves as an excellent introduction to the work. The first part of the book describes the article of justification by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone as it has been taught by historic Lutheran theologians, neo-Lutheran theologians, and others, it covers a history of the article of justification in chapter 2, Paul Tillich's thoughts on justification in chapter 3, Battles between Lutheran theologians and Karl Barth in chapter 4, and the gospel in chapter 5. The history of the article of justification is very good and very necessary, showing us that Luther did not formulate the doctrine himself but was really drawing upon the Apostle Paul, Thomas Aquinus, and St. Augustine before him. Braaten also makes the case of the importance of justification as the central article of the church because it deals with our standing before our Holy God. I must admit, I am not too familiar with the works of Paul Tillich, so I will only say that if the picture that Braaten paints of him is accurate, then he is a voice that needs to be heeded in our time. The debates between Barth and Lutheran theologians in chapter 4, even though Barth and the Lutherans both claim justification as the central article of their theology, help us to understand both how far modern Lutheranism has come from its understanding of itself, and how much it needs to reclaim. However, I only say this with reference to early Barth, because as his doctrine of justification grew with time, he took away from it the sola gratia sola fide solus Christus and added a process to it. In the final chapter in the first part of the book, Braaten illustrates the gospel for us, as he speaks about the nature of justifying faith and justifying grace. This is an excellent chapter! It goes through the contemporary questions on justification, presents scripture in its defense and then goes on to address its centralily in the church. This chapter is, in my opinion, the capstone of the book. The second part of the book deals with practical applications of the doctrine of justification. In chapter 6, Braaten writes about the Lutheran ecumenical dialogues, and how they danced around the issue of justification in most of them (excluding the Lutheran-Reformed dialogue, in which they seemed to have reached real consensus). In chapter 7, Braaten deals with God's universal grace. In chapter 8, he deals with the proper distinction between law and gospel in preaching, in chapter 9, Braaten writes about justification and clinical pastoral education, and finally in chapter 10, he speaks about the idea of the church dealing only with the realm of the spiritual, and the government dealing only with the realm of the political. Chapter 6 was worthwhile on