Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification: From 1500 to the Present Day

The Christian doctrine of justification is of immense interest to historians and theologians ,and continues to be of major importance in modern ecumenical discussions. The present work appeared in its first edition in 1986, and rapidly became the leading reference work on the subject. Its many acclaimed features include a detailed assessment of the semantic background of the concept in the Ancient Near East, a thorough examination of the doctrine of the medieval period, and an especially careful analysis of its development during the critical years of the sixteenth century. This work documents developments from the Reformation to the present day. Lutheran and Reformed concepts are considered together with the teaching of the Council of Trent. English reformers are compared with continental counterparts; and the development of the doctrine within Anglicanism is studied with reference to Caroline divines and John Henry Newman. Modern development since the Enlightenment is considered with particular reference to Kant, Schleiermacher, Ritschl and Barth. There has been no comparable study since Ritschl's three-volume Christliche Lebre von der Rechfertigung und Versöhnung of 1870.