Rezumate

Perichoresis 7.2 (2009)

LEE W. GIBBS, Richard Hooker’s “Discourse on Justification” and his Via Media Theology

ABSTRACT. This article focuses on the continuing contemporary debate over Richard Hooker’s doctrine of justification. It also addresses two other controversies which permeate current Hooker scholarship, namely: (1) How much of the Roman Catholic or Thomistic and the Magisterial Reformation traditions are discernable in the thought of Richard Hooker? (2) Is Hooker an exemplar or a prototype of what was later to become known as the Anglican via media tradition? The article concludes that in spite of all past and present disputes over the most appropriate way to interpret Hooker’s writings, his wisdom continues to be valuable both for the instruction of individual Christian believers and also for the various Christian churches.

KEY WORDS: justification, Richard Hooker, Magisterial Reformation, Anglo-Catholics, via media

MICHAEL A. G. HAYKIN, “My Sister, Dearest Friend.” The Marriage of Charles and Sally Wesley

ABSTRACT. This article is a brief presentation of the relationship between Charles Wesley and Sarah Gwynne, the woman who eventually became his wife. Details are offered first about their encounter and the way their friendly relationship blossomed into the earnest love which leads to marriage. An interesting though very short account about some opposing attitudes towards their marriage follows with indication about various concerns entertained by Charles’ brother, the equally famous John Wesley, but also by Sarah’s father. There is also a section dedicated to Charles’ and Sarah’s wedding, which is completed by a longer account of their married life with all the struggles and pains produced by the death of five of their dearly beloved children. Despite these horrible experiences, Charles’ and Sarah’s marriage lasted to the end as a token of what real love should be within the Christian family.

KEY WORDS: Charles Wesley, John Wesley, Sarah Gwynne, marriage, love.

BRIAN TALBOT, Baptists and Other Christian Churches in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

ABSTRACT. This study of one aspect of the collective life of some Baptist bodies in the first half of the twentieth century will of necessity be a very brief overview of their relationships with other Christian Churches. Baptists have been committed to world mission as part of their core identity, at least since the 1790s. The first part of this study will note the different Baptist groups that participated in the 1910 World Mission Conference, a highly significant event in the history of the Protestant missionary movement. Edinburgh 1910 laid the foundations of interdenominational understanding for the ecumenical movement of the twentieth century and is, therefore, an appropriate place to begin a study of the relationship of Baptists with other Churches in the first five decades of the twentieth century. The second theme under consideration will be the relationship of Baptists with other Churches in their own countries, followed by their approach to international ecumenical initiatives, in particular the founding of the World Council of Churches.

KEY WORDS: Baptists, mission, Edinburgh, Protestants, Evangelicals

CHRISTIAN GEORGE, Incarnating the Incarnation. A Theological Analysis of the Ontological Christology of Charles H. Spurgeon

ABSTRACT. In this paper, Charles Haddon Spurgeon is situated in his nineteenth-century British evangelical context. Though not considered to be a theological systematician, Spurgeon demonstrated a highly developed and deeply appropriated Christology that laid the foundation for his orthodoxy and orthopraxy. His re-animation of classical Augustinian and Chalcedonian theology stood in high relief against the theological trends of his time. Since there have been few academic works to highlight his unique theological significance, this paper, as part of a doctoral thesis on Spurgeon’s theology, seeks to recover him as a theologian, not merely a homiletician, philanthropist, and abolitionist. Spurgeon’s Christology contains little theological originality, yet his innovative treatment of Christ’s divinity, humanity, hypostatic union reveals a unique theological appropriation. While his rhetoric was not immune to shortcomings, it was successful in grounding a declining Calvinism in a new way for middle-class London. This paper explores Spurgeon’s ontological Christology, while also analyzing his earthy rhetoric to see, in those instances when his vernacular becomes theologically imprecise, if it deviates from a classical reformed theology.

KEY WORDS: Spurgeon, Christology, incarnation, homiletics, nineteenth century

CORNELIU C. SIMUŢ, The Reality of Evil and the Primordial Self in Paul Ricoeur’s View of Fallibility

ABSTRACT. The idea but also the reality of evil is essential for Ricoeur especially in connection with the concept of fallibility. In order to investigate the link between evil and fallibility, Ricoeur begins with a thorough analysis of evil from the perspective of human freedom. The discussion about man’s freedom and the fact that evil exists in the world leads Ricoeur to another fundamental concept, namely that of primordial self. The primordial self, however, does not exist without the inner reality of his own consciousness. For Ricoeur, the consciousness of the primordial self is double, so he speaks about the consciousness of fault and the consciousness of evil which are both critical issues for the primordial self. These analyses are detailed by Ricoeur within the context of the myth of the fall which is subject to complex symbolism. The reality of evil with reference to the myth of the fall pushes Ricoeur to consider the primordial self as both the Adversary and the Other. Despite the complexity of Ricoeur’s analysis, it seems that his final conclusion has to do with man’s freedom which is the very source of evil in the world. The factuality of this reality pictures the human being not only as a free agent but also as a victim, which is the direct consequence of evil that affects humanity.

KEY WORDS: freedom, evil, self, fault, fallibility

DAVID H. WENKEL, “Let Not Many of You Become Teachers.” Applying James 3:1 to the Local Church

ABSTRACT. How does James’ word of discouragement to teachers in James 3:1 fit in with a canonical and synthetic approach that can be applied to the local church today? This article seeks to present a robust reading of James 3:1 that wrestles with the influential Pauline passages on spiritual gifts. The focus of this study is to present practical implications and results of reading James 3:1 as being in tension with Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts. Specific attention is given to the need to think critically about how James 3:1 impacts eldership, the role of faith, small groups and teaching authority. The study concludes that James 3:1 can provide gravity to the role of teachers when many view teaching in the church with flippancy.

KEY WORDS: teachers, elders, spiritual gifts, church growth, leadership

MAURICE DOWLING, Colonialism and Christian Missions

ABSTRACT. This paper unfolds some of the reasons which lay behind the missionaries’ effort to take the Christian faith beyond the boundaries of the already more or less “Christian” Europe. While missionaries of all Christian denominations—Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist but also Lutheran and Reformed—were eager to take their faith for the spiritual profit of those who were meant to hear their message, the secular state also shared a various range of reasons, amongst which the most salient were commerce and slave trade. This is why it is argued that Christianity reached all the corners of the earth during the time of colonialism and the church, as we know it today beyond Europe, is the result of such efforts.

KEY WORDS: colonialism, missions, commerce, slaves, martyrdom

Perichoresis 7.1 (2009) 

CHRIS L. FIRESTONE, On Integrating Christian Faith and Human Reason

When Christian philosophers consider the question of how to integrate faith and reason, the sheer number of approaches before us is staggering. From the philosophical side, a large variety of paradigms exist—empiricism, rationalism, commonsense realism, and transcendental idealism, to name a few. On the theological side, the situation is just as complex; from Anglican to Evangelical, Catholic to Orthodox, each theological paradigm is denominationally segregated and integrators are charged with the task of situating themselves among them. In light of the sheer immensity of options before us, the question of how integration can be done with rational integrity has become something of an annual topic at Christian colleges and universities. When bringing philosophy and theology together in the integration of faith and learning, the theoretical options multiply in a way that is beyond the ability of a single person or essay to sort through with specificity or thoroughness. My goal in this paper is to present a modest overview of how I think integration can be done.

key words: faith, reason, philosophy, learning, understanding

MICHAEL A. G. HAYKIN, “Dissent Warmed Its Hands at Grimshaw’s Fire.” William Grimshaw of Haworth and the Baptists of Yorkshire

The paper investigates some fundamental aspects of the life and influence of the Anglican minister William Grimshaw on the Baptist life in Yorkshire. The key points tackled here begin with Grimshaw’s early life in Lancashire and Cambridge, when having completed his studies was appointed Anglican minister in a church which was anything but spiritual. It was, however, in this particular congregation that Grimshaw himself became aware of his own need for spiritual renewal. The article also presents Grimshaw’s conversion to Christ and his subsequent ministry which eventually led to the Haworth revival. A final aspect has to do with Grimshaw influence on John Fawcett, who seems to have sponsored William Carey’s missionary travel to India.

key words: conversion, pardon, justification, righteousness, Calvinism

MAURICE DOWLING, The American Churches and the Civil War

The essence of this paper is to show how religion, and especially Protestantism in its Evangelical vein, built the context for the outburst of the American Civil War. The issue of slavery is debated with reference to how the North and the South perceived the problem as well as the economic aspects involved. The author also presents how various Protestants (especially Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists) related themselves to the question of war and how they justified or rejected the idea of conflict over human freedom. The period following the war is also briefly tackled and particularly the idealization of the culture and religion of the South.

key words: war, evangelicals, slavery, abolition, Bible

IAN STACKHOUSE, God’s Transforming Presence. Spirit Empowered Worship and Its Mediation

While Evangelicals tend to have some sort of traditionally inborn repulsion for sacramentality, they nevertheless seem to long for something more than just the routine performance of sacraments in their churches. This article investigates what lies beneath the Evangelical conviction that sacraments should be exclusively memorial in nature as well as defined by what they are rather than by what they mean. It is argued therefore that Evangelicals should seek the meaning of sacraments beyond their traditional theological limitations into a spiritual reality which does not refrain itself to the ordinance itself. On the contrary, sacraments should be understood as a reality which does not only revive our memory of past events but also places us in the very midst of our own present situation through the confession of sin and the actual encounter with the Holy Trinity.

key words: sacraments, Baptist, Lord’s Supper, memorialism, church

DAVID NEELANDS, Richard Hooker and Assurance

One of the issues in dispute in England in the 1590s was the importance of Christian assurance. This issue figured prominently in the debates leading to the Lambeth Articles of 1595. Richard Hooker developed a position on assurance beginning from a conventional statement of assurance in the early Sermons Upon S. Judes Epistle and ending with significant reservations about assurance in the Learned Sermon on Certaintie and Pepertuitie of Faith in the Elect and the Dublin Fragments. His pastoral concern was expressed in the comfort to be derived from recognition that one’s faith was weak rather than from experienced assurance that one was elect. Hope for salvation is a good sign as is observation of the exercise of love for the neighbour.

key words: assurance, doubt, faith, election, salvation

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Paul Ricoeur's Concept of Fallibility as Fault, Myth and Symbol

This article presents and analyses Ricoeur’s notion of fallibility from the idea of myth to that of symbol in the context of the dialectics between finitude and infinitude. In Ricoeur, myth is used to present natural reality in a symbolic way which, it is argued, contradicts the traditional Christian perspective on reality which includes the ontology of metaphysics. Ricoeur is concerned to find a way to decipher religious mythological imagery by means of symbolism, so he also talks about the transition from direct meaning to indirect significance. Concepts like bad will and evil are discussed within Ricoeur’s symbolics of evil which intends to find the locus of evil within human reality. This is why he concludes that the symbolism of evil is not only theoretical but also historical, in the sense that man’s reality as imbued with evil is not only a philosophical issue but also a pressing practical matter.

key words: fallibility, fault, myth, symbol, in/finitude

PERICHORESIS 6.2 (2008)

DAVID W. BEBBINGTON, Evangelicalism and British Culture

The culture of modern Britain has interacted with Evangelical Christianity at a popular level by affinity and repulsion, but at a high level it has moulded it. The Enlightenment fostered empiricism, optimism and pragmatism and Romanticism generated the conservative trends of premillennial eschatology, the faith principle of mission and Keswick teaching. The broadening Romantic influence, however, simultaneously encouraged a new emphasis on the Fatherhood of God, the incarnation rather than the atonement and biblical criticism that affected the Evangelicals of the Church of England, Methodism and the Reformed traditions, but much less the Baptists. The Expressivism of the twentieth century was embodied in the Oxford Group of the 1930s and, more powerfully, in the charismatic renewal movement from the 1960s. Evangelicals in Britain have therefore been deeply embedded in their cultural setting.


ROBERT LETHAM, Election and Assurance in the Theology of Martin Bucer

The immediacy of God is perhaps a category appropriate to describe Bucer’s theology. As such, election brings the eternal divine decision into direct relation in this world to faith. Flowing from the homoousion, the will of Christ makes known the Father’s will. The immediate spiritual but real presence of Christ is experienced in the sacraments. In the covenant of grace there is the sovereign action of God. The Holy Spirit is directly present and active in all areas of soteriology and church. As for faith, it is assurance of eschatological salvation. Election is a part of the overwhelming nearness of God, the greatest of all his benefits, the contemplation of which will strengthen faith. Far from undermining assurance in Bucer’s theology, election both enables and reinforces it.


DAVID V. N. BAGCHI, Luther versus Luther? The Problem of Christ’s Descent into Hell in the Long Sixteenth Century

Despite its lowly rank in the hierarchy of Christian beliefs, the doctrine of Christ’s descent into hell was frequently a cause of intraProtestant debate in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, especially in Britain and Germany. In this article, Bagchi describes the context and the courses of the various controversies over the descensus Christi, and argues that, despite the different forms the debate took, the essential issue was whether the descent should be interpreted as one of suffering or of triumph. He argues that the inner dynamic of the debate can therefore best be analysed by reference to Luther, who maintained both views simultaneously. Bagchi concludes that Luther consistently favoured the suffering approach as the one of most value to the individual believer, but regarded the physical, triumphant descent as an important safeguard against an overspiritual Christology. In this respect, the descensus controversy illustrates a tension between affective and dogmatic theology.


LEONARDO DE CHIRICO, Progressive, Conservative or RomanCatholic? On the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger in Evangelical Perspective

Joseph Ratzinger is one of the pivotal figures in the theological scene following the Second Council of Vatican. His theology magnificently epitomises the catholicity of RomanCatholic thought. For instance, the Bible is always read in light of the authoritative magisterium. Nicene Christology is always intertwined to “objective” RomanCatholic ecclesiology. The Apostles Creed is confessed as well as the Canons of Trent and Vatican I. The cross of Christ is always related to the representation of the sacrifice of the Eucharist. The Spirit is always linked to the hierarchical structure of the Church. Ecumenism is always thought of in terms of other Christians being defective and the Church of Rome being the “catholic” Church. The mission of the Church is always pursued having in mind the catholic project to embrace the whole world. Evangelical reactions to his election to the papacy have applauded his “Biblefocused” theology. Yet, the question whether the Reformation is over is urgent and appropriate.


RONALD T. MICHENER, Kingdom of God and Postmodern Thought: Friends or Foes?

The overarching theological motif of kingdom of God may seem contrary to postmodern suspicions of oppressive metanarratives and totalizing systems of truth. However, this article submits that the postmodern critique of objectivity and human rationality offers layers of compatibility and commonality with the God’s kingdom program of reconciliation and restoration. As with many aspects of postmodern thought, the kingdom of God overturns, upsets and challenges our own selfish agendas and conceptual idolatries impeding community in the life and practice of the church.


MAURICE DOWLING, Erasmus and Luther: A Brief Presentation

The article looks at Erasmus and Luther as representatives of, respectively, Renaissance humanism and the Reformation. It compares their beliefs—particularly regarding the doctrines of sin and the freedom of the will—and also their attitudes to the Church. Some contemporaries saw Luther as developing Erasmus’ criticisms of the Church. However, although he was much indebted to humanism Luther’s perception of what was wrong in the Church—and what needed to be done—was very different. Erasmus found himself fitting into neither world: he could not embrace the Reformation and the Catholic Church found the Erasmian ethos increasingly unacceptable.


ANTONIO FAUR, The Relationships between the Church and the State. The Situation of Neoprotestant Denominations in Bihor County within the Last Years of the Second World War

The author conducted research within the documentary resources—especially those hosted by the Gendarmerie Forces of the Bihor county—which are still filed at the National Archives (the Bihor County Department), and he discovered new documentary proofs concerning the situation of Neoprotestant denominations in Bihor county within the last years of the Second World War. These documents reflect the politics of the Romanian State with view to these denomnations and especially the way they were supervised by local Gendarmerie authorities throughout Bihor county. The reconstruction of these realities underlines the forms of resistance found by “religious sects” (as these denominations were called by the State’s clerks) “of all sorts” which—although did not resort to open confrontation (the country was at war)—they were still active under specific types of manifestation as the nurtured the hope that they would regain their religious freedom at the end of the war. The most revealing example is given by the Baptists in Bihor county who reached 4274 members at that time. A case of particular interest is that of the “spiritists” (or “spiritualists”) who were found in some of the villages of Bihor county, such as Călacea and Girişul Negru. The documentary appendixes present a special importance.


ANTONIO FAUR, The Politics of the Communist State towards Religious Denominations.
A Case Study: Bihor County in 1987

Following some considerations regarding the measures taken by the Romanian Socialist State in order to exert a permanent and careful control over religious denominations, the author presents relevant information in this respect based on an unpublished documentary from the year 1987, written down by the Territorial Inspectorate for Cults in the counties of Bihor and Sălaj. The document contains precise data about the religious cults which existed that year (all of them mentioned in full), the number of believers in the county of Bihor (almost 548000), cult buildings (churches and prayer houses), the ministers (priests, pastors, deacons and singers), as well as cemeteries. Therefore, all these issues are presented as in a statistic radiography with special reference—in the second part of the article—to Neoprotestant denominations, notably Baptists and Pentecostals, which—although harshly dealt with by State authorities—were successfully engaged in current activities by resorting to cultural and confessional means of evident receptivity in total contradiction to the legal strictness devised by the Communist Regime.


PERICHORESIS 6.1 (2008)

WIM JANSE, The Controversy between Westphal and Calvin on Infant Baptism, 1555-1556

This essay aims to fill a lacuna in the historiography of the Second Eucharistic Controversy in the wake of the Zurich-Genevan Consensus Tigurinus (1549). It focuses on the polemics on infant baptism between John Calvin and Joachim Westphal from Hamburg by offering a reasoned survey of the various positions, as well as a critical edition of Westphal’s main texts on this matter plus an English translation. The Lutheran’s main concern was to maintain sacramental objectivity. Considering Calvin’s views to be a depreciation of the sacrament, he attacked the Reformed practice not to baptize dying infants and making the effectiveness of the sacrament dependent on eternal election. Westphal emphasized the inextricable bond within baptism between promise and element, plus the instrumentality of the two. His diagnosis of a spiritualising tendency in Calvin was not unfounded, as the Consensus was suffused with the spirit of Heinrich Bullinger. In turn, Calvin’s impassioned rejection of the Lutheran view of the necessitas baptismi as sacramentum regenerationis introduced an imbalance in his sacramentology that shows that his ideas about baptism were more Zwinglian than those on the eucharist. His baptismal theology suffers from a tension between certainty and liberty, between the objectivity of the offer of salvation and the liberty God possesses in his elective grace. Westphal emphasized especially the first aspect, Calvin at the same time also the second.

JOHN K. STAFFORD, The Rhetoric of Orthodoxy: A Second Look at Travers’ Supplication and Hooker’s Answers

The Hooker-Travers controversy was a local squabble with far reaching implications. Travers’ Supplication was intended to neutralise Hooker’s more generous approach to the task of theology especially regarding Rome, at least by reformation standards. Not least was Travers’ Supplication intended to defend his living in light of his expulsion from the Temple Church. Yet the debate disclosed attitudes towards the tasks of ministry that show up in ways not perhaps intended by their supporters. The Supplication and Answere bring into sharp and personal relief two ministers each of whom was passionately committed to the cause of reform. Hooker distinguishes himself as an erudite debater and one who was willing to achieve his polemical goals by going no further than the question demanded. It is clear that if Travers was the better preacher, he was no match for Hooker’s rhetorical skills. Travers’ own case was not helped by conflating his theological polemic and characteristic Puritan anxieties over episcopal governance (whose assent he himself needed), with a rational need for the support of a parish living he was at the point of losing.

JAMES MCMAHON, Christian Psychological Identity

The article reviews the history of self as a concept, from corporate self to self differentiated from human being and person. Views of self extended from Augustine and Aquinas to Locke and the Christian existentialists. The fragmentation of self, however, has resulted in fragmented persons, marriages, and societies. It is through identification with Jesus Christ that self is reclaimed to the place intended by the Creator. Therefore, formal explication is made of arguments for identity as well as for character and theological virtues. A sidelong glance is paid to nihilistic and spiritualist trends, while the reader is called back to the certainty of self-in-relationship to God and in fact. The article was written for academic theologians and teachers of religion primarily; however lay readers who persist will grasp meanings as they are conveyed in language that befits an august journal.

DAVID M. WHITFORD, Deus Dixit: The Power of the Word of God in Luther and Barth

This article is an investigation of Martin Luther’s theology of the cross as interpreted by Karl Barth who seems to have rejected Luther’s dialectic of the Law and Gospel. Nevertheless, as Barth strongly defends Luther’s theology of the cross, the fundamental question which arises is whether
a theology of the Word can be proposed solely on the grounds of his theology of the cross, namely without taking into consideration his dialectic of the Law and Gospel. The author’s suggestion resids in a good apprehension of Luther’s and Barth’s contexts which―if understood properly―demonstrate that their theologies share a high degree of similarity. This is allegedly
proved by the fact that Barth had successfully recaptured Luther’s traditional Reformation slogans: sola fide, sola gratia and sola scriptura.

ASHISH J. NAIDU, John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Hebrews: An Antiochene Christological Commentary?

The dominant thrust of scholarly readings of Chrysostom’s Christological exegesis of Hebrews label it as being typically Antiochene. Patristic scholars like Rowan Greer and Frances Young have asserted that Chrysostom’s commentary on Hebrews has all the hallmarks of the Antiochene
Christological tradition. It highlights Christ’s human achievement of obedience by progress through temptation and suffering; it stresses Christ’s human experience and condition to such an extent that one is obliged to separate the Logos from it; and focuses on the moral or virtuous Christian life rather than on the transformation of nature. The point being conveyed is that these emphases betray an Assumed-Man Christology and place Chrysostom squarely in the Antiochene Christological tradition. In response, I will attempt to demonstrate that although Chrysostom belongs to the Antiochene exegetical tradition, he does not belong to the Antiochene Christological tradition. Two critical points will be outlined from Chrysostom’s commentary on Hebrews: the personal continuity of the Logos-Son in Christ and the reality of Christ’s identification with us in his obedience, suffering, and death as being essential for our salvation. Moreover, it will be shown that Chrysostom views Christ’s identification with us as grounds for our reconciliation with God and adoption into his family. In short, I argue that Chrysostom’s understanding of the Christian life is an outworking of his unitive Christology. Chrysostom, it will be pointed out, views Christ as one divine acting subject.

OTNIEL L. VEREŞ, A Study of the “I Am” Phrases in John’s Gospel

This work is a brief analysis ofone of the specific features of theological discourse in John’s Gospel, namely the I am sayings. These assertions are interwoven in the fabric of the Gospel and intended to prove out some certain facts regarding the role and identity of Christ. The article is based on the premise that the I am sayings are the genuine assertions of Jesus which John reproduced through the Holy Spirit and not sayings attributed by John (or the author of the book) to Jesus in order to achieve his purpose. Starting from this premise, the aspects regarding the cultural and religious background of the sayings are still important, but not decisive. The primarily role of the I am sayings is to reveal the person of Christ. Therefore I chose for the present study the seven I am sayings which appear in the majority of biblical commentaries, to which I also added the assertion from 8:58, probably the most important of all, in order to see the truths they reveal concerning the identity of Christ.
 

PERICHORESIS 5.2 (2007)

JAMES HAMILTON, The Influence of Isaiah on the Gospel of John

This article seeks to catalogue the connections between the prophecy of Isaiah and the Gospel of John. The study is organized according to whom the Gospel presents as making the connection: the evangelist, the Baptist, and Jesus. Further, the connections between John and Isaiah are classified as either “direct fulfillments,” where citation formulas are used, or as “thematic connections,” where the correspondence between Isaiah and John is broader. The article seeks to establish a foundation for further study of John’s use of Isaiah by establishing the extent to which Isaianic influence may be discerned in the Fourth Gospel.

MOSTYN ROBERTS, What Did Christ Accomplish at the Cross? With Reference to Recent Controversies namely “The Lost Message of Jesus” and the “New Perspective on Paul”

Tracing the atonement from its necessity―man’s “problem” in Romans 1 (we are under wrath active through retribution) to God’s solution (satisfaction through substitution) in chapter 3, with interaction with a range of Scriptures and doctrinal issues, this article asserts that penal substitution is the central and indispensable, though not the only, achievement of the atonement. The article concludes with brief surveys of contemporary controversies: first, issues raised by Steve Chalke’s book The Lost Message of Jesus and, second, the view of the atonement that appears in the theology of N. T. Wright and the New Perspective on Paul.

GARETH CROSSLEY, Facing Opposition from Inside and Outside the Church

In the years following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the growing Christian Church faced many difficulties. At times the problems were external, open persecution from an unbelieving and hostile world. At other times troubles arose from within the assemblies. Four New Testament letters will be examined to trace the movement from the open persecution to the inner corruption of the churches. From the internal evidence alone a relationship will be established between these four letters together with the lessons that the authors draw from these different experiences in the life of the church. These lessons are just as valid today when the Church faces open persecution or inner corruption.

EGIL GRISLIS, Martin Luther’s Animal Farm in Germany

This work presents Martin Luther’s use of animal imagery in order to convey fundamental theological ideas. Luther made frequent appeal to animals especially when he presented the reality of human sin and its disastrous effects on the life of men and women. It was not his intention to offer an elaborate theology of nature with special references to animals but rather to provide us with an image of theological doctrines which he already knew and accepted. The violent language used by Luther in more than one occasion was not meant to offend anybody but to illustrate vividly what he had to say about a certain sin or clusters of sins which affected human nature. At the end of the day, Luther’s main concern was the church of Christ and its members so, lest he should spare the gravity of sin, he decided to use whatever language and imagery necessary in order to safeguard the morality of believers.

SALOMEA POPOVICIU, Religious and Secular Paradigms of Addressing Pluralism

The following essay looks at the religious and secular paradigms of addressing pluralism. Firstly we will look at religious pluralism from a Christian standpoint, considering its three major responses: particularism, inclusivism and pluralism. Secondly we present the secular perspective on religious pluralism, examining the way secular lifestyle and secular spirituality competes with institutionalized religion. This paper argues that secular spirituality, while encouraging respect towards the study of organized religion, promotes alienation and disregard for any type of religious participation. In addition, the secular rationale cannot applied to all humanity, because a rational, ethical or religious prescription for the humankind that would be in agreement with all people does not constitute reality, and so, the world ethos remains an abstraction. Also, the paradigms offered by inclusivism and pluralism are not compatible with traditional Christianity which affirms the objectivity of the revelation of God in the Bible, through his Son Jesus Christ who we believe is the sole Savior of every culture or religious tradition.

WOLFGANG WISCHMEYER, Christen im römischen Reich: Statusinkonsistenz in der
Alten Kirche und der Versuch, sie zu beseitigen

I borrowed the sociologic term of inconsistence from Geza Alföldy and Gerd Theissen. Although they use it for their research on Roman social history during the time of Roman emperors and the very complex society of those days as well as for presenting the Jesus-Movement, I shall apply it to ancient church history and the Christian people who lived at the same time “in different worlds”, the Roman Empire and the kingdom of heaven. The main argument of this article concerns the question whether individual Christians and the Church are an imitation of the surrounding society and its culture in all its different aspects, on the one hand, or an eschatological community, on the other; or maybe even the both.

MAREK PRIBULA, Essentials of Justification by Faith. A Greek-Catholic Perspective

The article presents the doctrine of justification from the perspective of Greek-Catholic theology. The author begins with some basic social, political and religious aspects which characterised the sixteenth century in order to offer a general framework for a better understanding of justification. Then he proceeds with some key theological aspects of the doctrine, such as its origins in Judeo-Christian thought, the declarative essence of justification, the reality of human sin and the fundamental importance of Christ. A brief analysis of justification in the Old and New Testaments follows with a special accent being placed on the foundational element of faith. The author even insists that in order to have a correct view of justification, one has to consider the sola fide reality of God’s declarative act whereby sinners are not considered as they are in reality but as they are not, namely they are reckoned just or righteous based solely on the sacrifice of Christ. The important discussion concerning the relationship between the theology of Paul
and James is not forgotten and―even if the treatment is not exhaustive―the two biblical writers are seen as holding complementary views, not opposing theologies. The end of the article is concerned with an ecumenical urge in the sense that all Christians should proclaim the doctrine of justification if they want to serve God properly.

RAMONA SIMUŢ, Reinterpreting Traditional Theology. An Interview with Edward Schillebeeckx

This interview is a hermeneutical key to the entire thought of Edward Schillebeeckx. As it will rapidly become evident, he reinterprets traditional Christian theology to the point of drastically deconstructing it. The most important issues which he presents in a light which is not at all traditional are the role of experience for our daily life, the historically conditioned character of revelation, the power of human reason to deal with man’s problems and the permanency of Christ’s death. Schillebeeckx also talks about his indebtness to Judaism, the contingency of religion, the necessity that faith should be construed rationally, his personal view of ethics, the optional character of celibacy, the essential goodness of secularism and the spiritual nature of eschatology. One should bear in mind that although Schillebeeckx maintains the form of traditional Christian language, he nevertheless completely changes the meaning of classical Christian concepts. Thus, Christ is not alive but dead, revelation is not absolute but historically conditioned and Christian doctrines are not permanent but subject to human interpretation.

PERICHORESIS 5.1 (2007)

W. J. TORRANCE KIRBY, Peter Martyr Vermigli’s Epistle to the Princess Elizabeth on her Accession (1558): A Panegyric and Some Pointed Advice

In 1553, Peter Martyr Vermigli fled his post as Regius Professor at the University of Oxford owing to the persecution of Protestant Reformers under Queen Mary. He first went to Strasbourg and finally settled in Zurich as Conrad Pelikan’s successor as Professor of Hebrew in the Schola Tigurina. Numerous “Marian exiles” from England followed Vermigli to Zurich where they continued to hear his lectures and to promote with him the cause of religious reform. At the accession of Mary’s sister Elizabeth in November 1558, Vermigli addressed an effusive panegyric to the young Queen comparing her situation to scriptural models of redemptive kingship. Elizabeth was to be “a holy Deborah for our times”. The letter constitutes a notable contribution to Reformation political theology. It also contains some very pointed and practical advice from the old Florentine scholar to the young Tudor prince on how to set the governance of the Church of England in order. To the end of his career, and beyond, Vermigli continued to exercise significant influence on the course of the English Reformation.

NICHOLAS J. THOMPSON A Reformed Papacy? Martin Bucer and the Treatment of Papal Primacy in the Worms Book (1540)

The Worms-Regensburg Book (1540-1541), better known as the source of an agreement between Catholics and Protestants on the doctrine of justification, contains statements on other controversial topics, including the papacy. Though no agreement was reached on these, a close analysis of the text suggests that it was written to reflect Protestant concerns. The book’s section on the papacy bears the hallmarks of the thought of one of its authors, Martin Bucer, and is consonant with views he expressed in biblical commentaries and works contemporary with the book’s production. Bucer contemplated the possibility of a Petrine office placed at the service of church’s edification and unity, though one always accountable for its exercise to its fellows in the ministry as well as to godly magistrates.

JOHN K. STAFFORD, Mystical Elements in Richard Hooker’s Theology

One word that draws together Hooker’s understanding of divine mystery and secrecy is his use of the term “participation”. Hooker uses it to speak of the hiddenness of God disclosed in Christ and the anticipation of divine/human union to which the instruments of divine grace are always “mysticallie yeat trulie, invisiblie yeat reallie” effecting the worshipper’s “participation” in the Godhead. Such a “conjunction” was only possible for Hooker if “that small vitall odor” of the Holy Spirit was preveniently given by God so that grace secretly mediated by the Holy Spirit was always, “both working inwardlie, and preventing the verie first desires, or motions of man to goodnes”. Hooker invited a return to the “foundation” of Christian thought and the promise of union with God through the Holy Spirit, not by absorption but by personal transformation and participation in Christ. He simultaneously rejected as arbitrary and circular the Puritan claims of independent spiritual insight, while directly positioning himself to rehearse a doctrine of the Holy Spirit that directly depended on the “sensible meanes” of grace accepted by both Puritans and Hooker, namely, word and sacrament, but did not remain there. The achievement of Richard Hooker moved the debate beyond the question of valid “meanes” to the goal of the Gospel, and life in the believing community which is “participation” in the Godhead. Hooker’s indispensable doctrine of the Holy Spirit made the saving knowledge of God possible for all people, not only the “godly”.

DOUGLAS H. SHANTZ, “How the Lord Revealed his Secrets to Me, One after Another”: The Life and Thought of Johanna Eleonora Petersen (1644-1724) in Recent Scholarship: a Review Article

This article examines four recent books devoted to the life and thought of German Pietist author Johanna Eleonora Petersen (1644-1724). In the last four years two monograph studies of Petersen and two source editions of her autobiography have appeared in print. The monographs by Albrecht and Martin pursue gender and literary questions rather than strictly theological ones, a welcome advance. However, Petersen’s radical Pietist spirituality demands a more creative, more multi-disciplinary approach than we find in these two books. Readers would do well to bypass the English translation of Petersen’s Leben by Becker-Cantarino in favour of the earlier one by Cornelia Niekus Moore or the 2003 German edition by Prisca Guglielmetti. The latter is a welcome resource for professors and students.

AURELIAN BOTICA, Revisiting Luther’s Theology of the Eucharist

In this paper the author analizes several key aspects of the theology of Martin Luther, specifically, the concept of the “presence” of Christ in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The study also attempts to identify the factors that influenced Martin Luther in reaching his conclusions, in particular, the influence of Thomas Aquinas, as well as his polemical relation with Zwingli and other Reformers. The paper also attempts to understand the theology of the Sacraments as one particular element within the larger construct of Lutheran theology. In this sense, the argument takes into account theological issues such as faith, salvation, anthropology, and the like.

CORNELIU C. SIMUŢ, Making Sense of the Study of Theology: Guidelines from Ludwig Crocius

This article is just a personal study of some recommendations which Crocius has for those who earnestly want to study theology. He is primarily concerned with the aspects which hinder people from studying theology in a proper manner and he lists three: human nature, laziness and confusion. Crocius warns against the peril to confuse philology and philosophy with theology but he nevertheless stresses the crucial importance of both philology and philosophy for a better understanding of theology. At the end, however, what really counts for all those who are ready to embark in a genuine study of theology is earnest, constant and sincere prayer which should be done with a happy heart.

SALOMEA POPOVICIU, Postmodernism in a Nutshell

The purpose of this essay is to present some of the main themes found in the postmodern tradition which is analyzed from three key standpoints: historical postmodernism, methodological postmodernism and positive postmodernism. Because of the overlap between the challenges of historical postmodernism and those of the later perspectives, the former is just briefly defined, while the later two are explored in more detail. This paper argues that the major debate of postmodernism is that over relativism towards knowledge and truth. In today’s pluralistic society, where the role of universal and normative ethics is criticized, methodological postmodernism does not offer solutions that succeed in avoiding the threat of social fragmenting. Empirical fragmenting of society endangers the establishing of public institutions that cannot accommodate conflicting moral or truth claims. Positive postmodernism, tries to prove the limits of knowledge, while attempting to avoid relativistic incoherence, advocating the role of intercultural dialogue and responsibility. However, in the absence of absolute truth responsibility and consequently morality becomes a mere exercise of power.

PERICHORESIS 4.2 (2006)

JOHN COFFEY, The Impact of Apocalipticism during the Puritan Revolutions

This article examines the various ways in which apocalyptic beliefs shaped British politics and religion during the revolutionary decades of the 1640s and 1650s. It argues that Protestant eschatology helped to spur the Scottish rebellion and the English Parliamentarian revolt. Fevered expectations of the restoration of primitive Christianity led to an unprecedented burst of ecclesiastical experimentation, whilst hopes of a great expansion of human knowledge in the last days stimulated the scientific investigations of Samuel Hartlib and his circle. In the 1650s, Cromwell and his Fifth Monarchist critics offered rival eschatological narratives, and belief in the imminent conversion of the Jews generated a campaign for their readmission to England. Although the Restoration in 1660 was a major setback for puritans, apocalypticism remained a lively force in later seventeenth-century England.

THOMAS P. JOHNSTON, Dying for the Great Commission: A Contemporary Thirteenth Century French Historiography

The 13th Century saw the growth and repression of both of the so-called heretical groups, the Albigenses and Waldenses, as well as the founding of the two Orders Minor, the Franciscans and Dominicans. The Albigenses, although not monolithic in their doctrine and practice, were proclamational, as were the Waldenses. These were severely repressed due to their disavowal of the Roman hierarchy. The Franciscans on one hand, and the Dominicans, on the other, each practiced the Great Commission differently while being firmly positive toward the Roman hierarchy. The Dominicans were the chief inquisitors of the Albigenses. Based on a new French historiography, initiated by René Nelli in 1959 and Jean Duvernoy in 1965, original Cathar writings and inquisition records have been published in Latin and some have been translated into French. These have formed the foundation for a new historiography of the religious ethos of Southern France in the 13th Century. My paper examines the issues of the Great Commission in light of the new French historiography.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Holy Scripture and the Faculty of Reason in Richard Hooker: A Selection of Secondary Sources

This article is a selective introduction to the debate concerning the relationship between Scripture and reason in the theology of Richard Hooker. Given the wide range of interpretations which attempt to place Hooker under various theological traditions (Anglican, Reformed, crypto-Catholic etc.), this paper is intended to be a challenge that all contemporary Hooker scholars should not firstly place Hooker in a certain theological tradition but carefully study his entire theology which will naturally bind him to the theological line to which he belongs.

LUKA ILIC, The Understanding of Sin in the Theology of Matthias Flacius

The author argues that Flacius’ understanding of ‘imago dei’ and ‘imago diaboli’ was not more radical than Luther’s. Flacius’s anthropology and especially his view of sin were not widely accepted within Lutheranism. Calvinism, however, especially after the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618, accepted the doctrine of total depravity which corresponded to Flacius’ anthropological and hamartiological concerns. Thus, if original sin is not properly understood, it will surely have catastrophic influences on the proper understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith. To conclude, the article asserts the author’s conviction that Flacius’ emphasis on human corruption as a result of the fall of man was kept alive although in a different note and Protestant confession.

PERICHORESIS 4.1 (2006)

ROBERT W. YARBROUGH, Witness to the Gospel in Academe: Adolph Schlatter as a Teacher of the Church

Swiss scholar Adolf Schlatter (1852-1938), professor at Berlin and Tübingen, was never silenced by an imposing intellectual atmosphere that drove most biblical scholarship and dogmatics of his era into postures that were disastrous for authentic Christian confession. His work, his strategy, and his gospel faith and character remain suggestive for Christian leaders today as we refine our own public witness in whatever venue has been granted us. Schlatter distinguished himself particularly in the domains of steadfastness, teaching method, humility, methodological restraint, and profound grasp of the gospel’s peculiar but powerful workings.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Doing Theology with Ludwig Crocius

This paper is a presentation of the first few pages of the ‘Introduction to Sacred Theology’ from Ludwig Crocius’ The Constitution of Sacred Theology (1635). The main concern for Crocius in his introductory section is the way one should study theology. Even if he wrote almost four hundred years ago, his advice should be accepted by all those who earnestly want to study theology. Thus the article presents Crocius’ definition of theology, the way he sees the purpose of theology, and the impediments to theology.

JOHN K. STAFFORD, Temple? What Temple? Eschatology in the Book of Chronicles

In this paper, the author briefly reviews the evolution of scholarly investigation in 1 and 2 Chronicles, with attention given to the Chronicler’s treatment of the Solomonic Temple, and his concept of the future. This forms the background to test the idea that the Chronicler’s idealisation of Solomon and the Temple was a strategy used to establish the Temple of Ezra-Nehemiah as a temporary socio-religious expedient. For the Chronicler the true Temple, as the defining concept in both form and function for Israel’s identity, was either specifically Solomonic or, in its absence, eschatological. The notable absence of any discussion in Chronicles concerning the Temple of Ezra, together with the Davidic idealisation of any Israelite king who conformed to the true worship of God, created an environment that may be described as proto-Messianic. The context of social and religious uncertainty in the post-Exilic period, combined with the an increasingly diffuse notion of Davidic and priestly descent, provided the necessary eschatological framework for subsequent generations to adopt the vocabulary of a “true” Temple, and the emergence of the class of hasidim. The paper further points to the possibility that such a conceptual framework was ultimately worked out in Judaism through the Messianism of the pious separatists at Qumran, and the emergence of an explicit eschatological concept of “Temple” in Jesus and Paul.

T. H. M. AKERBOOM, ‘A New Song We Raise’: On the First Martyrs of the Reformation and the Origin of Martin Luther’s First Hymn

On the 1st of July 1523 Henricus Vos and Johannes van den Esschen, two Augustinian friars died on the pyre on the Grote Markt in Brussels. They were the first martyrs of the Reformation. From the reports which have been preserved it is clear that both monks must have been serious and well-trained theologians. Erasmus writes of their martyrdom with great admiration. The executioner is asked if they recanted on the scaffold. The answer is negative. When they were led to the stake, they both testified with loud voices that they died as Christians. They sung the Credo and the Te Deum in the midst of the flames. The execution of adherents of his views left a deep impression on Martin Luther. That can be seen in several letters and a pamphlet he had published, Die artickel warumb die zwen Christliche Augustiner münch zu Brussel verprandt sind, sampt eynem sendbrieff an die Christen ym Holland und Braband. Luther must have learned of the circumstances of their martyrdom toward the end of July, 1523. He was well aware that others had undergone what his enemies wished to see happen to him. That the execution made a deep impression on Luther can also be seen from the fact that it stimulated him to writing songs. The first song, ‘A new song here shall be begun’, the title of which is Eyn new lied von den zween Merterern Christi, zu Brussel von den Sophisten zu Löwen verbrant, is a ballad regarding the execution of the Augustinian monks in Brussels. It is an ode thanking and praising God for the martyrdom of the two monks. The tone of this ‘new song’ is joyful and optimistic. Luther describes the martyrdom of his fellow Augustinians, who were the first to be found worthy of giving their lives for the good cause. The song shows clear parallels with the martyrs’ hymns from the first century of the Church. Then too it was not the intention of the writers to raise a monument for the martyrs, but to thank God and praise Him for the exemplars of loyalty and resolution that he had given to his Church. What is important for Luther in this ballad is the proclamation of the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

GHEORGHE DOBRIN, A Summary of the Main Images of Jesus

The doctrine of the Person of Christ, or Christology, is one of the most important concerns of Christian theology. The various aspects of the Person of Christ are best seen by reviewing the titles that are applied to Him in the Bible. The main images of Jesus in the Bible are: Lamb of God, Son of Man, Son of God and Logos (The Word). The essence of these titles is soteriological, but some of them contain also eschatological meaning. The phrase “Lamb of God” is found in the NT only in the Gospel of John. Though the title ‘Son of Man’ is more prominent in the Synoptic Gospels than in the Gospel of John, the title does occur in several important passages in the Fourth Gospel. In a number of these instances the expression ‘Son of Man’ is equivalent to the pronouns ‘I’ or ‘me’ when spoken by Jesus (e.g. 8:28 or 6:53 and 9:35). This is the same usage found in the Synoptic Gospels. The Johannine writings include considerable emphasis on the title ‘Son of God’. John 20:31 explicitly states that the purpose of the gospel is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. For John, Jesus is the Son of God in a unique sense. The idea of Jesus as the Logos of God, which is to be the main focus of this thesis, is one of the most distinctive features of John's Christology. It is unique to John and, within John, to the Prologue.

AURELIAN BOTICA, ‘When Heaven is Shut Up’: Ancient Near Eastern Backgrounds to the Concept of Natural Calamity

The following study will review some of the answers offered by Ancient Near East texts – including the Bible – in the face of the adversity posed by drought, earthquakes, infertility and other natural and human calamities. The study will analyse sources from Egipt, Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Israel in order to show that the ancient man pointed to the world of the gods – in particular, the displeasure of the gods – as the main explanation for those disasters. The study will distinguish, however, between the vision of the pagan and the Biblical man regarding this phenomenon.

PERICHORESIS 3.2 (2005)

EGIL GRISLIS, The Individualised Eschatology of Richard Hooker (1554-1600)

Hooker's concern with death and afterlife was mostly existential and individual. Particularly in one of his surviving sermons, "A Remedie Against Sorrow and Feare," Hooker expressed the deep sympathy and great love which Jesus had for His people. Nevertheless, Hooker expected that the departed must also face God's just judgment. Yet during a person's lifetime, fear arose not only on account of encounter with God at the time of one's death, but also on account of physical suffering and dangers during all of life. Under such circumstances, Hooker assumed that even to sinners God continues to offer grace and thereby solace. In this way the living are always challenged to repentance. In a religiously divided and sharply controversial age, Hooker did not exclude Roman Catholics from salvation. The situation for atheists Hooker viewed as hopeless. Nevertheless, generally speaking, Hooker exhibited a remarkable measure of tolerance towards religious dissenters.

DAVID NEELANDS, John Gauden, First Biographer of Richard Hooker: an Influential Failure

In publishing the first complete edition of Richard Hooker’s Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie in 1662, Bishop John Gauden also provided the first account of the “Life and Death of Mr. Richard Hooker”. This biography was notoriously inadequate and was rapidly replaced by the venerable biography of Izaac Walton, which endured as the only available biography, largely unquestioned until the middle of the twentieth century. Now, through the work of C. J. Sisson, David Novarr, Georges Edelen and Philip Secor, a biography correcting Walton can be constructed. John Gauden’s Life has never been republished. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate the enduring importance of Gauden’s biography, now that Walton is discounted.


STEVEN W. SMITH, The Non-Verbal Illustration: Macluhan, Postman, and the Emerging Preacher

Emerging church thinkers generally advocate the multi-sensory, non-verbal, mediated in preaching, or even in lieu of preaching as oral communication. This paper will show a multi-sensory driven preaching theory found in emerging church literature, analyzing it with the thought of communication theorist Marshall Mcluhan, and cultural critic Neil Postman.

PAUL NEGRUT, Orthodox Ecclesiology: The Temple of the Spirit

The starting point of this article is a quotation from Bobrinskoy, who defends the view that the Eastern Orthodox Church has been profoundly aware of the reality of the Holy Spirit. Thus, it knew for a fact that the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost inaugurated a new era for humanity and the entire history of the universe. Very much in the same vein, most Eastern Orthodox theologians would strongly suggest that their theology has always been more sensitive to the doctrine of the Spirit than Western theological thought. Thus, they believe that the Holy Spirit is the life of the church.

AURELIAN BOTICA, A Study of the Concepts of Intention and Inward Disposition in Cases where the Intent, not the Action, Establishes Blame or Praise

The present study will focus on the concept of intention. In particular, it will answer the question whether the Bible allows for the possibility that a person may be held liable for his or her mere intention – i.e., intent without the physical act. Our study will show that, while the Bible agrees that a person may not be prosecuted in the absence of material evidence, it allows for a parallel system of justice – the court of heaven – where liability is incurred merely by intending or harboring evil thoughts.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Essential Features of the Doctrine of Justification in the Theology of Martin Bucer

Martin Bucer anchors his theology of justification in God, through his grace manifested in Christ. Justification is worked out by the Holy Spirit, who gives people the necessary faith which leads to the unification of grace, faith and the work of the Spirit in justification. Justification consists of the imputation of Christ’s alien righteousness to the believer and the impartation of the righteousness of Christ to the believer. Thus, the believer is not only declared righteous but also made righteous. Bucer also speaks of the justification of the ungodly by faith, by which sinners are considered and made righteous in the sight of God, and justification of the godly by works, by which the works of the believers are considered righteous in the sight of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.

ADRIAN GIORGIOV, Asahel Nettleton, Revivalist of the Second Great Awakening

Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844) was one of the great spiritual leaders instrumental in the revival work in different areas of the eastern states during the Second Great Awakening (1787-1843). While he never pastored a church, wrote a book, or led an organization, Nettleton was one of the earliest itinerant preachers born in America to have long-term success. The paper presents his conversion, mission call and education, then his preaching and especially his revival methods compared with the ‘new measures’ used by Charles Finney. The paper concludes with a display of Nettleton’s contributions to the Second Great Awakening. In all of his outstanding contributions, Nettleton was a humble man, trying to live up to the maxim he read when he was a young man, ‘Do all the good you can in the world, and make as little noise about it as possible.’

GHEORGHE DOBRIN, The Introduction of the Concept of Logos in the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel

It is generally accepted by scholars that the first eighteen verses of the Fourth Gospel constitute a division technically known as the Prologue. Here as in any other well-written introduction, the plan of the work is set out. The Logos doctrine is stated there because it supplies the key to right understanding of the history that follows. The concept of the logos is richly presented in the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel. For some the Prologue is a ‘foyer to the rest of the Gospel, simultaneously drawing the reader in and introducing the major themes’, or ‘the key to the understanding of this gospel’. It can be maintained that in the message of the Prologue, we can find the message of salvation too, but in presenting of this message John use cosmogony as a background in a unique way. The Prologue, therefore, commences a presentation of the person of Christ, which is quite different from that of other Gospels. It is theological rather than biographical or historical in its approach. Some scholars have thought that the Prologue was originally separate, perhaps being composed by someone other than the Evangelist. They see it as having no real connection with the Gospel, but as adapted more or less successfully for its present position. It is the unique contribution of the Prologue of the Gospel of John, that it reveals the Word of God not merely as an attribute of God, but as a distinct Person within the Godhead, dwelling with the Creator before creation began, and acting as the divine agent in creation. The Prologue speaks not of ‘the word of God’ but of ‘the Word who was with God, and was God’. The message of the Prologue became this: The Logos is God’s life that is imparted to all living.

PERICHORESIS 3.1 (2005)

WIM JANSE, Reformed Antisocinianism in Nothern Germany: Ludwig Crocius’ Antisocinianismus Contractus of 1639

To contemporary established European Protestantism and Catholicism, seventeenth-century Antitrinitarianism, called Socinianism after Fausto Sozzini (1539-1604), was a major theological and sociopolitical threat. In current research, the contribution of the Bremen Academy (1584-1812) to antisocinian polemic is a white spot. A driving force in Reformed confessionalization processes throughout Europe, the academy charitably defended the Reformed heritage against varied exponents of ‘heterodoxy’. Its prolific rector and irenic dogmatician Ludwig Crocius (1586-1653), who as a deputy at the Dordrecht Synod (1618-19) aroused the suspicion of the Contra-Remonstrants, substantially published on Socinian doctrine. In this paper on the occasion of the fourth centennial anniversary of Sozzini’s death, in particular Crocius’ Antisocinismus contractus – which in turn commemorated the centenary of the ‘sectarian’s’ birth – is researched within the broader context of Reformed antisocinianism in Germany and the Dutch Republic.

HAMILTON MOORE, A Survey of Recent Discussion regarding the Christian Nature of the Book of the Revelation

Serious doubts have been expressed about the inclusion of the Book of the Revelation in the New Testament canon. This article surveys different approaches to the Book of the Revelation in modern scholarship. Dodd, Bultmann and Lawrence’s views are noted first of all. For them the work is really sub Christian. Or is the work rather pre-Christian, as J. Massyngberde-Ford initially claimed, originating with John the Baptist, before Jesus commenced his public ministry with some sections written by two disciples of John, one a Jewish Christian? Margaret Barker’s commentary is also touched upon, with the suggestion that the book, contra Massyngberde-Ford’s 1975 commentary, is made up of visions collected and preserved by John the Beloved Disciple and the prophets, the greatest of whom was Jesus himself. Revelation is teaching of Jesus as the heavenly High Priest Melchizedek, deliberately kept secret, especially the ‘secrets of the kingdom’ (Mark 4:10-11), the heavenly places and the angels. Other approaches to Revelation are highlighted, that of Hunter and Sweet with the suggestion of ‘essential truths’ in the book or its ‘abiding message’ for today. John's prognostications were not fulfilled as he expected. Rome did not fall. The commentary by Bruce J. Malina is discussed with the suggestion of a completely new approach to viewing the Book of Revelation – that of astral prophesy. Also E. S. Fiorenza’s rhetorical interpretation and a discussion of both diachronic and synchronic approaches to the work, the latter bringing a new emphasis where what the text says to the reader is crucial. Feminist Theology and Revelation is also touched upon. Also the view that the work is simply a perceived social crisis in the mind of John, an expression of a mood, or holy rage. Having surveyed these suggestions the work proceeds to affirm positively that Revelation is a truly Christian book. Reference is made to David Aune’s three volume commentary and the earlier understanding of the Book of Revelation by G. R. Beasley-Murray as he examined its ‘very lofty’ Christology, eschatology and its doctrine of God. Morris and Kümmel are also highlighted, with the latter suggesting that Revelation is ‘a total recasting of the apocalyptic view of history out of the Jewish into the Christian mold’. Recent commentaries have also adopted this Christian understanding of the work e.g. Beale in his recent major work on Revelation’, Smalley and Richard Bauckham in The Climax of Prophecy. The conclusion of the discussion involves a look at the traditional approaches to Revelation, the Historicist, Idealist, Futurist and the Preterist interpretations. It is suggested that there may very well be elements in all four views that are useful in interpreting the book. The important fact is to clearly grasp that the book should be read in the light of its own time and the particular situation of the Christian community under the cruel might and power of the Emperor and Rome. The author’s purpose is to give a prophetic interpretation of the difficult situation of the church in the end-time from the perspective of the eschatological future.

PAUL NEGRUT, Ecclesia: An Eastern Orthodox Perspective

This article investigates the concept of ecclesia in the light of Eastern Orthodox theology. The core of Eastern Orthodox Ecclesiology is based on the metaphor of the body of Christ, which has some very important methodological, theological, and sociological implications.

MARIUS D. CRUCERU, Augustine Again?

This article evaluates the revitalisation of the academic interest in the works of Augustine. After an analysis of how Augustine was understood traditionally, or the old Augustinianism, the author presents what he calls the new Augustinianism. Thus, he presents some suggestions concerning the direction which could be taken by contemporary Augustinian studies. One of the best solutions for a better understanding of Augustine’s works could be the reassessment of the texts written in Latin by Augustine himself.

ADONIS VIDU, For a Minimalist Christian Realism

This paper argues that Christian theology requires at least a minimalist version of realism about truth and knowledge. I identify four areas with specifically realist assumptions. The first of these, realism of intent, holds that under normal circumstances we have to treat religious believers as knowing what they mean when they purport to refer to religious or otherwise non-empirical reality. Secondly, I argue that the so-called ‘cosmic porridge’ metaphor is incompatible with a Christian metaphysic of divine intentional creation. Next, I suggest that there is a strong Christian bias against ontological relativity and instrumentalism. Finally, I reject Putnam’s model theoretic argument in favour of the identification of truth with warranted assertibility.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Pigeonholing Richard Hooker: A Selective Study of Relevant Secondary Sources

The article endorses the close connection between Richard Hooker and Reformed theology but it also shows that it is quite difficult to clarify whether Hooker was a Reformed theologian or not. Thus, there are three main approaches to Hooker’s doctrine of justification: firstly that Hooker was a non-Reformed theologian, namely he was a via media Anglican or even a Catholic, secondly that he was only partially Reformed and on the verge of Arminianism, and thirdly that he was fully Reformed in line with Calvin’s theology.

PERICHORESIS 2.2 (2004)

W. J. TORRANCE KIRBY, ‘Relics of the Amorites’ or ‘Things Indifferent’? Peter Martyn Vermigli’s Authority and the Threat of Schism in the Elisabethan Vestiarian Controversy

In the years following the enactment of the Elizabethan Settlement, the threat of schism loomed over the Church of England with respect to provisions governing uniformity of ecclesiastical dress. Were the traditional vestments and ornaments of worship ‘relics of the Amorites’ whose use was inconsistent with a truly Reformed ecclesiastical order? Or were they rather ‘adiaphora’ and therefore to be tolerated? Numerous appeals by both parties to the dispute were made to Peter Martyr Vermigli, now settled in Zurich , for his judgement of the matter. Although Vermigli’s authority was cited by both sides, he emerges a staunch defender of the Settlement. Consistent with his intervention of 1550 in John Hooper’s brief period of resistance to the Edwardine vestments rubric, Vermigli counselled conformity with careful nuance. Vermigli’s stance in the vestiarian controversy in turn raises important questions about the ‘Reformed’ identity of the Elizabethan Church.

PAUL NEGRUT, The Orthodox and the Evangelicals: Cooperation or Confrontation?

Evangelicals should investigate and identify those trends within Eastern Orthodoxy which are consonant with the Bible and then build bridges that permit theological discussions. The Evangelicals who live in Orthodox countries dominated by exclusive ecclesiologies and religious nationalism should be ready to pay the prices for their faithfulness to the Gospel and the Great Commission. Evangelicals should both affirm their identity and investigate all the paths which may lead to cooperation with the Eastern Orthodox Church. At the same time, however, whenever the situation demands it, Evangelicals must be ready to serve Christ in a hostile world. As Christians, we must not only stand firm in the Gospel but fight for it in the public arena.

TIMOTHY GRASS, Bible, Church and Tradition in the Sixteenth Century Reformation

Many contemporary Evangelicals claim the Bible as their sole authority in matters of faith and practice. However, in this matter their thinking diverges from that of the 16th-century Protestant Reformers. The Reformation’s upholding of sola scriptura set Scripture as the supreme authority in matters of belief, but did not thereby exclude appeals to lesser authorities. The article demonstrates this by comparing and contrasting the ways in which the relationship between the Bible and Tradition was understood during the 16th century by Roman Catholics, Magisterial Protestants and Radical Reformers. Drawing on this, it concludes with some reflections on the way in which tradition functions today in the life of baptistic churches, arguing for a more positive understanding and deployment of the concept of tradition.

ADONIS VIDU, Interpretation and Law: Some Thoughts on Understanding and Application

This paper critically explores Gadamer’s suggestion that law provides the best example of interpretation. A common entailment of this view is that there can be no principled distinction between meaning and application. I make two observations by way of critique: the first, a literary-legal consideration: laws by their very nature are incomplete and require the creative interpretation of judges. A second, institutional consideration calls attention to the procedures available within the legal profession for the supplementing laws. Next I follow the parallel discussion in the American legal context, between Ronald Dworkin and Stanley Fish.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Justification in Elisabethan Theology: Conformity and Non-Conformity

The two conflicting parties during the reign of Elizabeth I, the conformists led by John Jewel and John Witgift and the non-conformists of Thomas Cartwright and Walter Travers, professed teachings on justification which were almost identical despite some obvious differences in the area of ecclesiology. It is important to notice that while Jewel defended the Church of England against Catholicism, Whitgift sought to protect the Elizabethan Church against Puritanism.

CHRISTOPHER J. DONATO, ‘So Is My Will’: Sin, Grace and Freedom in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’

The author argues that Milton’s Paradise Lost is not Arminian, as traditionally accepted, but rather Calvinist. Thus, he demonstrates that in Milton, God freely chose some to eternal life and then gave them the necessary grace to ensure their salvation. Milton’s theodicy is not based on the free will of man but is far more theocentric. In order to justly condemn some, God extends his mercy to every human being. Thus, for Milton, the grace of Christ’s atonement for salvation is sufficient for all but efficient only for the elect.

LUCA ILIC, Matthias Flacius’ Theology within the Sixteenth Century Polemics

Flacius was a Reformer who always spoke his mind and consequently upset many. The latter, however, did not happen mainly because of his outspoken attitude but rather because he was not German. Flacius entered some crucial controversies which are briefly presented in this article. Thus, he played important parts in the Majorist controversy, the Osiandrist controversy, the Schwenkfeldian controversy, the second sacramentarian controversy, the synergist controversy, and the Flacian controversy.

DAN A. BOTICA, Theodicy as Theophany in the Book of Job

Our article will deal with the question of innocent suffering in the book of Job. We will show that throughout the book, Job demands that God explain the reasons for his suffering. The audience knows that the reason at the root of the suffering of Job is not necessarily his moral/ethical character (1:8; 2:3). Though Job will remain unaware until the end about the encounter between Satan and God, in several key passages he uses courtroom language to call upon God to present the "evidence" for his suffering. Our argument will show that the speech – or theophany – of God, in the whirlwind, represents the theological answer to the problem of theodicy.

PERICHORESIS 2.1 (2004)

PAUL NEGRUT, A Survey of the History of Christianity in the Romanian Principalities from the 17th to the 19th Centuries: between East and West

The author argues that three main events took place during this period of time. Firstly, the encounter between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman-Catholic Church in Transylvania, which resulted in the decision of a large part of the Orthodox Church to unite with Rome. The result was the so-called Uniate Church or the Greek-Catholic Church. The second event was the conflict between the State and the Church, mainly in the principalities of Moldova and Wallachia. As a result of this, the State decided to bring the Church under its control, thus secularizing the property of the monasteries. The third event was the encounter between Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy, which is evident mostly in the doctrine of salvation, which led to the emergence of Protestant churches in all Romanian principalities.

CARTER LINDBERG, Martin Luther on Marriage and the Family

This article shows that Luther’s theology was indeed an agent for social change especially in issues concerning to marriage and family. Far from limiting women to ‘church, kitchen, and kids’, as most traditional portraits of Luther often do, the author present the German Reformer as a theologian who managed to trigger a reconstruction of ethics based on his view on marriage and the family. Thus, Luther applied Evangelical theology to marriage and the family which resulted in desacramentalisation of marriage, the desacralisation of the clergy and the resacralisation of the life of the laity.

ADRIAN GIORGIOV, The Kenotic Christology of Charles Gore, P. T. Forsyth, and H. R. Mackintosh

This paper studies the term kenosis as a synonymous term for the incarnation and it proposes to do the study through the works of three outstanding British kenoticists, Charles Gore, P. T. Forsyth, and H. R. Mackintosh. After a presentation of the main points of each of these scholars, the paper concludes that their mistake was that they tried to determine (more or less) how much of the divine being can be brought within the limits of a human existence, but they were right in affirming Christ's full deity and that, in him, God has uniquely descended into his creation, upholding this against minimizing tendencies of the more extreme humanistic Christologies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

CHRISTOPHER OCKER, The Bible and the Cultural Significance of European Reformations

What was the impact of the rise of Protestantism on European culture? Diverse approaches and answers to this classical question have tended to form two groups, those that stress an early Protestant rupture with medieval culture and others that allege an on-going medieval cultural substratum extending through the Protestant Reformation. This essay considers the interpretation of the Bible and hermeneutical changes in late medieval commentaries to argue that cultural change involved a new conception of the relation of God to the world, but the new conception emerged over the course of a very long chronology that was both medieval and early modern.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Ulrich Zwingli and his Doctrine of Justification: A Short Presentation

Justification in Zwingli has the person of Christ as starting point. Christ is presented as God, so he is the centre between creation and the end of the world. This guarantees a unified soteriology, in the sense that God’s plan for the salvation of humanity is the same in the Old and New Testaments. Christ died, but he rose again so he is often portrayed as victorious over sin, death and the devil. Christ is our liberator who gives us his perfect righteousness. Zwingli includes the doctrine of election within his discussion of justification which is also supported by a distinct pneumatological dimension. Faith is a gift from God, who showed us in Christ how we should lead our lives. This is why the example of Christ for our salvation is prominent in Zwingli’s doctrine of justification. Thus, the life of the Christian must be ethically pure because faith makes the believer righteous.

DANIEL E. KEEN, Two Early Sermons by Martin Luther: An Examination of the Theological Implications of the Dating of Luther’s ‘Sermon on Three Kinds of Righteousness’ and his ‘Sermon on Two Kinds of Righteousness’

These two sermons are particularly important for Luther’s entire theology of salvation because they show the progression of his theological understanding mainly in connection to the doctrine of justification. Scholars have argued forcibly for a chronological arrangement of the two sermons which also shed light on Luther’s soteriological development. The author argues that Luther’s sermon on three kinds of righteousness is not the later of the two, as traditionally believed, so it does not represent his mature view of justification. If this could be demonstrated, then Luther comes even closer to the central doctrine of forensic justification which is specific to the Protestant Reformation.

LUCA ILIC, Mathias Flacius: An Underrated Slavic Reformer

This paper presents Mathias Flacius, a Croatian Reformer, who had an important contribution to the development of protestant theology in the sixteenth century. The author introduces Flacius by giving details about his childhood and education, his early career as a disciple of Luther and his ministry, writings and wanderings.

PERICHORESIS 1.2 (2003)

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, Romanian Reformation Research

This is a presentation of the Centre for Reformation Studies within Emanuel University of Oradea. The paper briefly traces the main historical events which led to the arrival of the Reformation in Transylvania and the contemporary situation of Protestant confessions in this region. It also displays the most important objectives of the Centre.

FRANK A. JAMES III, Peter Martyr in Bucer’s Strasbourg: The Early Formulation of his Doctrine of Justification

Was Vermigli fully Protestant while serving in Strasbourg? Or was he as Sturm asserts a “Reformkatholic”? The answer to this query lies principally with Martin Bucer. A brief comparison of Vermigli’s early thought with that of Bucer reveals a virtual replica. They share soteriological indebtedness to Augustine, as well as the standard Protestant elements such as sola fide, imputation and the forensic character of justification. The most distinctive parallel between Vermigli and Bucer is the three-fold conception of justification. Much like Vermigli, Bucer affirms a “primary justification” which brings forgiveness of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the sinner and then manifests itself in “secondary justification” and good deeds. A third justification is identified with final glorification. This three-fold understanding is almost exactly what we found in Vermigli. The learned Italian stranger who arrived in Strasbourg in the winter of 1542 was, whether he realized it not, a man on a theological journey, and Martin Bucer was to be his guide. His encounter with Protestantism through books prepared him for further theological refinement. Vermigli found in Bucer a mentor in whom Augustinianism converged with the distinctive ideas of Protestantism, whose doctrine of justification married the theology of Augustine to the distinctive insights of Luther. Vermigli could not have landed in a more conducive theological environment.

TIMOTHY GRASS, Justification by Faith: A Neglected Rediscovery?

Evangelicals who convert to Eastern Orthodoxy seem to have little difficulty in rejecting the doctrine of justification by faith alone, implying that this doctrine played little part in shaping their spirituality as Evangelicals. The article outlines the biblical evidence for the doctrine, and its historical development, focusing on Luther, Calvin and Pietism. Pietism’s theological legacy to Evangelicalism has been a tendency to stress conversion at the expense of justification, with resultant problems in such areas as assurance, sanctification and the relationship between good works and justification. In crucial areas, therefore, many modern Evangelicals have lost the insights of Luther and Calvin, and have risked propagating a religion which is based on human rather than divine action. The article calls for a rediscovery of the implications of the doctrine of justification in such fields as dialogue with other Christian traditions, and in the church’s preaching and practice.

CARL R. TRUEMAN, The Cross, Suffering, and Assurance: Fundamental Insights from the Reformation

This article shows how the biblical message was recaptured at the Reformation which helped to revitalise the church and it urges the churches today not to abandon it because it reflects the very heart of God as revealed in the heart of the Bible. Evangelical churches should not ignore the Reformation otherwise they will damage their historical and theological identity. The paper also presents some of the most important lessons of the Reformation, as reflected in Martin Luther’s theology, which can still teach the church today.

TIMOTHY GEORGE, The Reformation Roots of the Baptist Tradition

Baptists are presented here as children and heirs of the Reformation, in the sense that they originated in England’s Puritan communities of the early seventeenth century. The author speaks of both General (Arminian) and Particularist (Calvinist) Baptists which very much resembled the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century Continental Reformation. There is a close connection between the Baptist tradition and the theology of the Continental Reformation especially in doctrines such as the teaching of God, Christ, Scripture, Salvation, and Church. The conclusion reminds us that the Baptists of the early seventeenth century have more things in common with other Protestants than things which separate them from the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.

DAVID F. WRIGHT, Calvin and Servetus in Dispute over Irenaeus

This paper investigates the disputation between Calvin and Servetus in aspects which are closely related to the doctrine of God. While they both appealed to Irenaeus, Calvin insisted on eternal hypostasis of the Father, while Servetus tried to demonstrate that there is no real distinction in God. It is interesting to notice that Calvin used Irenaeus for his own defense but he did not make any reference to Irenaeus’ doctrine of recapitulation.

PAUL NEGRUT, A Survey of the History of Christianity in Romania from the Beginning of the Protestant Reformation until the End of the 19th Century

The article describes as well as comments the main lines which determined how Christianity developed in the Romanian principalities until the late decades of the 19th century. Firstly, we read about the Protestant reformation and the Romanian principalities of Transylvania, Moldova and Wallachia, with brief information on Unitarians and Mennonites. Then, the author also insists on the crucial role of the Uniates who opened countless possibilities for Romanians to be influenced by Western philosophy and literature.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, The Development of the Doctrine of Justification in the Theology of Philip Melanchthon: A Brief Historical Survey

This is an analytical description of Melanchthon’s development of the doctrine of justification throughout his life from the very early dogmatic attempts to his theology of maturity and then to his theology which marked the end of his life. Issues like salvation, faith, trust in Christ, the reckoning of somebody righteous in the eyes of God are common in Melanchthon’s writings. It is also shown that towards the end of his life, Melanchthon allegedly accepted a more ‘rationalistic’ approach to theology for which he was accused of synergism. Trust or fiducia is fundamentally important for one’s life but for the later Melanchthon, justification by faith alone seems to have become only justification by faith.

DANIEL FARCAS, Les Metaphores Oculaires dans la Mystique de Maitre Eckhardt

The spirituality of Maister Eckhardt is a genuine philosophy of light. Thus, he speaks of the eye which believes and of the eye which touches because he was interested in the ontology of proximity which is based on the concept of love. Christians have the capacity to decipher love by means of the power of their spiritual eyes.

PERICHORESIS 1.1 (2003)

PAUL NEGRUT, Evangelism and the Local Church

This article presents the importance of evangelism for the local church. The author explores some biblical and theological aspects of the church, evangelism and also the connection between them because biblical theology should lead to a clear practice in the church. Thus, three topics are analysed in more detail: firstly the nature of the church, secondly the nature of evangelism and thirdly the relationship between the local church and evangelism. The article ends with some conclusions which are connected to the Lausanne Covenant.

PAIGE PATTERSON, Anatomy of a Reformation: The Southern Baptist Convention 1978-1994

The main concern of this paper is to show how the American Baptists of the Southern Baptist Convention fought against and then detached themselves from liberal influences in theology and academy. The article makes a clear difference between the moderates and the conservatives, and explains the way they decided to organize themselves after both parties had cleared their theological direction. The author clearly advocates the conservative position which affirms theological orthodoxy, Bible reading, trust in the Bible, salvation in Christ and the importance of action for one’s personal salvation.

ROBERT YARBROUGH, Completing the Reformation: The Challenge of Romans 1:16-17 for Romanian Evangelicals

An important strand of the Reformation heritage understands the benefit of the gospel as mercy, the individual’s forgiveness of sins. Romans 1:16-17 says the gospel reveals God’s righteousness (dikaiosyne theou). The gospel believed bestows more than mercy. God’s righteousness moves those who embrace the gospel beyond the acceptance of God’s mercy in Christ to transformation by his grace and embodiment of his love. The dikaiosyne theou that comes through the gospel can propel Romanian evangelicals forward to the glory of the one who loved us and calls us to abide in his love. But this calls for Christians to crave not just God’s mercy but his righteousness. In this way, building upon but transcending important Reformation milestones, Romanian believers can perfect the inheritance of academic learning, biblical faith, and transformed lives which as recipients of the gospel they have received.

COLIN GUNTON (d. 2003), The Forgotten Trinity

Can we forget the doctrine of the Trinity or is it just a skill which can never be detached from our minds? This work seeks to answer these questions as well as whether we are able to grasp it fully given the major theological differences between Eastern and Western Christendom. The main point, however, is the fact that theological doctrine should not be a goal in itself but a way of showing that our God whom we worship is a real God. We are also shown what it means to think trinitarianly and which are the main elements of the doctrine of the Trinity: God the Son, the fundamental unity of the Godhead, the relationship of plurality and oneness by means of the concept of person, and the reality of love as basic for the Trinity.

STEPHEN WILLIAMS, Personhood and Persistent Vegetative State: A Theological Perspective

In this article, it is argued that concepts of personhood affect our decisions about how to treat patients in Persistent Vegetative State, even though they do not absolutely determine one course of action. Views of what rights humans have follow from what kind of thing we conceive humanity to be. From a theological point of view, it is mistaken to say the active mind is the essence of the human person. The concept of personhood is deeper and broader than that. This means that the cessation of conscious brain activity in the case of the PVS patient does not entail that the true person is no longer there. So a close identification of personhood with consciousness should not be the basis for legal judgment about withholding treatment for PVS patients.

BRUCE WINTER, Justification by Faith, the Council of Trent and the Twentieth Century

The Catholic theologians of the Council of Trent reached an agreement concerning the doctrine of justification in the early January 1547. Unfortunately, their decision did not consolidate the biblical doctrine of justification but confirmed the sacramental approach of the whole Catholic system. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Catholic doctrine of justification underwent a feeble renaissance during the Second Vatican Council but it was finally obscured by other dogmatic issues. The author issues a warning which is given to Protestant theologians, namely that they should not place the doctrine of justification under the doctrine of the church but keep it within the sphere of traditional Christian soteriology and of biblical teaching.

CORNELIU C. SIMUT, The Doctrine of Justification in the Theology of Martin Luther: A Sample of Theological Ethics for Romanian Evangelicals

This paper is about the classical formulation of the doctrine of justification as detailed by Martin Luther. Thus, the author presents the work of God and the work of Christ in justification, the importance of faith for justification and the relevance of good works for salvation. Some practical applications with ethical overtones for Romanian Evangelical Christians are enumerated in the concluding part.