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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Academic writing -- payoff being enriched by justification truths, February 28, 2007
This review is from: Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation (Paperback)
Towards the end of his book, Brian Vickers writes, "The present work relies on a mixture of exegesis and synthesis to argue for imputation. Hopefully this synthesis is based on exegesis, because the goal has never been to argue for imputation on purely `theological' or traditional grounds, though the question derives from traditional Protestant, particularly Lutheran and Reformed, categories" (p. 225). After coming to the end of this densely written tome, one agrees heartily with Vickers that his work blends exegesis and theological synthesis to defend more than sufficiently the traditional doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the believer in justification. Though not exactly traditional, i.e., lining up at every point with the classic Reformed model of imputation, Vickers' conclusions about this crucial doctrine is thoroughly biblical, grounded in a deep study of the Hebrew and especially Greek of the pertinent texts, and Christ-honoring to say the least. Vickers' book is divided into five main sections, and a conclusion. He begins aptly by tracing the "loose trajectories" of the discourse on imputation "through theological traditions." He begins with Luther and traces the arc of discussion to 20th century German liberal theology, the New Perspective on Paul, and those who are solidly Reformed in their soteriology but for various reasons do not hold explicitly to the doctrine of the imputation, to the believer, of Christ's righteousness in perfectly obeying the Law. In fact, one criticism against this book would be the lack of space devoted to the idea of Christ's perfect obedience counting for the believer. Aside from that minor criticism, the book more than ably wades its way through the deep waters of rich "justification texts," namely three: Rom 4:3-8, Rom 5:12-21, and 2 Cor 5:21. He begins with Abraham and the reckoning of righteousness. His main points here are (1) that "faith is not itself the righteousness" but rather the instrument that "unites the believer to the object of faith," and that object is the only source of righteousness (p. 111), and (2) forgiveness is one aspect of Paul's doctrine of justification, not synonymous with it. This is a point that he emphasizes as he seeks to unfold the comprehensive nature of the biblical doctrine of justification. In the section on the foundation of righteousness, he concludes that "the ground for the status `righteous' had to be attained before it could be applied" (p. 157). Easily the longest chapter in the book, it goes into great detail on Rom 5:12-21, dissecting the Adam-Christ complex and confirming the word for "being made" in the Greek refers to "status, not personal actions (p. 156). This status is conferred upon a believer because of the representational nature of Christ for all those who are one with Him. The provision and imputation of righteousness make up the final two chapters. In the former, he examines the OT background of the phrase "made to be sin" in 2 Cor 5:21. He concludes that it refers to a sacrifice for sin because of its relation to the language and concepts concerning sacrifices in the OT (pointing to the LXX translations of Lev 4:3 and 5:6 and how hamartiacan be used for both "sin" and "sin offering"), the greater context of reconciliation (again Leviticus cited as support for the concept of reconciliation in sacrificial contexts), and the context of 2 Cor 5:21 (which focuses on the vicarious nature of Christ's death--"one died for all," v. 14, and "not reckoning their sins to them," v. 19, and the perfection of His sacrifice--"who knew no sin," v. 21). He also tackles the debate over the phrase "the righteousness of God." While examining and overturning various exegetical options, Vickers deals at length with the view that this concept refers to the covenant faithfulness of God. He concludes, "It is more accurate to say that God's covenant faithfulness is an expression of this righteousness, or that it manifests his righteousness, rather than being his righteousness" (p. 182). He also states, "The forensic element of 2 Corinthians 5:21 argues forcefully against the covenant faithfulness view" (ibid). In the final chapter, the author examines, in synthetic fashion, the common threads in the three major imputation texts he has already studied. Upon concluding this examination, he takes up the discussion on the "active" and "passive" obedience of Christ. He states that all obedience contains both elements, and that Christ's obedience was passive in that He voluntarily accepted God's wrath against sin and active in that He willingly bore the just penalty for sin (p. 197). All this to say that the obedience of Christ to God on the Father, supremely demonstrated (or culminating) in His death on the cross includes both "the provision for the forgiveness of sins and a positive standing before God" on the basis of the Lord's perfect obedience, not just in death, but in life as well. Vickers nicely ends his book tackling several other key objections to the traditional Protestant doctrine of justification. He tackles the arguments that this doctrine amounts to nothing more than a legal fiction, that it is a systematic not a biblical idea, that Christ's positive obedience is nowhere specifically stated as being imputed to the believer, and that imputation leads to antinomianism. In a short space, he ably refutes these objections and defends the traditional understanding of justification. His refutations themselves are noteworthy demonstrations of blending rigorous exegesis with theological synthesis and harmonization of various texts and doctrines. Overall, Vickers' book has taken the exposition of the doctrine of justification one step forward in our current times where it is being undermined by the New Perspective on Paul. The frightening reality that its eclipse is being ushered in and greeted by conservative evangelical theologians should not draw us out of the battle for truth, but determinedly back into it; armed with the Bible and with volumes such as this one, we are equipped with exegetical and theological insights that appeal not to theology and confessions and creeds but to the Word of God itself in the original languages. It is an academic piece, one that requires patient, methodical reading/engagement. The payoff of being enriched once again by the great justification truths emanating from some crucial portions of Scripture more than validates one's time with the book. - Jason Park, Christian Book [...]
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Outstanding Work of Evangelical Scholarship, January 16, 2007
This review is from: Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation (Paperback)
Anyone who has been paying attention to Evangelical theology in North America knows that the doctrine of Justification has become quite a hot topic. Not only has the "New Perspective" on Paul offered a challenge to the traditional Protestant formulation (e.g. James Dunn, N. T. Wright), but so have some dissenting voices from within the conservative sector of the evangelical fold (e.g. Robert Gundry). In 1999, when Christianity Today published "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration," Robert Gundry responded by saying, "the doctrine that Christ's righteousness is imputed to believing sinners needs to be abandoned" and "that doctrine of imputation is not even biblical" (source). The opinion that Gundry expresses has become somewhat of a standard view among scholars of the New Testament, and this departure has caused no little controversy among evangelicals who continue to regard the doctrine of imputation as a crucial biblical teaching (see the exchange between Gundry and Thomas Oden in Books & Culture as well as the essays by Gundry and Carson in Justification: What's at Stake in the Current Debates?). Brian Vickers enters this fray with Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation. Vickers is a New Testament scholar by training, but he goes against the tide of his guild by defending the traditional Protestant formulation of the imputation of Christ's righteousness, though he does so in a way that interprets key Pauline texts in a non-traditional way. After a brief introduction, chapter one introduces the reader to the history of interpretation of the key texts--a history that begins with Martin Luther and traces through the modern day. Chapters two through four consist of Vickers' exegesis of three Pauline texts that have had a central place in discussions of imputation: Romans 4, Romans 5:19, and 2 Corinthians 5:21. In each of these texts, Vickers contends that there is a subject, an action, and a result. ........................SUBJECT....ACTION............RESULT Romans 4:3.........Abraham....Faith................Reckoned Righteousness Romans 5:19........Christ.......Obedience.........Made Righteous 2 Corinthians 5:21.God..........Made Christ Sin..Became Righteousness Though the subjects and actions are different, all of these texts result in righteousness to the sinner. Chapter five synthesizes the Pauline teaching with respect to imputation and answers objections to the tradition formulation of the doctrine. Chapter six concludes with a summary of the book's arguments and a recapitulation of the book's thesis that Paul teaches Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer. I noted above that Vickers argues for imputation in a "non-traditional" way. What I mean by that is that he comes to his conclusions through an exegesis that is decidedly non-traditional. Vickers writes, "No single text contains or develops all the `ingredients' of imputation . . . Taken alone, not one of the `key' texts that have played such an integral role in the historical discussion [of imputation] argues decisively, or explicitly, for a full-orbed doctrine of imputation" (pp. 18, 235). For Vickers, not even Romans 4 (in which logizomai figures so prominently) teaches the full-blown doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness. Thus, even though traditionalists may like Vickers' theological conclusion affirming imputation, they may chafe at some of his readings of particular texts. But Vickers' approach to these Pauline texts should not diminish the fact that his argument taken as a whole comprises a thoroughgoing defense of the traditional view. Vickers is showing that even though Christ's righteousness is never explicitly named as that which is imputed (as Gundry charges), the doctrine is the necessary correlation of a synthesis of Paul's teaching. Traditionalists will continue to debate Vickers' description of the imputation of Christ's active obedience. In traditional formulations, Christ's active obedience refers to the life of obedience to God's law that Christ rendered in His incarnation. Such obedience to God's law is the obligation of every person, but no person ever achieves it. Vickers thinks that Paul does not necessarily have this total obedience to the law in mind when speaking of Christ's obedience in Romans 5:19. Rather, Paul has in mind Christ's obedience to the point of death on the cross. This obedience cannot be neatly separated from Christ's total obedience to God's law, but this singular act of obedience on the cross is nevertheless the focus in Paul. Thus Vickers suggests a redefinition of Christ's active obedience (pp. 196, 198, 226-28) that may not fulfill the so-called "covenant of works" (which is a central feature in covenant theology). Vickers has done a masterful job in Jesus' Blood and Righteousness. Not only is it an indispensable introduction to the issues at stake in the current debate, it also offers a compelling interpretation of Paul that affirms the traditional formulation of imputation. There are very few books like this one, and anyone who is concerned about having a biblical theology should give this volume careful consideration.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Exegesis which finds the Reformed Doctrine of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to Believers in Paul, January 7, 2009
This review is from: Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation (Paperback)
This is a published version of the author's PhD thesis, and is a careful and substantial piece of work. The author sets out to exegete the main the passages which have traditionally been used as evidence for the Reformed doctrine that justification involves the imputation of Christ's righteousness to believers. The three main passages he considers are Romans 4; Romans 5:12-21; and 2 Corinthians 5:21. He exegetes each carefully, not trying to find the whole `doctrine' in each passage. Vickers then synthesises them together. He then supplements this synthesis with consideration of other relevent Pauline passages (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:30; Philippians 3:9; and Romans 9:30-10:4). As the reviewers quoted on the book observe, Vickers's work has an irenic tone, and he does not demonise those with whom he disagrees. In an opening chapter Vickers shows his understanding of the historic dimensions to this debate, tracing `trajectories' in the way imputation has been treated by various scholars since the Reformation. He deals briefly with Luther; Malanchthon; Calvin; various Protestant confessions; John Owen; Charles Hodge; Louis Berkhof; Albrecht Ritschl; Rudoplh Bultmann; Adolph Schlatter; Ernst Kasemann; and Peter Stuhlmacher. Vickers conclusions from his exegesis are that the classic orthodox Reformed view is substantially right. He recognises that justification in Pauline thought, although sometimes treated as being essentially just forgiveness of sins, actually involves a `counting' of a positive righteousness before God, and that this righteousness is Christ's, for it is based on his substitutionary redeeming death for believers, and is for those who are found in him through faith. Vickers has a helpful position on the controversal distinction between Christ's `active' and `passive' obedience. He underlines that biblically it is not right to view Christ's death as purely `passive obedience' and his life as purely `active' obedience. Each of his actions have both elements. Vickers is not denying the `active/passive' distinction can be helpful if understood correctly, and he is certainly not denying that for Paul justification involves a `positive' imputation of righteousness and not merely the `negative' non-imputation of sin. As a contemporary work of New Testament exegesis this is an exemplary work showing how exegesis should be carried out with appropriate historical and theological awareness. Vickers conversation partners are not only current scholars, such as James Dunn, N.T. Wright, R.H. Gundry, John Piper, Richard Gaffin and D.A. Carson, but the principal commentators through history, including Luther, Calvin, Vermigli, Turretin, Owen, Buchanan and Vos. Vickers, in a synthesising chapter, does not fail to address the main objections that have been raised to the doctrine of imputation. In conclusion, this is an important contemporary defense of a critical doctrine, which determines whether the Church stands or falls. Well worth any Christian's time to read, but mandatory for any minister or scholar who doubts (or who has to deal with those who doubt) whether the classic Reformed doctrine can be justified from Scripture.
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