Oden, Thomas C <br/><br/>
The Justification Reader  

 - Grand Rapids, Michigan  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company  2002 
 - 163p  23 cm. 
 - Classic Christian Readers .
<br/><br/>Includes bibliographical references. 
<br/><br/>Justification (Christian theology)<br/>1. The Promise<br/>2. The Heart of the Gospel<br/>A. The Special Comfort of God's Free Grace<br/>1. The Unique Blessing of Justification<br/>2. Basic Definitions<br/>B. The Centrality of Justification in Christian Teaching<br/>1. The Decisive Baseline of Evangelical Teaching<br/>2. Why Is It a Comforting Doctrine?<br/>3. The Limits of Our Powers of Restitution<br/>C. Why a Justification Reader?<br/>1. It Provides a Model for Classic Christian Reasoning<br/>2. Why Is Justification Teaching Especially Pertinent Today?<br/>3. Simplicity<br/>4. On the Genre of the "Reader"<br/>5. Why Have These Texts Remained Shockingly Inaccessible<br/>Elsewhere?<br/>6. A Welcoming Note for Orthodox and Catholic Readers<br/>PART ONE<br/>JUSTIFICATION<br/>The Ancient Fathers on Evangelical Justification<br/>A. Typical Misconceptions of Classic Christian Teaching<br/>on Saving Faith<br/>1. Peacemaking among the Divided Faithful<br/>2. My Simple Thesis<br/>3. Why the Classic Christian Consensus Is Not Properly<br/>Described as Either European or Western<br/>4. Why This Presentation of Evidence Is So Urgently Needed<br/>amid Uncharitable Polemics among Evangelicals,<br/>Liberals, Catholics, and Orthodox Today<br/>5. How Both Evangelical and Liberal Assumptions Have<br/>Salvation Teaching<br/>Tilted the Perception of Ancient Orthodox Christian<br/>6. Liberal Misconceptions<br/>B. The Unexplored Connection: The Fathers Were Not<br/>Ignorant of the Pauline Teaching of Justification<br/>1. What Is Meant by "Patristic"?<br/>2. The Unity of the First Five Centuries Contrasted with<br/>the Conflict of the Last Five Centuries<br/>the Written Word<br/>3. Remembering the Fathers' Continuous Immersion in<br/>4. The Practical Impact<br/>5. Why Dangerous? The Alarming Consequence of the<br/>Rediscovery of the Unity of the Body of Christ<br/>6. Why Does This Recognition Have a Painful<br/>Edge for Protestants?<br/>7. Can Christian Teaching Be Trusted If It Lacks Scriptural<br/>Grounding and an Orthodox Historical Textuary?<br/>8. Ecumenical Dialogue Needs These Arguments<br/>9. Assessing the Joint Declaration<br/>10. The Growing Hunger for Greater Evangelical Unity<br/>in the Gospel<br/>11. The Search for Balance and the Hazard of Presenting<br/>Too Little Evidence or Too Much<br/>12. Fairly Assessing the Evidence<br/>CHAPTER TWO<br/>Justification Defined<br/>A. Rehearsing the Classic Consensus on Justification<br/>1. What Is Justification?<br/>2. The Way to Consensus<br/>3. Representative Reformed Confessions on Justification<br/>4. The Lutheran Formula of Concord<br/>5. Baptist Confessions<br/>6. Anglican Tradition<br/>7. Wesleyan Traditions<br/>8. Pentecostal Traditions<br/>9. Arguing Consensuality<br/>B. Introducing Locus Classicus Patristic Texts on Justification<br/>1. Early Eastern Voices on Justification<br/>2. Early Western Voices on Justification<br/>3. A Case in Point: Consensual Interpretation of Ephesians 2<br/>4. Whether These Voices Harmonize: Modest Objectives on<br/>Doctrinal Concurrence<br/>C. God's Costly Way of Reestablishing a Right Relation<br/>with the Sinner<br/>1. Comparing Old and New Testament Interpretations<br/>of Justification<br/>2. Old Testament Anticipations<br/>3. Why Do We So Fiercely Resist Hearing This Good News? 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>0802839665 
<br/><br/><label>LCCN: </label>2002069677 
<br/><br/><label>Dewey Class. No.: </label>D57  / OD260