Sanctification: Explorations in Theology and Practice

by Kelly M. Kapic (Editor)

Often treated like the younger sibling in theology, the doctrine of sanctification has spent the last few decades waiting not-so-patiently behind those doctrines viewed as more senior. With so much recent interest in ideas like election and justification, the question of holiness can often seem to be of secondary importance, and widespread misunderstanding of sanctification as moralism or undue human effort further impedes thoughtful engagement. But what if we have missed the boat on what sanctification really means for today's believer? The essays in this volume, which come out of a recent Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference, address this dilemma through biblical, historical, dogmatic and pastoral explorations. The contributors sink their teeth into positions like the "works" mentality or "justification by faith alone" and posit stronger biblical views of grace and holiness, considering key topics such as the image of God, perfection, union with Christ, Christian ethics and suffering. Eschewing any attempt to produce a unified proposal, the essays included here instead offer resources to stimulate an informed discussion within both church and academy. Contributors

Genres: Theology, Christian

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2014

Reviews

[Jeremy Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an edifying and helpful read. Best essays were the ones by Lints, Horton, O’Donovan, Eglinton and Kapic.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag: all over the place both in terms of quality and of topical content. The contributions of James Eglington, Michael Horton, and Peter Moore were particularly good.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Academic level essays on sanctification from a reformed perspective. Some were excellent and some were over my head but overall a very good read with ideas that challenged me.

[Jonathan Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have particularly enjoyed Blocher, Canlis, Kapic and Moore!

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I thought I might. But truthfully, the essays were too academic for me, and the topic was given a much broader treatment than I bargained for. This is less a judgement about the book than my own expectations for it. But I even looked through the table of contents beforehand and got all excited. As I read on, however, I was in for a surprise. And one chapter I just flat out didn't like, esp. Richard Lint's take on Antinomianism. Anyways, if you are a Calvin scholar and have a vested interest in his notion of Covenantal Union or Sonship for that matter, or care deeply about the relationship between Wesley & Barth (apparently they're closer on sanctification than you'd think!), or wonder whatever happened to Bavinck's Gereformeerde Ethiek (Reformed Ethics) which never saw the light of day yet were at the heart of his system of thought, which you would never gather if you've only read his Gereformeerde Dogmatiek (Reformed Dogmatics), or if you wonder whether the preaching of Chrysostom was more than moralism, then this book is definitely for you. However, if you just want a good introduction to a Reformed doctrine of sanctification that drifts neither to moralism nor to antinomianism, then you should look elsewhere. The most helpful thing about this book was that it raised concepts and debates that I hadn't thought of before. But I really didn't understand much of what I read, nor did I really care (at least for the time being). But, true to my style, I waded through and finished it anyway.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any collected volume, the chapters vary in quality and I did not agree with them universally. However, several of them (especially Davidson, Kapic, and Canlis' chapters) were deeply thought-provoking and well written, and worth the price of the volume.