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19 - Pietism

Justification and the ‘New Birth’

from Part III - Protestantism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2020

Alister E. McGrath
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

Chapter 19 analyses the approaches to justification found within the movement known as ‘Pietism’, which is generally regarded as a reaction against the excessive cerebralism of the theology of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Pietism developed a focus on a ‘living faith’ and the ‘new birth’, which countered a more intellectual and institutionalised account of the Christian faith dominant in German Lutheranism in the late seventeenth century. Pietist theologians and pastors – such as Philipp Jakob Spener – were suspicious of the Lutheran notion of ‘imputed righteousness’, which they considered as being destructive of piety. These concerns were developed in the writings of both John Wesley and Charles Wesley, who urged the importance of moving beyond purely forensic approaches to justification. John Wesley argued that the notion of ‘the imputed righteousness of Christ’ was neither Scriptural nor necessary, and was damaging to personal holiness. For Wesley, the ‘plain scriptural notion of justification’ is pardon or the forgiveness of sins.

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Chapter
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Iustitia Dei
A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification
, pp. 268 - 276
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Pietism
  • Alister E. McGrath, University of Oxford
  • Book: Iustitia Dei
  • Online publication: 27 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108560702.024
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  • Pietism
  • Alister E. McGrath, University of Oxford
  • Book: Iustitia Dei
  • Online publication: 27 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108560702.024
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Pietism
  • Alister E. McGrath, University of Oxford
  • Book: Iustitia Dei
  • Online publication: 27 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108560702.024
Available formats
×