By Faith Alone: Answering the Challenges to the Doctrine of Justification (Paperback)

~ Gary L. W. Johnson (Author), Guy P. Waters (Author), David F. Wells (Contributor), R. Albert Mohler Jr. (Contributor), Cornelis P. Venema (Contributor), T. David Gordon (Contributor), Richard D. Phillips (Contributor), C. F. Allison (Contributor), David VanDrunen (Contributor), E. Calvin Beisner (Contributor), Fowler White (Contributor), John Bolt (Contributor)
Key Phrases: representative merit, material guilt, righteousness language, Grand Rapids, Jesus Christ, New Testament (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

-If you have been unsettled or impressed by the arguments of the New Perspectives or the Federal Vision-this book is for you. By Faith Alone is a serious and substantial rejoinder to the new viewpoints on justification, imputation, covenant theology, and more.- J. Ligon Duncan III, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi; President, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals; Adjunct Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary -The twin pillars of historic Protestantism-the authority of the Bible and justification by faith alone-have been under attack since the beginning of the Reformation. But the recent assault on justification by the New Perspective on Paul and by the Federal Vision is particularly pernicious, cloaked as it is in apparent scholarship and piety. This important book defends the historic Reformation doctrine with better scholarship and more profound piety.- W. Robert Godfrey, President and Professor of Church History, Westminster Seminary California -In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther boldly declared that the doctrine of justification is the article by which the church stands or falls. In the twenty-first century, many churches have not stood their ground but have fallen prey to the voices of those who have offered new perspectives on an ancient, biblical doctrine. I am thankful the Lord has raised up faithful men to provide the people of God with a clear, biblical perspective on this most precious doctrine.- Burk Parsons, Editor, Tabletalk magazine; Minister of Congregational Life, Saint Andrew-s Chapel, Sanford, Florida --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review

"If you have been unsettled or impressed by the arguments of the New Perspectives or the Federal Vision-this book is for you. By Faith Alone is a serious and substantial rejoinder to the new viewpoints on justification, imputation, covenant theology, and more."
—J. Ligon Duncan, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi; President, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals; Adjunct Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary

"The twin pillars of historic Protestantism-the authority of the Bible and justification by faith alone-have been under attack since the beginning of the Reformation. But the recent assault on justification by the New Perspective on Paul and by the Federal Vision is particularly pernicious, cloaked as it is in apparent scholarship and piety. This important book defends the historic Reformation doctrine with better scholarship and more profound piety."
—W. Robert Godfrey, President and Professor of Church History, Westminster Seminary California

"In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther boldly declared that the doctrine of justification is the article by which the church stands or falls. In the twenty-first century, many churches have not stood their ground but have fallen prey to the voices of those who have offered new perspectives on an ancient, biblical doctrine. I am thankful the Lord has raised up faithful men to provide the people of God with a clear, biblical perspective on this most precious doctrine."
—Burk Parsons, Editor, Tabletalk magazine; Minister of Congregational Life, Saint Andrew's Chapel, Sanford, Florida

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (March 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581348401
• ISBN-13: 978-1581348408
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #573,337 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking theological essays, April 10, 2007

By	Brian G Hedges (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is a very thought-provoking series of theological essays engaging the contemporary challenges to the historic Reformed understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Any book of this sort, with multiple contributors, is bound to be somewhat uneven in quality - but this is one of the better books of this sort that I've seen.

Here is the table of contents, interspersed with my brief comments.

1. What did Saint Paul Really Say? N. T. Wright and the New Perspective(s) on Paul - Cornelis P. Venema

2. Observations on N. T. Wright's Biblical Theology with Special Consideration of the "Faithfulness of God" - T. David Gordon

These first two chapters engage the writings of N. T. Wright, who is probably the highest profile proponent of the New Perspective on Paul (and is also one of the most renowned contemporary Jesus scholars). Their critiques of Wright are very, very insightful and should be seriously considered. Everything really does seem to fall on Wright's embrace of a certain way of reading Second Temple Judaism (as non-legalistic) and his interpretation of the phrase "dikaiosune theou" as "the covenant faithfulness of God" instead of "the righteousness of God." This second question is adequately challanged in the second chapter of this book.

3. A Justification of Imputed Righteousness - Richard D. Phillips

4. The Foundational Term for Christian Salvation: Imputation - C. F. Allison

These two chapters address the recent controversies surrounding the doctrine of imputation. Having read Piper's defense of imputation in Counted Righteous in Christ, as well as Carson's essay in the volume on Justification edited by Husbands, I still found these chapters very helpful and persuasive (I've not yet read Brian Vicker's Jesus Blood AND Righteousness, a recent more in-depth treatment of imputation). These essays were very good.

5. Reflections on Auburn Theology - T. David Gordon

This was a little less interesting to me, probably b/c I'm not Presbyterian.

6. To Obey is Better than Sacrifice: A Defense of the Active Obedience of Christ - David Van Drunen

As I recall, this was also a good essay, defending the necessity and imputation of the active obedience of Christ to believers

7. Covenant, Inheritance, and Typology: Understanding the Principles at Work in God's Covenants - R. F. White & E. C. Beisner

Of all the essays in this book, this one stands out as the most helpful and the one that will repay several re-readings in the future. The authors set out to show why the theological construct of covenant theology (as traditionally understood in Reformed theology) is biblically-faithful and warranted from the texts (even though the language is sometimes extra-biblical). Most helpful was their contrasting the two principles of inheritance, by either personal merit or representative merit, and then tracing these two principles through the various historical covenants. This is the best thing on covenant theology that I've read so far (though my reading in this area has not been very wide).

8. Why the Covenant of Works is a Necessary Doctrine: Revisiting the Objections to a Venerable Reformed Doctrine - John Bolt

As with the chapter 7, this was a very, very helpful treatment of covenant theology, specifically the covenant of works. Bolt is an excellent and lucid writer and I finished the essay wanting to read more of his material.

9. The Reformation, Today's Evangelicals, and Mormons: What Next? - Gary L. W. Johnson

This essay was good, but seemed a little bit displaced in this volume.

Overall, this is a very good volume and worth reading for those engaged in the current debates over justification. However, if you are only going to read one book on the New Perspective on Paul, get Stephen Westerholm's Perspectives Old and New: The Lutheran Paul and His Critics. It is much more comprehensive and has been the most important book I've read on the issue.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Book of Essays, November 26, 2007

By	Rebecca Stark (Yukon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book of essays - nine in all (ten, if you count the introduction by Guy Waters) - responding to recent challenges to the historic Reformed understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, concentrating on the New Perspective on Paul and the Federal Vision, but also engaging the classic Arminian position and Mormonism.

As might be expected from a book that consists of essays by various authors, the book is a little uneven. Some essays seem to be written with the interested lay person in mind, and others assume much more prior knowledge on the part of the reader. In addition, since the essays were originally intended to stand alone, there is a fair bit of repetition of ideas and arguments.

That means there were essays I enjoyed reading, those that were beyond me, and those I just wasn't interested in. The first two essays engage the writings of N. T. Wright. While I found the explanations and arguments in these two chapters very interesting, I don't think I know enough about the issues to judge them. I also enjoyed several essays defending imputed righteousness and the active obedience of Christ, because this is a doctrine that seems to come up in discussions occasionally, and it was helpful to see it defended from scripture. The essays related to the Auburn Avenue or Federal Vision controversy were mostly beyond me. I'm not Presbyterian, and I don't know enough about the issues to even understand the essays.

If you are like me, and a bit of a novice on these issues, you might need a little more background knowledge before you would find this book completely useful, but if you are up on these things, my uneducated guess is that you'll find this to be a valuable book.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read: a scholarly exploration of the biblical teaching on justification, December 17, 2008

By	S. E. Paynter (Bristol, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book of scholarly papers by theologians with a traditional
Reformed understanding of the doctrine of justification. The papers
interacts with recent challenges to that doctrine. The papers are well
written, the book nicely typeset, and footnotes are where they belong
... at the bottom of the page they are referenced on. There is a
Scripture index and a Subject/Name index.

The Foreword is by David F. Wells, and in it he argues that there are
three streams in contemporary evangelicalism: the orthodox; the
marketers (pragmatists who while not denying orthodoxy, often keep it
out of sight as they package Christianity for `seekers'); and the
emerging church, which seems to be against doctrinal clarity (or
denies that it is possible). This is a passionate appeal for the
Reformation of evangelicalism, and, perhaps in places, is more
passionate than fair.

The first chapter is by Guy Prentiss Waters, and is entitled
`Introduction: Whatever Happened to Sola Fide?'. This sketches the two
principle contemporary challenges to the Reformed doctrine of
justification: the New Perspective(s) on Paul, and the Federal Vision.

The second paper is by Cornelis P. Venema, and is entitled `What Did
Saint Paul Really Say? N.T. Wright and the New Perspective(s) on
Paul.' This is a good and fair (if short) treatment of the New
Perspective(s) on Paul, focusing in particular on the subtle position
of N.T. Wright, who is a powerful advocate of one strand of the `New
Perspective on Paul'. Venema sketches the debate, and points out
important areas where the New Perspective positions are
problematic. Venema is clearly drawing upon the various books he has
written on this subject, and such mastery of the debate shows, and
makes this an important short treatment of the debate. It is a pity
that the timing of this book meant that John Piper's more substantial
treatment of Wright's position could not be interacted with.

The third paper is by T. David Gordon, and is entitled `Observations
on N.T. Wright's Biblical Theology With Special Consideration of
`Faithfulness of God'.' Gordon helpfully takes on Wright on his own
ground of `Biblical Theology', and shows the inadequacy of Wright's
reduction of God's righteousness to `covenantal faithfulness'.

The fourth paper is by Richard D. Phillips, and is entitled `A
Justification of Imputed Righteousness'. In this, Phillips reviews the
recent debate between Arminians and the Reformed over whether
justification involves the imputation of Christ's righteousness
(passive or active). One good feature of this paper is that Phillips
interacts with D.A. Carson's important paper (`The Vindication of
Imputation', published in `Justification: What's at stake in the
Current Debates', 2004) which responds to the Arminian
arguments. Phillips also tackles New Perspective critiques of
imputation. An important overview of the current debate, and
a helpful rebuttal of the challenges.

The fifth paper is by C. FitzSimons Allison, and is entitled `The
Foundation Term for Christian Salvation: Imputation.' This is a
profoundly important essay which traces the deleterious impact of
imagining that we can stand before God with anything other than the
perfect righteousness of Jesus. In particular, Allison explores how
the whole concept of `sin' has to be down played in Roman Catholic
thought (and in other systems) to make our imperfect obedience or
`faith' the ground of our acceptance with God. Insightful and
stimulating.

The sixth paper is by T. David Gordon, and is entitled `Reflections on
Auburn Theology.' Auburn Theology or `Federal Vision', for those not
in the know, is a rag-bag term for the teachings of various `Reformed
Revisionists' associated with Auburn Avenue. Gordon, who has some
sympathies for the aims of the Federal Vision apologists, does a
sterling job of exposing some of the poor theology behind this
vision. In particular, he shows how they fail to take the plurality of
biblical covenants into account, and traces this monocovenantalism back
to John Murray. He acknowledges, however, that Murray was kept from
the mistakes of the Federal Vision by maintaining the historic federal
understanding of Adam's representative role. This paper unfortunately
does not do as good a job as it could have done in orienting the newcomer
to what actually the Auburn Theology is about.

The seventh paper is by David VanDrunen, and is entitled `To Obey is
Better Than Sacrifice: A Defence of the Active Obedience of Christ in
the Light of Recent Criticism.' This paper traces the Reformed
teaching that justification involves the imputation of the active
obedience of Christ and discusses the Federal Vision and New
Perspective rejections of it. Helpfully, he traces a cause of this
rejection to a view that perfect obedience to the Law is not required
by God for eternal life, advocated by scholars such as
E.P. Sanders. VanDrunen exegetes the Pauline passages which talk about
God's righteousness, and shows how they contribute to the debate. He
concludes that the active obedience of Christ is important not only
for justification and the work of Christ, but for the character of God
and the nature of man. A super essay.

The eighth paper is by R. Fowler White, and E. Calvin Beisner, and is
entitled `Covenant, Inheritance, and Typology: Understanding the
Principles at Work in God's Covenants'. This is a tour de force of
exegetical treatment of the biblical covenants, especially focusing on
the relationships between them. The relationship between the Covenant
of Works and the Mosaic Covenant are explored, and the differences
between them and the Abrahamic, Davidic and New covenants are
discussed.

The ninth paper is by John Bolt, and is entitled `Why the Covenant of
Works in a Necessary Doctrine: Revisiting the Objections to a
Venerable Reformed Doctrine'. Bolt provides an important defence of
the Covenant of Works by collecting and answering the various
objections that `Reformed' theologians have advanced against it.

The tenth paper is by Gary L. Johnson, and is entitled `The
Reformation, Today's Evangelicals, and Mormons: What Next?' In this
Johnson documents how doctrinally vacuous some definitions of
evangelicalism are, and shows how this allows some Catholics and even
some Mormons(!) to claim to be evangelicals.

There is an afterword by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., entitled `A Change in
the Audience, Not in the Drama'. In this helpful essay Mohler argues
that traditional Reformed gospel is facing a new audience, namely
contemporary evangelicalism, and that many are impatient with aspects
of it. He concludes with the following observation: `We can only hope
and pray that contributions like this important volume can help to
awaken evangelicalism to its doctrinal peril. Otherwise, nothing
genuinely evangelical will remain of evangelicalism.' To which this
reviewer can only add his heartfelt, `Amen!'

I have become increasingly convinced that the doctrine of
justification by faith alone must play a central role in our preaching
and teaching. Failure to explain it will lead our hearers into thinking
that it is something that they do which will win them acceptance with
God. This book is a helpful and inspiring aid to treating justification
well.

Two recent books which helpfully supplement this one with further
scholarly treatment of the doctrine of justification by faith from a
traditional Reformed perspective are (i) R. Scott Clark (ed),
`Covenant, Justification and Pastoral Ministry: Essays By the Faculty
of Westminster Seminary California', P. and R. (Phillipsburg: New
Jersey), 2007 and (ii) K. Scott Oliphint (ed), `Justified in Christ:
God's Plan for Us in Justification', Mentor (Fearn: Scotland),
2007. All three are worth reading.