Living by Faith: Justification and Sanctification

Oswald Bayer

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Aug 29, 2003 - Religion - 89 pages

"Living by faith" is much more than a general Christian precept; it is the fundamental posture of believers in a world rife with suffering and injustice. In this penetrating reflection on the meaning of "justification," Oswald Bayer shows how this key religious term provides a comprehensive horizon for discussing every aspect of Christian theology, from creation to the end times.

Inspired by and interacting with Martin Luther, the great Christian thinker who grappled most intensely with the concept of justification, Bayer explores anew the full range of traditional dogmatics (sin, redemption, eschatology, and others), placing otherwise complex theological terms squarely within their proper milieu -- everyday life. In the course of his discussion, Bayer touches on such deep questions as the hidden nature of God, the hope for universal justice, the problem of evil, and -- one of the book's most engaging motifs -- Job's daring lawsuit with God.

Contents

• In the Dispute of Justifications: 1
• World History as a Battle for Mutual Recognition: 4
• Chain of Guilt or Causality?: 5
• God in the Dispute of the Justifications: 7
• The Lawsuit about God before the Court of Human Reason: 9
• Contemplative Theodicy: 11
• Active Theodicy: 12
• Gods World Adventure: 13
• Return to Paradise: 15
• Atlas of the World: 17
• The Passive Righteousness of Faith: 19
• Doing Morality Praxis: 21
• Thinking Metaphysics Theory: 22
• Neither Theory nor Praxis: 24
• The Gift of SelfForget fulness: 25
• New Relation to the World: 27
• In the Dawn of the Life to Come: 29
• In the Belly of the Fish: 30
• A Spaeious Plaee: 32
• The New Obedience: 34
• Not Condemned to Sueeess: 35
• Doing Whatever your Hand Finds to Do: 37
• Free for Service: 38
• Faith Comes by Hearing: 42
• Deed as Word and Word as Deed: 45
• Word and Authority of the Bible: 47
• Christ as Bodily Word: 50
• The Triune God: 52
• Faith and Sanctification: 58
• Communion of Saints: 59
• Sanctified by the Divine Word of Institution: 60
• The Three Estates as Basic Forms of Life: 61
• Hope for Better Times: 62
• Metaphysical Progress?: 64
• Ethical Progress: 65
• Law and Gospel: 67
• Faith within the Lawsuit about God Before God: 69
• Gods Hiddenness: 70
• The Promised Answer: 71
• Negative Dialectic: 73
• Assurance of Salvation Is Not Knowledge: 75
• Already Prepared: 76
• That God Alone Is Righteous: 77
• All Out of Pure Goodness: 80
• Appendix: 81
• Index of Names: 87
• Index of Biblical References: 88

About the author

Oswald Bayer is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and director of the Luther Academy Sondershausen-Ratzeburg. He is also an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church of Württemberg and was the editor of Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie from 1986 to 2006. His research focuses especially on Luther and Hamann.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Living by Faith: Justification and Sanctification; Lutheran Quarterly Books
• Author: Oswald Bayer
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003
• ISBN: 0802839878, 9780802839879
• Length: 89 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Christian Theology / General; Religion / Christian Theology / Soteriology; Religion / Christianity / Lutheran