The God Who Justifies [Hardcover]

James White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

This comprehensive yet accessible study provides readers with a thorough understanding of justification.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James R. White is the author of several acclaimed books, including The King James Only Controversy and The Forgetten Trinity. He is an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church, director of Alpha and Omega Ministries—a Christian apologetics organization, an adjunct professor with Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and a professor of apologetics with Columbia Evangelical Seminary. He and his family live in Phoenix.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764222880
• ISBN-13: 978-0764222887
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Presentation of the Gospel, April 19, 2005

By 

theologicalresearcher "theologicalresearcher" (Canada) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The God Who Justifies (Hardcover)

For those who want to understand the historic Protestant (and Biblical) understanding of justification this book should be the first place to start. White does an excellent job presenting the Gospel in its purity and wholeness without compromise. The structure of the book is well organized and easy to follow through. The first half of the book (pp. 17-123) deals with important themes related to the concept of justification. This includes topics like man's total depravity, sin, transgression, the meaning of justification, the reason for justification by faith alone, the grounds for our justification, and imputation of righteousness. The second half (pp. 125-374) is an exegetical defense of the historic Protestant understanding of justification. White goes over passages in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, James, 2 Corinthians, and Titus. He makes a convincing and exegetically sound argument for the historic Protestant view of justification by faith alone. Though White gets very technical and detailed in his exegesis of these passages, even a layperson will have no trouble understanding what White is saying. Particularly valuable is his exegesis of James 2:14-26. Roman Catholics and pseudo-Protestants have often used this passage to attack the traditional Protestant understanding of justification by faith alone. However, White does an excellent job explaining what James REALLY meant to say in this passage (e.g., true faith is demonstrated before men by actions). This book is refreshing considering that in recent years the doctrine of justification by faith alone has not only been attacked by Roman Catholics, but also by those who claim to be evangelical Protestants! Yes, pseudo-Protestants are everywhere these days. This book, however, should set the record straight on what the Bible really teaches regarding justification. In fact, after reading this book one will realize that many groups who claim to be evangelical Protestants are actually NOT at all (e.g., Wesleyans, Holiness people, neo-Reformed groups, etc.). White has done the Body of Christ a great service by writing this book. This is an invaluable work that needs to be in every Christian bookshelf.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expounding on the Doctrine of Justification, August 5, 2005

By 

Michael Ruangnol (Los Angeles, ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The God Who Justifies (Hardcover)

Dr. James White in "The God who Justifies" expounds on the doctrine of Justification like a true theologian can, but preaches like a preacher should. This book is not for the theologically shallow and uses alot of Greek. For the well informed lay Christian, even with out the knowledge of Greek can still benifit greatly.

Great job.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent study on justification, September 9, 2001

By 

Austin C. Brown - See all my reviews

This review is from: The God Who Justifies (Hardcover)

The God who justifies, by James White, is an excellent study on the doctrine of justification.

Really, the book can be divided into two main sections. The first section (which is about a third of the book) preaches the doctrine of justification. I found it powerful and convicting. He emphasized over and over again that this doctrine cannot be appreciated unless it is set against the backdrop of our sinfulness and God's absolute holiness. He is right.

The second section is a defense of what he preached. It is an exegetical commentary of the most relevant sections in Scripture (Romans, Galatians, James, etc.) pertaining to the topic at hand. He does an excellent job doing just that. It is not discursive and it is not shallow. Rather, it is focused and scholarly. And I appreciated the frequent quoting and interaction with various theologians.

I think that Roman Catholic readers will be challenged by this work. And because Dr. White is such a well known apologist against Roman Catholicism one can expect this book to be the focus of some debate. I think his format and approach will lend itself towards constructive dialogue, in that Dr. White does not resort to emotional outbursts nor unguarded statements. Also, the tone that has been set is good in that it encourages rigorous study of the Word of God and not counter rebuttals to what someone else has said in previous pieces of literature. You don't get bogged down.

One complaint that I want to register here is his failure to discuss the relationship between being justified by God and the function of warning passages. How is it that a justified saint can be told to continue in the faith or else face condemnation- or face the potentiality for condemnation at all (1 Cor. 11:32)? This issue is not discussed. For this reason I reduced the rating one star. This issue is a very important thought that needs to be explored, but wasn't.

All in all though, for the price, it is something to own and read and consider carefully.