Justification by the Word: Restoring Sola Fide

Book Cover: Justification by the Word: Restoring Sola Fide
Editions:Hardcover: $ 39.99
ISBN: 9781683596035
Pages: 456
Logos Digital: $ 35.99
ISBN: 9781683596035
Pages: 456
Kindle: $ 19.99
ISBN: B0B852RDMR
Pages: 675

God’s Word creates what he commands

In Justification by the Word, Jack D. Kilcrease reintroduces Martin Luther’s key doctrine. Though a linchpin of the Reformation, Luther’s view of justification is often misunderstood. For Luther, justification is an expression of God’s creative Word. To understand Luther on justification, one must grasp his doctrine of the Word. The same God who declared “let there be light”—and it was so—also declares “your sins are forgiven.” Justification is an objective reality. It is achieved in Christ’s resurrection and received through an encounter with the risen Christ in Word and sacrament. Justification turns us outward, away from our own unsteady feelings and limited understanding, to look to Christ. And the church must preach justification, lest we so easily forfeit the joy of the gospel. Justification by the Word inspires readers to reencounter the radical doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Excerpt:

According to [Phillip] Cary, this unreflective faith is possible for Luther because of his belief in the sacramentality of the word.1 Here Cary echoes the work of the German Luther scholar Oswald Bayer, who claims that it was in fact the sacramentality of the word, and not justification by faith, that was central to the so-called Reformation breakthrough.2 The word of justification is objectified in both in preaching and the sacraments in such a way as to shift the focus from authentic appropriation of God’s grace to the question of the surety of God’s promise. Since the risen Jesus is genuinely present in the means of grace, he is capable of mediating a direct assurance of his justifying grace for sinners who look for him there. The tendency of believers to reflect upon and worry about the authenticity of their faith is seen by Luther as a sinful resistance to Jesus’s promise that they have already been accepted.

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Therefore, instead of “justification through faith” it might be appropriate to characterize Luther’s position as “justification by the word.”

In this book, we will endeavor to show that, although it has been neglected and misunderstood by Protestants and Catholics alike, Luther’s “justification by the word” is a better model for understanding salvation in Christ. It will be argued that this is not only the case because it is more faithful to the teachings of the Scriptures, but also because it is the only doctrine of salvation that fully succeeds in de-centering the self and overcoming the self-incurvature of sin (incurvatus in se)As Luther himself observes in his Galatians commentary of 1531: “This is the reason why our theology is certain, it snatches us away from ourselves and places us outside ourselves, so that we do not depend on our own strength, conscience, experience, person, or works but depend on that which is outside ourselves, that is, on the promise and truth of God, which cannot deceive.”3


[1] Phillip Cary, “Why Luther is Not Quite Protestant: The Logic of Faith in a Sacramental Promise,” Pro Ecclesia 14, no. 4 (2005): 447–486. Also see similar argument in Phillip Cary, The Meaning of Protestant Theology: Luther, Augustine, and the Gospel That Gives Us Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019), 258–62.

[2] Oswald Bayer, Martin Luther’s Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation, trans. Thomas Trapp (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 52–53; and Bayer, Promissio: Geschichte der reformatorischen Wende in Luthers Theologie (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1971), 240–41.

[3] LW 26:38

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Harold L. Senkbeil, executive director emeritus of DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and the author of numerous books, including award-winning The Care of Souls, Christ and Calamity, and Dying to Live wrote:

Jack Kilcrease has undertaken a staggering task: a comprehensive summary of what the Bible teaches and what the church in all her manifestations has historically confessed regarding the central article of the Christian faith: Justification. Lest you think a weighty tome (nearly 400 pages) on a complex topic meticulously researched and copiously documented can be safely ignored, I urge you to think again. The book is a tour de force in that it manages to trace the theme of justification in Scripture from the creation to the eschaton, giving fair consideration to each contrasting (and conflicting) view of justification that has arisen throughout church history. One consistent thread ties the whole magnum opus together: the power and efficacy of the Word of God. The Reformation was not about a doctrinal debate, but a crisis in pastoral care. Kilcrease argues convincingly that Luther’s revolutionary teaching on justification was not merely a correction of medieval Catholic excesses, but a rediscovery of the ground of all Christian teaching and ministry: the sacramentality of the Word. Put simply, the Word of God does not merely teach or describe, it creates. If you believe—as I do—that the true care of souls is a ministry of the Word of God and that justification is the ground of consolation and comfort for wounded consciences, this is the book for you. If not, you will still be greatly encouraged by a book so richly drenched in gospel promises.

Phillip Cary, Scholar-in-Residence, Templeton Honors College, Eastern University wrote:

Luther has often been made into a hero of modern subjectivity, as if it's all about having faith. Jack Kilcrease corrects the record: it's all about the gracious Word of God, which gives us faith in the heart and every other good gift in Christ. For the Gospel word has the same effect as a sacrament: it gives what it signifies. Kilcrease's book pushes us in the direction of this word-centered path, which is the great gift of Lutheran theology to the larger Christian tradition.

John W. Kleinig, retired lecturer at Australian Lutheran College and the author of numerous books, including Grace upon Grace: Spirituality for Today and commentaries on Hebrews and Leviticus wrote:

Given its relevance, it is therefore rather strange that the teaching of justification has recently been downplayed and sidelined in Christian theology and ethics. Commendably, Jack Kilcrease attempts to rectify that deficit in a wide ranging, systematic, ecumenical study from a Lutheran perspective for pastors and teachers to engage with people in their quest for personal validation and acceptance. He argues that justification is forensic, proleptic, Christological, Trinitarian, and verbal. It is forensic in that it is the gracious acquittal of guilty people by God in his court of justice. It is proleptic in that their present acquittal anticipates their pardon in God’s final judgment and so secures their eternal salvation. It is Christological because that verdict is based on the death of Jesus for their sins and his resurrection for their justification. It is Trinitarian because their acceptance by God the Father is received as a gift through the faith in his Son that is produced by the Holy Spirit. It is verbal because they are justified by God’s efficacious, sacramental word that not only declares them righteous but also makes them righteous. Through God’s word the pardon that Christ won for them is delivered to them and received as they put their trust in his word rather than in anything they do or feel or are.

Mark C. Mattes, professor of theology and philosophy, Grand View University; author of Martin Luther’s Theology of Beauty wrote:

Too many Christians wring their hands over whether their faith is authentic and thus saving. Instead of looking to Christ alone, as Scripture teaches, they seek instead to assess the genuineness of their feelings or the extent to which their behaviors are changed. Jack Kilcrease tackles this pastoral problem head-on through a sweeping survey of Scripture, early Christian thinkers and medieval theologians, and the thought of Martin Luther along with his disciples and detractors. The upshot: views of justification which fail to honor the truth that God’s word not only describes reality but also conveys reality and gives Jesus Christ for faith to grasp, fall short of a scriptural view of the doctrine of justification. Kilcrease’s affirmation of the sacramentality of the word is a perspective that contemporary Christians need to hear.



Finalist for Christianity Today's 2023 Book Awards in Academic Theology

Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics: Holy Scripture

Book Cover: Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics: Holy Scripture
Part of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series:
  • Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics: Holy Scripture
Editions:Hardcover - First Edition: $ 39.99
ISBN: 9781935035251
Pages: 300
Kindle: $ 9.99
ISBN: B08HSRWJ95
Pages: 348

Holy Scripture, volume 2 of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, seeks to explicate and defend the truthfulness of the Bible as well as its Christocentricity in response to the challenges of contemporary theology. This study appropriates the theological resources of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions in order to counteract the destructive theological trends found in contemporary Catholicism, Evangelicalism, and theological Liberalism. By explicating and defending the scriptural principle of the Lutheran Reformation, this volume will equip readers to confess clearly both the unity of Scripture in Christ and the truthfulness of all that God has spoken in His historic revelation.

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Both freedom from the Law before God and freedom for the Law before
humanity are guaranteed by the absolute truthfulness of the Scripture in its
presentation of the history of salvation as well as the Law and promise attached to that history. As a result, the opinio legis’s aporia between submission and autonomy is overcome by a free and joyful submission to the works of the Law in a believing life proleptically secured by the eschatological promise of the Gospel. This free submission also grants the ability to confess everything the Scriptures teach as inerrant and true. Contrary to the claims of the Enlightenment, the assertion that Scripture is absolutely truthful and must be trusted is not a form of epistemic oppression but a grant of freedom.

Reviews:Mark Mattes, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Grand View University on Lutheran Quarterly wrote:

"While indisputably conservative, Kilcrease's work is creative and not slavishly repristinating. This dogmatic locus is challenging for conservatives because disagreement over the nature of scriptural inspiration contributed to schism in the Missouri Synod almost a half century ago. While Missouri has world-renowned historians, the stature of its theologians is not as noteworthy. With this text, Missouri Synod theologian Kilcrease raises the bar for theology amongst conservative Lutherans" (LQ 36, no. 1, Spring 2022, p. 102).

John W. Hoyum, pastor of Denny Park Lutheran Church in Seattle and PhD student in systematic theology at the University of Aberdeen on Logia: A Journal of Lutheran Theology wrote:

"Holy Scripture is a commendable contribution to the recent, renewed interest in the theology of classic Protestantism. Most helpfully, it is not a reactionary presentation of a rarefied version of the Lutheran doctrine of scripture, but ably presents the historic Lutheran position in conversation with the many objections that have accumulated since the Reformation, and especially the Enlightenment. In this, Kilcrease has also rendered a great service by texturing his presentation with attention to the underlying theological basis of a historically Lutheran view of the bible and its authority. Pastors, students, and scholars will profit from engaging with this book’s many substantial insights."

Rev. Rodney Zwonitzer on Amazon wrote:

"Particularly impressive and useful is the author's presentation of philosophy and church history to show the doctrinal range of confessions concerning this dogma.... Many will want to read, ponder and re-read this fine volume as this reviewer will. It is well worth the purchase and addition to one's library to refer to often."


Aquinas Among the Protestants

Book Cover: Aquinas Among the Protestants
Editions:Paperback: $ 42.75
ISBN: 9781119265948
Pages: 328
Kindle: $ 34.00
ISBN: B074CJZWHR
Pages: 310
Hardcover: $ 76.01
ISBN: 1119265894
Pages: 328

This major new book provides an introduction to Thomas Aquinas’s influence on Protestantism. The editors, both noted commentators on Aquinas, bring together a group of influential scholars to demonstrate the ways that Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed thinkers have analyzed and used Thomas through the centuries. Later chapters also explore how today’s Protestants might appropriate the work of Aquinas to address a number of contemporary theological and philosophical issues.

The authors set the record straight and disavow the widespread impression that Aquinas is an irrelevant figure for the history of Protestant thought. This assumption has dominated not only Protestant historiography but also Roman Catholic accounts of the Reformation and Protestant intellectual life. The book opens the possibility for contemporary reception, engagement, and critique and even intra-Protestant relations and includes:

  • Information on the fruitful appropriation of Aquinas in Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed theologians over the centuries
  • Important essays from leading scholars on the teachings of Aquinas
  • New perspectives on Thomas Aquinas’s position as a towering figure in the history of Christian thought

Aquinas Among the Protestant is a ground-breaking and interdenominational work for students and scholars of Thomas Aquinas and theology more generally.

Contributed essay titled: “Johann Gerhard’s Reception of Thomas Aquinas’ Analogia Entis”

Reviews:Carl Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College on Public Discourse wrote:

"A new collection of essays, Aquinas Among the Protestants, demonstrates the impact that Thomas Aquinas has had on Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed thinkers and explores the ways in which contemporary Protestant Christianity could benefit from Aquinas’s insights, particularly regarding natural law and virtue ethics....

It is time for the fruits of recent historical and theological scholarship to be harvested in the churches of the Reformation and helpfully applied to the many challenges, internal and external, theological and ethical, that we all now face. This book is a fine start to precisely such a needed recovery."

Denis R. Janz, Provost Distinguished Professor of the History of Christianity Emeritus at Loyola University, New Orleans on Church History wrote:

"Most of the contributors to this book are experts on Reformed Orthodoxy. And most agree: '. . . serious and accurate wrestling with the texts and legacy of Thomas Aquinas can only benefit Protestant [read Reformed] intellectual life' (17). The book's first seven essays are concerned with “The Protestant Reception of Aquinas,” that is, setting the historical record straight.... Jack Kilcrease gives us a lucid account of the Lutheran Johann Gerhard's embrace and critique of Aquinas's analogia entis" (Church History 87, no. 3 [Sep 2018]: 882-883).

Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt, Professor of Theology at Loyola University Maryland and a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Baltimore on The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review wrote:

"This collection of essays testifies to the revival of constructive engagement with the thought of Thomas Aquinas among Protestant theologians in recent years... This collection goes some way toward showing that Protestant theologians in the centuries following the Reformation made constructive use of Thomas as well as showcasing contemporary Protestant engagements with Thomas" (The Thomist 84, no. 3 [July 2020]: 501).


The Doctrine of Atonement

From Luther to Forde

Book Cover: The Doctrine of Atonement
Editions:Paperback: $ 24.00
ISBN: 153263904X
Pages: 192

Post-Enlightenment theology has frequently rejected the historic Christian doctrine of substitutionary atonement. For theologians standing in the tradition of the Lutheran Confessions, rejection of substitutionary atonement is particularly problematic because it endangers the unconditional nature of the justification through faith. If one rejects vicarious satisfaction, then the only alternative is to make redemption dependent on what sinners do for themselves. In this study, Jack Kilcrease argues for substitutionary atonement within the perspective of what he calls the "Confessional Lutheran Paradigm." The author also critiques a wide variety of modern Lutheran theologians' understandings of atonement: Werner Elert, Gustaf Aulen, Gustaf Wingren, Robert Jenson, Eberhard Jungel, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Gerhard Forde. As Kilcrease demonstrates, although these authors often give many fine theological insights, their distortion or misrepresentation of the doctrine of atonement carriers over to a problematic understanding of law, gospel, and justification through faith.

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Reviews:David P. Scaer, Chairman of the Department of Systematic Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary wrote:

"Jack D. Kilcrease lays out the Lutheran teaching of the atonement beginning with the Reformer and discusses how his views on Christ’s death have been adjusted by leading theologians, most recently Gerhard Forde. Those aware of the current controversy will want to give careful attention to Kilcrease’s The Doctrine of Atonement. Hardly a peripheral issue, this is a ‘must’ read, especially for those who are new to the issue.”

Wade Johnston, Associate Professor of Theology, Wisconsin Lutheran College wrote:

"Kilcrease offers a helpful survey, succinct yet insightful, of historic Lutheran positions on the atonement as well as a walk through later revisions and challenges. Accessibly written, this is a good introduction for the uninitiated as well as a springboard for further study for those well-versed in theology."


The Self-Donation of God

A Contemporary Lutheran approach to Christ and His Benefits

Book Cover: The Self-Donation of God
Editions:Paperback: $ 30.48
ISBN: 978-1620326053
Pages: 330
Hardcover: $ 58.67
ISBN: 1498265545
Pages: 330
Kindle: $ 9.99
ISBN: B00CLCU7DK
Pages: 330

In The Self-Donation of God, Jack Kilcrease argues that the speech-act of promise is always an act of self-donation. A person who unilaterally promises to another is bound to take a particular series of actions to fulfill that promise. Being that creation is grounded in God’s promising speech, the divine-human relationship is fundamentally one of divine self-donation and human receptivity. Sin disrupts this relationship and therefore redemption is constituted by a reassertion of divine promise of salvation in the face of the condemnation of the law (Gen 3:15). As a new and effective word of grace, the promise of a savior begins the process of redemption within which God speaks forth a new narrative of creation. In this new narrative, God gives himself in an even deeper manner to humanity. By donating himself through a promise, first to the protological humanity and then to Israel, he binds himself to them. At the end of this history of self-binding, God in Christ enters into the condemnation of the law, neutralizes it in the cross, and brings about a new creation through his omnipotent word of promise actualized in the resurrection.

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Reviews:Mark Mattes, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Grand View University wrote:

“In this study, Jack Kilcrease offers a masterful, panoramic approach to Christology, thoroughly grounded in the Scriptures and in constant debate with the christological reflection of fellow Lutherans, the wider Catholic tradition, and modern and contemporary voices. All in all, this book testifies to the gospel as God’s triumph of grace in the world.”

John T. Pless, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions, Concordia Theological Seminary wrote:

“Jack Kilcrease writes with clarity and precision; he is clearly at home in the classical primary sources (patristic writers, creedal and confessional documents, Luther, and the fathers of Lutheran orthodoxy). His methodology is marked by careful exegetical work and analysis, systematic exposition, and apologetic engagement. . . . Kilcrease writes as a classical and confessional Lutheran but with ecumenical awareness. The Self-Donation of God is comprehensive in scope and substance, dealing with all the loci associated with traditional christological discussions.”