Dr Paul Allen

Reformers like John Calvin quoted Augustine more than any other author outside Scripture. They celebrated, among other qualities, how he championed the truth that God saves sinners not on the basis of their works but by his grace.   When it came to the doctrine of justification by faith, however, the Reformers did not find the clarity they wanted in the great church father.  Augustine never offers a systematic treatment of the meaning of justification, and a careful reading of his works reveals ambiguities in his treatment of the doctrine.   Nevertheless, he speaks of justification mainly in terms of God making sinners righteous rather than declaring sinners righteou s. To the Reformers, then, his way of expressing the doctrine obscured, even if it did not deny, Christ’s righteousness as the sole ground of a sinner’s justification before God. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) championed the truth that God saves sinners not on the basis of their works, but by his grace alone. E...

Works of Faith Paul underlines repeatedly the crucial and powerful relationship between faith and the good works of love. Paul would happily say with James, “I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). For the works of love are the fruit of faith, and thus the aim of Paul’s ministry. “The aim of our charge is love that issues from . . . sincere faith” (ἐκ . . . πίστεως ἀνυποκρίτου, ek . . . pisteōs anupokritou, 1 Tim. 1:5). Paul calls the God-pleasing works of believers “works of faith,” meaning that their faith is the kind of reality that moves them to do good works. For example, in his prayers for the Thessalonians, he remembers their “work of faith” (ἔργου τῆς πίστεως, ergou tēs pisteōs, 1 Thess. 1:3). And he prays “that our God may . . . fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith [ἔργον πίστεως, ergon pisteōs] by his power” (2 Thess. 1:11). A Christian’s good works are “works of faith,” meaning they are the fruit of the transforming effects of faith. Saved by Fa...

It doesn’t matter how many times you share the Gospel, you still need encouragement from time to time. After over an hour-long conversation with a young Roman Catholic named Jimmy, we ended the conversation with a hug. It was obvious, though, as he walked away from that spiritually we were speaking different languages. We talked about whether Jesus was the only way. He said yes, but kept saying that Jesus’ death made it possible for people who might never even hear about Him to be saved. In other words, if they lived good lives and followed their conscience that Christ could save them. He kept saying that it is only by the grace of Christ that he will be able to not die shortly after committing a mortal sin, but then, when asked why Jesus didn’t help those who have died while committing a mortal sin, he said that it was probably their parents’ fault for teaching them poorly and, therefore, God would show them leniency. It was very clear that though Jimmy had been catechize...

What is the greatest Protestant Heresy ? Have a guess?  Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was a figure not to be taken lightly. He was Pope Clement VIII 's personal theologian and one of the ablest figures in the Counter-Reformation movement within sixteenth-century Roman Catholicism . On one occasion, he wrote: "The greatest of all Protestant heresies is _______ ." Can you complete Bellarmine's statement? How would you answer? What is the greatest of all Protestant heresies? Perhaps justification by faith? Perhaps Scripture alone, or one of the other Reformation watchwords? Those answers make logical sense. But none of them completes Bellarmine's sentence. What he wrote was: "The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance ." A moment's reflection explains why . If justification is not by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone — if faith needs to be completed by works; if Christ's work is somehow repeated; if grace is n...

This question is not critical only today, but it was in the eye of the storm we call the Protestant Reformation that swept through and divided the Christian church in the sixteenth century. Martin Luther declared his position: Justification is by faith alone, our works add nothing to our justification whatsoever, and we have no merit to offer God that in any way enhances our justification. This created the worst schism in the history of Christendom. In refusing to accept Luther's view, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him, then responded to the outbreak of the Protestant movement with a major church council, the Council of Trent, which was part of the so-called Counter-Reformation and took place in the middle of the sixteenth century. The sixth session of Trent, at which the canons and decrees on justification and faith were spelled out, specifically appealed to James  2:24  to rebuke the Protestants who said that they were justified by faith alone: "You see tha...