Guides for the Perplexed: Sin and Justification (2 vols.)

Christianity concerns itself with salvation. But salvation implies something from which one must be saved, just as reconciliation implies an estrangement and redemption a loss. The classical theological term for the problem to which salvation is the solution is “sin.” Interpreting the meaning of sin, however, has become difficult for two reasons: sin has become a taboo subject in popular discourse and has acquired an extremely broad meaning in recent theology.

Sin: A Guide for the Perplexed is intended as a mid-level, comprehensive introduction to the notion of sin and its significance for Christian theology. Nelson situates and interprets biblical material on sin, and then offers a lucid history of the doctrine. He elucidates Augustine’s conception of original sin and defends it against its many caricatures. Special attention is paid to sin as an ordinary, yet highly interruptive, phenomenon in the lives of individuals. This is supplemented by a careful look at the non-individualistic dimensions of sin, and an appreciation of how sin relates to other key theological commitments.

This volume provides an upper-level introduction to the doctrine of justification—the doctrine so central to the Apostle Paul in the first century, Augustine in the fourth century, the Reformers in the sixteenth century, and which continues to be of utmost importance in the contemporary church. The core of the book is a historical survey of the doctrine of justification as it has developed within the Western church. The focus is on a number of principal theologians with reference also made to their peers and followers. After the historical theological survey, Spence offers a clear examination of the Pauline texts on justification. The conclusion considers what part the doctrine of justification can have within a modern worldview in which the concept of divine judgment has generally been marginalized.