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Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue: An Evangelical Assessment
By Anthony N. S. Lane
London and New York, T & T Clark/Continuum, 2002. 272 pp. $24.95.
John Calvin called justification by faith alone the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. In 1999, the World Lutheran Federation and the Roman Catholic Church signed a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. What are the real achievements of this document? What ecumenical work remains to be done?
Lane, Professor of Historical Theology and Director of Research at London Bible College, has produced a masterly study addressing these questions from his own Reformed evangelical perspective. He begins by sorting out historical intricacies of the positions expressed by figures such as Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin and by documents such as The Regensburg Agreement (1541) and Trent's Decree on Justification (1547). He then examines the argument and impact of Hans Kung's seminal work, Justification (German original, 1957), followed by a study of seven bilateral ecumenical statements that culminated in the 1999 Joint Declaration. In subsequent chapters, Lane explores key issues that remain crucial, then summarizes the current state of the question.
Displaying an impressive breadth of research...