Intended AudienceCollege Audience
Reviews'A more than ordinary useful scholarly tool ... With an admirable economy of expression that brooks no loss of clarity, McGrath provides skilful introductions to notoriously difficult and controversial positions, both historical and theological ... A book the clarity and conciseness and utility of whose expositions cannot be conveyed in a review.' Guy Mansini, Theological Studies, 'This is an impressive study. It is both a valuable reminder of an important branch of the common stream of Christianity, and an invitation to further evaluation and fresh development.' George Newlands, Journal of Theological Studies, 'A first class, scholarly, authoritative, balanced, informed study ... Unique value and historical and theological analysis.' Scottish Journal of Theology
Table Of ContentPreface; Acknowledgements; 1. Prolegomena; 2. The fountainhead: Augustine of Hippo; 3. The development of the doctrine in the medieval period; 4. The medieval schools of thought on justification; 5. The transition from the medieval to the modern period; Appendix; Abbreviations; Notes; Bibliography; Index of names.
SynopsisVolume I documents the development of the doctrine of justification from its earliest period to the eve of the Reformation. The work opens with an analysis of the semantic background of the concept in the world of the Ancient Near East, and particular attention is paid to the difficulties of translating the concept into Greek and Latin, After this the early development of the doctrine is considered, with particular reference to Augustine of Hippo. In a later chapter, the main features of the doctrine of justification associated with the five principal theological schools of the medieval period are established. The continuity between the later medieval period and the Reformation is discussed in a final chapter. The work includes a glossary of relevant theological terms for those not already familiar with the vocabulary of the period. Volume II documents developments from the Reformation to the present day. Lutheran and Reformed concepts are considered together with the teaching of the Council of Trent. English reformers are compared with continental counterparts; and the development of the doctrine within Anglicanism is studied with reference to Caroline divines and John Henry Newman. Modern development since the Enlightenment is considered with particular reference to Kant, Schleiermacher, Ritschl and Barth. There has been no comparable study since Ritschl's three-volume Christliche Lebre von der Rechfertigung und Versöhnung of 1870., Volume I documents the development of the doctrine of justification from its earliest period to the eve of the Reformation. The work opens with an analysis of the semantic background of the concept in the world of the Ancient Near East, and particular attention is paid to the difficulties of translating the concept into Greek and Latin, After this the early development of the doctrine is considered, with particular reference to Augustine of Hippo. In a later chapter, the main features of the doctrine of justification associated with the five principal theological schools of the medieval period are established. The continuity between the later medieval period and the Reformation is discussed in a final chapter. The work includes a glossary of relevant theological terms for those not already familiar with the vocabulary of the period. Volume II documents developments from the Reformation to the present day. Lutheran and Reformed concepts are considered together with the teaching of the Council of Trent. English reformers are compared with continental counterparts; and the development of the doctrine within Anglicanism is studied with reference to Caroline divines and John Henry Newman. Modern development since the Enlightenment is considered with particular reference to Kant, Schleiermacher, Ritschl and Barth. There has been no comparable study since Ritschl's three-volume Christliche Lebre von der Rechfertigung und Versohnung of 1870."