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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very good introductory work on a critical doctrine,
This review is from: Justification by Faith Alone: Affirming the Doctrine by Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls (Reformation Theology Series) (Paperback)
Soli Deo Gloria publications has put out a very good compilation effort here that strongly affirms a central Protestant doctrine that continues to divide Rome and Protestantism.Similar to the compilation effort 'Sola Scriptura', this book provides a solid introductory framework upon which beginners can clearly see why the doctrine is important, what Roman Catholicism and Protestantism both say about the issue, and that the difference in viewpoints on this doctrine are immensely important. The Protestant view is that human beings are justified in the sight of God on the basis of faith alone in Jesus Christ. Nothing else can add to this legal status that believers have with God - not good works, not penance, not sacramental exercises, or anything else. Roman Catholicism has anathemized such a view, affirming that while faith is necessary for salvation, it is not sufficient by itself and needs to be augmented by sacramental observances, good works, etc. At issue here is a fundamental disagreement over the nature of salvation. Is salvation a monergistic effort, meaning that God does the work because we are so completely dead in our sins that we are incapable of choosing the spiritual good absent a work of God, or is salvation a synergistic effort where man cooperates with God on an ongoing basis to ensure salvation. The Protestant, or at least the Reformed view, is that the act of justification is totally an act of God by which in His immense grace, He chooses us, bestows efficacious grace on us, and saves us from our sin. The act of ongoing obedience to God and being conformed to the image of Christ is the process of progressive sanctification, which is a separate work and does not have anything to do with one's legal standing before God (justification). Rome's view has long mixed justification and sanctification together so that the work of sanctification becomes part of one's legal standing before God, rather than an independent work of God in the life of a believer who has already been declared legally righteous before God through faith. I thought this book did an outstanding job of sufficiently getting into the nuances of thought here in order to shine a very bright light on exactly what the differences are and why they are important. Clearly, a person's view on this issue makes a very big difference in terms of how they view themselves, God, the Church, the afterlife, and a host of other things. I felt that Armstrong's chapter on why justification is through faith ALONE was the highlight of the book. The Protestant view is very defendable in light of Scripture, and I would certainly agree with the authors that this view is decidedly more faithful to a good contextual reading of Scripture than Rome's position. I also felt that Rome's misunderstanding of the Protestant doctrine (that this doctrine leads to antinomianism or unholy and inconsequential living) was well refuted here. In summary, this text is an introductory work, but very valuable as a standard reference on this foundational doctrine. It is well documented and easy to read, which makes it very accessible to the beginner but also intellectually satisfying to the more experienced reader.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent treatment of vital doctrine!,
By
This review is from: Justification by Faith Alone: Affirming the Doctrine by Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls (Reformation Theology Series) (Paperback)
Justification by Faith ALONE (JBFA) was recommended to me as a good introduction to the doctrine of Justification by Faith written from a Reformed theological perspective. While I enjoyed reading the book, it was not what I expected it to be. The book does cover this doctrine from the Reformed perspective - it is thorough and informative. What I did not know is that JBFA, a compilation of essays, was published in 1995 as a response, or reaction, to "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission and the Third Millennium." They are reacting to a document that seeks to bring Evangelicals and Catholics to common ground, but which virtually ignores THE major difference between the two, since the Reformation itself, and that is the doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone. So, the JBFA is a counter to another work, but a much needed counter. Any attempt to unify Protestants and Catholics must consider this topic. The essays and authors are as follows: 1. Long Before Luther: Jesus and the Doctrine of Justification - Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr. 2. Justification by Faith Alone: The Forensic Nature of Justification - Dr. R.C. Sproul 3. Justification by Faith Alone: The Relation of Faith to Justification - Dr. Joel R. Beeke 4. Justification by Faith Alone: The Nature of Justifying Faith - Dr. John H. Gerstner 5. Justification by Faith Alone: The Sufficiency of Faith for Justification - Dr. John H. Armstrong JBFA has an all-star cast of authors. They provided me with information that I did not know. As a student of language, I knew that one of the most difficult aspects of learning a language is gaining a mastery of prepositions. This may sound trivial to non-linguists, but it is true. I now know some of the linguistic reasoning behind the doctrine of justification by faith. The brief section with this information is not overbearing to the reader. I found it very helpful. Dr. Don Kistler edited this compilation of essays. I wish a little more forethought had gone into how this project would come together. Each author did address specific nuances of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. However, most of the essays covereded very similar ground on the background of the doctrine and the historic theological differences between Protestant and Catholic belief on this issue. The book became very repetitive and laborious in this regard. It probably could have cover this doctrine just as thoroughly in half the space if it had been approached differently. A second issue I have with the book is that it does not accomplish what it promises. In the Preface Dr. Kistler writes, "Not relying on the works of the Reformers and Puritan divines, whom we largely publish, for final authority, the authors support by sound exegesis of Scripture the Reformational position that a faith which receives forgiveness and justification is the faith that doesn't look to itself but to God (p. x)." While the authors did explain this view of justification very well, they also seemed to rely on the works of the Reformers and Puritans more than on Scripture. I did not keep a tally, but it seemed that far more quotations came from historical figures than from Scripture. Such notable scholars should be able to articulate this doctrine from Scripture alone. I was disappointed in this aspect of the book, because I much prefer to see doctrine from Scripture than history. A final issue stems from the incoherency of the concept of "faith" in this compilation. If the authors had decided upon a working definition of this one word, it would have gone a long way in making this book pleasant reading. Even if each author had stated a definition of faith for each essay, it would have been helpful. Instead, the reader must wade through murky waters trying to sort out just what the authors were trying to say. In one paragraph, one of the authors personifies faith and faith is suddenly taking action. The Bible personifies wisdom, but never faith. I found myself wondering if these concepts of faith were actually Biblical, or merely theological (and, there is a difference). Hand-in-hand is the overall issue of terminology, or vocabulary. Most of the Latin is explained in English. However, I did not find JBFA to be clear reading since I am not overly familiar with the vocabulary of Reformed Theology (even though I have a Master's in Theology). Overall, I liked the book. I found it to be very informative on the doctrine of Justification by Faith ALONE. I do believe it could have been done better. I do not believe it is truly an introductory book on this topic. If you are familiar with the language of Reformed Theology and you realize this book is written contra Catholicism you will most likely enjoy this book. If you are Catholic and wonder what is the difference in Protestant belief on justification, this book will be very helpful to you, but you must be aware it is not written to please a Catholic audience.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly the Best Recent Treatment of the Protestant Doctrine in Print,
By Chip Webb (Fairfax Station, VA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Justification by Faith Alone: Affirming the Doctrine by Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls (Reformation Theology Series) (Paperback)
Soli Deo Gloria's Justification by Faith Alone (1st edition 1995, 2nd edition 2003), edited by Don Kistler, covers its subject matter thoroughly and effectively. Originally written in response to the Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) document of 1994, Justification by Faith Alone contains five essays designed to defend the Protestant understanding of justification as something that is essential to the Christian faith:*As an introduction, John MacArthur tackles Jesus' view of justification to provide a fundamental Scriptural basis. *The next four essays cover the implications of each word in the phrase "justification by faith alone": R.C. Sproul covers "justification"; Joel Beeke tackles "by"; John Gerstner looks at "faith"; and John Armstrong examines "alone." *An appendix contains John Gerstner's response to the book Rome Sweet Home, an account of the conversion of well-known Roman Catholics Scott and Kimberly Hahn from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. While writing an individual essay on each word in "justification by faith alone" might seem to constitute a dauntingly intellectual approach to an already heady subject, most of the authors write quite simply and effectively. (The highly analytical examinations of Greek terms by Armstrong and, particularly, Beeke, make those essays somewhat more difficult to wade through than the ones by MacArthur, Sproul, and Gerstner.) The two best essays come from Sproul and his mentor Gerstner. "The Forensic Nature of Justification" (Sproul) states the arguments for the Protestant understanding of justification very clearly and is very fair to the Roman Catholic position. (As a side note, it's interesting to find Sproul disagreeing with esteemed Anglican theologian Alister McGrath at one or two points.) "The Nature of Justifying Faith" (Gerstner) focuses on how faith should be defined. More than any other author in this book, he most strongly states his positions. The other essays are still very good, but less successful. MacArthur's "Jesus and the Doctrine of Justification" only actually gets to the subject matter promised by the title three-quarters of the way into the essay. The preceding material provides strong arguments in favor of the Protestant doctrine; unfortunately, MacArthur is somewhat less convincing in arguing that Luke 18:9-14 presents an imputed righteousness view of justification. Beeke and Armstrong provide the most intellectual essays; some readers may find their discussions of Greek prepositions overly challenging. Some readers complain that the essays are overly repetitive. That's a fair criticism, but on the other hand, the fact that each writer looks at the topic from a different angle provided enough variety for this reviewer. Also, some readers may benefit from reading the same points made by different authors. Given these flaws, why give the book five stars? Because, in the end, the book serves as an excellent resource regarding its subject matter. You can disagree with the Protestant view of justification, but its implications are clearly laid out in this book for everyone to examine. And while none of the essays is flawless, there are vastly more positives in each essay than negatives (e.g., if MacArthur's discussion of Jesus' view of justification could be better, nonetheless he clearly lays out the importance of justification by faith alone, both biblically and historically). Also, the fact that most authors provided relatively easy-to-follow arguments makes this book reasonably accessible to the average layperson (even if more discussion of the practical implications of the doctrine would have been welcome). With all of its strengths, it's possible that Justification by Faith Alone is the best recent work on the subject matter.
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