Neither a how-to manual nor an academic treatise on pastoral ministry, this book of biblical exposition, pastoral confession, and gospel exultation directs pastors to their only justification: the finished work of Christ.

Justification by faith alone labels theologically the motor that energizes the Reformation. The dynamic behind the language can still mean renewal for theology and church today, but only if that legal metaphor is not left to stand alone. Gerhard Forde calls for a recovery of Paul's equally vital metaphor of death-resurrection, which speaks of our dying to the old and being raised to new life in Christ. Justification, he contends, is death and rising, and where these complementary metaphors are allowed to interpret one another the Gospel can once again explode with all its original power. This fresh appropriation of the confessional witness contributes not only to an enhanced understanding of Reformation teachings, but also to an ecumenical dialogue that is zeroing in more closely on the catholic provenance and current vitality of the Augsburg Confession.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871.

In this significant book Mark C. Mattes critically evaluates the role of justification in the theologies of five leading Protestant thinkers -- Eberhard Jungel, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jurgen Moltmann, Robert W. Jenson, and Oswald Bayer -- pointing out their respective strengths and weaknesses and showing how each matches up with Luther's own views. Offering both an excellent review of recent trends in Christian theology and a powerful analysis of these trends, Mattes points readers to the various ways in which the doctrine of justification has been applied today. Despite the greatness of their thought, Jungel, Pannenberg, and Moltmann each accommodate the doctrine of justification to goals aligned with secular modernity. Both Jenson and Bayer, on the other hand, construe the doctrine of justification in a nonaccommodating way, thus challenging the secularity of the modern academy. In the end, Mattes argues that Bayer's position is to be preferred as closest to Luther's own, and he shows why it offers the greatest potential for confronting current attempts at self-justification before God.

"Living by faith" is much more than a general Christian precept; it is the fundamental posture of believers in a world rife with suffering and injustice. In this penetrating reflection on the meaning of "justification," Oswald Bayer shows how this key religious term provides a comprehensive horizon for discussing every aspect of Christian theology, from creation to the end times. Inspired by and interacting with Martin Luther, the great Christian thinker who grappled most intensely with the concept of justification, Bayer explores anew the full range of traditional dogmatics (sin, redemption, eschatology, and others), placing otherwise complex theological terms squarely within their proper milieu -- everyday life. In the course of his discussion, Bayer touches on such deep questions as the hidden nature of God, the hope for universal justice, the problem of evil, and -- one of the book's most engaging motifs -- Job's daring lawsuit with God.