An Author Interview from Books At a Glance
The contemporary challenge of the “new perspectives” on Paul and the recent five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation have fueled a growing interest in the doctrine of justification by faith, and this new tome from Matthew Barrett is the latest contribution – a superb resource on this vital doctrine that we just couldn’t overlook. I’m Fred Zaspel with Books At a Glance, and Matthew Barrett is with us today to talk about his new book.
Matthew, it’s good to have you back.
Barrett:
Thanks for having me.
Zaspel:
This is really an excellent book – well conceived and wonderfully presented: congratulations.
Barrett:
Well, thank you very much. I’m excited to see it come out. There’s just a great lineup of contributors, so I can’t take all the credit.
Zaspel:
It’s also a big book – massive, really. But we should point out that you didn’t write it all yourself – it’s an edited work, and you had quite a team. Tell us about some of the contributors you recruited for the project. And just how long was all this in the works?
Barrett:
Yes. Well, the book came about somewhat accidentally, I should say that at the start. I was working on a previous volume for Crossway, similar in terms of being the editor and having this many chapters, and that book was called Reformation Theology. It looked specifically at the theology of the Reformation and did so from a more systematic or theological lens. Out of that book came this book. I suppose that book was the mother, gave birth to this one. It seemed as though if I looked out on the many books that have been published on the doctrine of justification and so we might ask why another one? But there really isn’t a book that tries to pull together both Old Testament, New Testament, Systematics, Historical Theology. I mean it’s impossible for it to be comprehensive or exhaustive, but a book that pulls together scholars from each of these disciplines to present to Christians today, the evangelical view of justification. So, that was some of the motivation.
As I went about trying to think through who’s going to contribute and that sort of thing, it was really important to recruit individuals who were specialists in their field, who could go into depth in any given chapter, whether it’s justification in the Pentateuch, whether it’s Psalms, or maybe it’s the Gospels or maybe in Systematics it’s how do we connect, say, the Cross to justification, or Historical theology – what do we think about the Fathers, what do we think about the medieval period or the modern period. With all those disciplines, in one sense it was overwhelming thinking through how are we going to recruit individuals for so many different areas? But it just came together very smoothly. The contributors to the book are excellent. Of course, whenever you’re editing a book like this there’s the fear… Anyone who’s been an editor probably has a nightmare story. I’m really glad to say that’s not the case with this book. The contributors did a fine job and in one sense they made my job easier by presenting quality chapters.
Zaspel:
Give us an overview sketch of the book and how you go about presenting this doctrine – then I’ll ask you to speak to each section individually.
Barrett:
The book is broken down into several sections. The first section of the book is called Justification in Biblical Perspectives. The title of the book is The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls. This is a phrase, a saying, that’s been used in Protestant thought to capture the centrality and the importance of the doctrine of justification. But it looks at justification from a Biblical, Theological, Historical, and even Pastoral perspective. The first section is the Biblical section and it may be, I think I’m right in saying this, it may be the longest section in the book because we are trying to address Old Testament and New Testament. There are many great chapters. Stephen Dempster starts us off with justification in the Pentateuch; Alan Harmon then looks at the Psalms and the Wisdom literature; Willem VanGemeren looks at the Prophetic literature. Then, and this was a chapter that is really important, as the reader transitions from Old Testament to New Testament, Robert Cara has a chapter in between called Setting the Record Straight, Second Temple Judaism and Works Righteousness.
Zaspel:
He’s done some great work on that.
Barrett:
Yes, he has. He published a book called Cracking the Foundation of the New Perspective on Paul. It’s in a series I edit with John Fesko with Christian Focus. This chapter is a much smaller version of his argument. There he looks at the period in between the Testaments, the Second Temple period. The argument for the New Perspective hinges really on that period and so Cara does a great job there of giving a critique and actually adding some clarity, I think, to what is and is not true about that period in terms of is there works righteousness.
And then, as we transition in the books to the New Testament, Brian Vickers has an outstanding chapter on justification in the Gospels. I really wanted to write this chapter, but then I knew Brian would just do an outstanding job at it, and he did. I think this is a chapter that many readers will be interested to learn about, because when we think about justification we immediately go to Paul’s epistles. Which, that’s understandable, given books like Romans or Galatians, but the danger there is we can sometimes set Paul over against Jesus, as if justification is some type of later invention. And Brian does a great job there showing why that’s not the case.
A couple of other chapters – Andrew Naselli has a great chapter on justification in Romans, and Brandon Crowe picks up the baton and looks at the Pauline epistles, and Dan McCartney starts to finish us off with talking about how we reconcile James and Paul, for example. Then we have two chapters at the end of that section that are more apologetic. Timo Laato looks at what he calls The New Quest for Paul and he gives a critique of the New Perspective, as does David Shaw. Though David looks more at what’s happened since the New Perspective and some of the new challenges. So, that’s a lot, but that’s just the first section of the book.
Zaspel:
Okay, you have exegetical theology, then systematic theology, then historical theology, and then pastoral theology.
Barrett:
That’s right. So, the second section of the book is the Theological section. Here, again, are some chapters that readers will benefit from, that go into depth. I really wanted this section on systematic theology to connect the dots so, yes, there’s a chapter in there, a really good chapter by Mark Thompson where he gives a theological case for justification. And maybe that’s a place to start. Perhaps we should have put that first. As always, Mark’s chapter is just full of insight and here he gives a theological case for justification. The chapters before and after Mark Thompson’s chapter try to connect the dots between specific doctrines of the faith and justification.
One of my favorite chapters in the book is one by Steve Wellum. I asked him because he has thought through substitution so much that I said, “Steve, could you write a chapter in which you connect the dots and show why penal substitution is so important for a forensic understanding of justification and imputation.” And he did that, well.
I wrote a chapter there, after Steve, called Raised for Our Justification. I hope readers will enjoy this because we tend to think of justification in terms of the Cross, it’s grounded in the Cross, or justification in relationship to what faith is; but we rarely think about what the resurrection itself has to do with justification. And Paul says it has a lot to do with justification. Christ was raised, he says, for our justification. So, there I explore Christology, the Covenants, and how the resurrection gives us an eschatological trajectory for justification and everything that follows.
After Mark Thompson’s chapter on justification comes Brandon Crowe. His is a very important chapter in which he distinguishes and shows the inseparability between the passive and active obedience of Christ and why those two affect how we are justified. It’s not just the forgiveness of our sins, but the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
Then David VanDrunen. Goodness, he had maybe one of the biggest challenges in the book because I asked him to address union with Christ, which is one of the most popular, but also one of the most contested areas. I mean, what is the relationship between union with Christ and justification? There’s a lot of debate there. David puts forward a case that I think is just on target.
And then finishing out that section is Luke Stamps. I asked Luke to address if we are justified by faith alone, what then, does that mean for works in the Christian life? So here Luke is connecting justification and sanctification and trying to show us how these are distinct, but at the same time inseparable. Justification is different from sanctification, and yet justification as the Reformers taught naturally leads into and grounds what happens in sanctification.
Then Jason Meyer. His chapter concludes the Theological section. Jason also had a very difficult task because he is addressing the role of the law, and specifically what role does the law have or does it not have in the New Covenant? And how does that influence or change our understanding of justification in a way that’s consistent with the New Testament witness?
The last two sections are on Church History and Pastoral Ministry. Some who’ve read the book have said the Church History section may be the strongest section of the book. There are some excellent historians here. Gerald Bray starts off that section with a chapter on justification and the Fathers. And again, similar to Brian Vickers’ chapter on justification and the Gospels, here is a chapter by Gerald Bray where we tend to identify justification only with the Reformers; but Gerald points out that when you go to the Reformers, they are quoting the Fathers. Over against Rome who is saying that this idea of justification by faith alone is innovative, this is a novelty, this is something that has been invented. The Reformers are arguing, no, even the Fathers show early signs of this. So Gerald addresses justification in the Patristic period.
Nick Needham – I did not envy him, because I asked Nick to do something that’s nearly impossible and that is to address justification in the medieval tradition. If you’ve studied the medieval tradition, you know it is not just a chronologically lengthy period, but it is so diverse. And it’s one that’s foreign, I think, for most Christians, today. Nick does a great job, though. He really does a fine job of carefully identifying how justification is articulated from one medieval theologian to the next. I think this chapter will add a lot clarity to what can be a confusing period.
I contributed a second chapter called, Can This Bird Fly? It comes after Nick’s chapter. Robert Cara, whom I mentioned earlier, contributes a chapter that’s a bridge between Old Testament and New Testament. I hope my chapter in the Historical section is somewhat of a bridge from how is it that we turn from the medieval period to the Reformation period. And why is it that the Reformers are responding to certain figures like Gabriel Beale, in the late medieval period, why are they responding… Individuals like Luther, very early on, 1517, is responding to Beale directly, explicitly. Why is this the case? What type of… is it Pellagian, is it semi-Pellagian… What type of theology is present in the late medieval period that Reformers like Luther are brought up on, they are raised on, and then as they start to rethink the Scriptures and rethink their understanding of history, why is it that they, then, react so strongly to it? So that chapter that I’ve written looks at that transition period. I hope it’s helpful, because a lot of times we tend to go to the Reformers and just jump right in without realizing that someone like Luther is a late medieval man and we have to understand him in context.
Korey Maas has a chapter that follows. I love Korey’s work. I asked him to look at Luther in-depth, and not just Luther, but Lutheranism, and to help us understand how Lutheranism develops after Luther, even. What are some of the controversies? And how does Lutheranism receive Luther’s doctrine of sola fide?
John Fesko then turns to the Reformed tradition. Again, John is so careful; he doesn’t just look at someone like Calvin, but diverse figures across the Reformed tradition and tries to show where there is continuity, there.
Then we have Leonardo De Chirico’s chapter which, again, is such an important one because Leonardo looks at the Roman Catholic Church. How did Rome respond to the Reformation doctrine? He looks at Trent, but then he goes from Trent all the way to the joint declaration more recently.
Bruce Baugus finishes off the Historical section with a chapter called The Eclipse of Justification. This is an outstanding piece of historical work because Bruce does something that I think most fear to even tread in this area, which is the period from the Enlightenment to the Post-enlightenment eras, which is so diverse. He looks at everything from Enlightenment theology to Protestant liberalism and helps us understand some of our recent history and why the doctrine of justification has been eclipsed, why it has actually fallen on hard times.
The last two chapters finish off the book in the area of Pastoral practice. Chris Castaldo’s chapter is classic Chris. He looks at what he calls Attractions and Repulsions to Rome. He focuses on the relationship between justification and conversion, giving even some of his own critique of the Roman Catholic tradition. But then looking at a figure like John Henry Newman and showing why it is that some protestants have “swam the Tiber” and have been attracted to Rome. Towards the end of that chapter, Chris shows some of the pastoral implications of doing that, for better or worse. And I think that chapter is going to be very eye-opening.
The last chapter, which I think is a very appropriate way to finish the book, is by Sam Storms. Sam takes us to the heart of justification in terms of Pastoral ministry and shows us why having a right understanding of justification is so necessary for the Christian life. And he doesn’t leave it at an individual level, but he takes it to a corporate level and shows why this doctrine is actually crucial for the church as a whole. Which is really important because we tend to think of it so individualistically. Sam addresses everything from Christian assurance of salvation, to how a pastor is to go about counseling others that are struggling with assurance, to how justification should inform the congregation as a whole from its public worship to the preaching of the Gospel.
So, that’s a lot. Twenty-six chapters, I think is the total. That’s an overview of the book and I think it has enough pages to keep most readers busy for 2019 and 2020!
Zaspel:
My, what a wonderfully comprehensive resource. This has been a great overview introduction to the book. I’d like to follow up with some sampling of the content in our next interview.
We’re talking to Dr. Matthew Barrett, editor of the excellent new book, The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Pastoral Perspective. It really is a new “must have” resource on the doctrine. We’ll talk to Dr. Barrett about this further next time here on Books At a Glance.
