Is the doctrine of Justification settled theology?
There have been battles over justification since the beginning of the church and those debates will no doubt continue. To make things worse, the debates tend to focus the theories of justification that have been advanced by great men of the faith rather than on the actual biblical evidence. Studies tend to exegete Calvin, Luther, Trent or ECT more thoroughly than they exegete Scripture and the study of justification can degenerate into a huge game of “telephone” where theological conclusions gradually become more and more divergent with Scripture.
Nearly every man-made synthesis of this doctrine has fallen short when subjected to biblical scrutiny and most leave major, textually-based questions unanswered. Is it possible to address all concerns without contradiction?
Here are some of the sticking points that have been the cause of some of the confusion:
Perceived contradictions in the biblical prescription
A lack of historical consensus in relation to soteriological meaning, permanency and frequency
A heavy emphasis on church history while neglecting biblical history and support
Strong biases which severely hinder objective analysis and conclusions in relation to the biblical text.
Demagoguery and misappropriation of biblical/theological terms that cloud the debate
Pastor Scott at Christ Covenant Church is teaching a series that will highlight all of these issues in an effort to reach biblical a biblical consensus. We hope to cut through bias and look at the clear truth of Scripture. Everything is up for question on the basis of the biblical evidence.
Justification Rediscovered will be seminary level teaching. Eventually much of our discussion will be written about here at Our Blog and posted to the audio page at Christ Covenant Church.