A Learned Discourse on Justification

“As an evangelical theologian who teaches and writes on Roman Catholic theology and practice, I get many questions from evangelicals about their Catholic family members and friends: Are Catholics Christians? Isn’t Roman Catholicism a works-based religion? If Roman Catholicism has an improper understanding of the doctrine of justification—’not only the remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior person’—can Catholics be justified, declared not guilty but righteous instead? This new, highly readable production of Richard Hooker’s book on justification helps us answer those questions in ways that may be surprising!”

“Happy, secure Protestants recognize that we won’t do ourselves, or our spiritual progeny, long-term good by caricaturing Catholicism. There are problems, yes. Significant problems. The Reformation is not over. Good fences remain. And we will do better to love across such boundaries in the name of Jesus than to pretend they don’t matter. But there’s no virtue in distorting truth by exaggerating errors, or losing our capacity to give a holy benefit of the doubt. If we Protestants love the truth, and not just our tradition (ironically), we might give Hooker the hearing he deserves — and help keep young Protestants from future surprises.”

“It is a tremendous service to the church to have this excellent modern edition of Richard Hooker’s bold and nuanced defense of the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone against the heresies and corruptions of Rome. As he beautifully puts it, Christ alone has satisfied and appeased God’s wrath, not our blood or our best works, and he is ‘the only garment which, once worn, covers the shame of our defiled natures, hides the imperfections of our works, and preserves us blameless in God’s sight.’ It is an immense joy to read this exposition from a great Anglican theologian.”

“Brad Littlejohn and his associates have once again provided an accessible yet loyal version of a work of Richard Hooker that should still be known and valued, and that in a theological world wider than Anglicanism. In this extended and ‘learned’ sermon, Hooker shows that a clear loyalty to the Protestant principle of justification by faith does not necessarily deny salvation to those who erroneously deny the principle. We can and should carefully and accurately assert what we understand to be basic Christian theology and yet understand that those who disagree are not thereby cut off from the salvation that is the essence of the Christian Gospel. And we can delight in the learned rhetorical expression of this unity in diversity.”

“This volume finally offers contemporary readers an expertly rendered text of what is rightly called ‘one of the classic statements of Reformational soteriology’. Hooker’s Discourse on Justification, here wonderfully presented in modernized English and equipped with a splendid explanatory introduction by Brad Littlejohn, is a crystalline presentation of a central Christian doctrine that has divided Christians for centuries, even as the doctrine’s proper understanding has faded in recent decades. Hooker’s penetrating, measured, faithful and charitable exposition proves to be a powerful medicine for modern confusions and dogmatic apathy. The editors’ accessible edition represents an act of theological generosity of the highest order and deserves to be widely studied.”

“A Learned Discourse on Justification in Modern English is a treasure for the church. Hooker’s original work is supremely important. It further develops the question, ‘What is Anglican doctrine?’ For many, Hooker is the Theologian of Anglicanism. In this modern English version, the editors have made this 16th century work accessible and readable for the modern mind. Read this work and be anchored in the article by which the church stands or falls.”