THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND SALVATION

Professor Bloesch, of Dubuque Theological Seminary, addresses the problem first raised in later Christian thought by the Reformation, of the relation of the pursuit of holiness to reliance upon grace and justification by faith. He maintains that there can be no absolute dichotomy between the two, and that to separate them is to divorce ethics and religion. The sole foundation of the Christian life is justification of the ungodly by the free grace of God. But it is possible to take a more positive view of the place of human endeavor in the Christian life as working out our salvation. The Christian life is the arena in which the battle for salvation is continually fought. In pursuing this line of argument, the author re-examines Reformation leaders, such as Luther and Calvin, and also such contemporary theologians as Brunner, Barth, Niebuhr and Tillich. The treatment, while scholarly and readable, has a certain conservative tone, and little is done to relate the argument to the situations and trends that are giving rise to more radical theological thinking today. The results may be instructive for students; others will turn elsewhere for more relevant theological discussion.