Charles Raith II

R. David Nelson

Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed is a comprehensive introduction to the methods, achievements, and future prospects of the modern ecumenical movement. The authors begin the volume by charting out a serviceable definition of ecumenism, a term that has long been a source of confusion for students of theology and church history. They review the chronology of the modern ecumenical movement and highlight the major events, figures, accomplishments, and impasses. This historical survey is followed by critical examinations of three significant challenges for contemporary ecumenical theology and practice. Along the way, the authors provide commentary upon the difficulties and prospects that the ecumenical movement might anticipate as it enters this new millennium.

Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed

In this study Charles Raith II fills a gap in Reformation-era scholarship by analyzing Calvin’s teaching on works and reward in light of medieval theological developments surrounding the doctrine of merit. While significant analysis has been given to Calvin’s doctrine of justification, its relation to sanctification, the notion of union with Christ, and the role of participation, there is as yet no sustained analysis of how these teachings are shaped by the most hostile and pervasive of his polemics, namely, his confrontation with a merit-based framework for understanding Christian salvation. This volume, however, interprets Calvin’s own theological constructions as contextually determined by the reigning polemics of his day. In addition, previous scholarship on these topics has largely failed to properly contextualize Calvin’s own thought against the background of scholastic theological developments—developments that Calvin both accepts and rejects in the formulation of his own theology. After Merit addresses these gaps by (1) analyzing Calvin’s tracts, scriptural commentaries and Institutes to demonstrate Calvin’s unique distain for the doctrine of merit among the early Reformers and the pervasiveness of this polemic within his theological program; (2) reviewing the scholastic developments surrounding the doctrine of merit from the High to Late Middle Ages as background to Calvin’s thought; (3) highlighting Calvin’s principle problems with the doctrine of merit: the competitive-causal schema between divine and human causality, merit as a basis for justification, and good works as “deserving” of reward; and (4) unpacking Calvin’s theology of justification, sanctification, the worth of works, and the role of works in salvation as an alternative to the “opponents” doctrine of merit. The volume concludes by reflecting on the reception of Calvin’s theology of works and reward in later Reformed thought.

John Calvin’s Theology of Works and Rewards

After Merit

Aquinas and Calvin on Romans is a comparative analysis of John Calvin's and Thomas Aquinas's commentaries on Romans with a focus on our participation in God's work of salvation. The study accomplishes two principle goals: it demonstrates that Calvin's critiques of his "scholastic" opponents arising from his reading of Romans fail to find a target in Aquinas's interpretation while Calvin's principle positive assertions are upheld by Aquinas as well; and itillustrates the nonparticipatory dimensions of Calvin's thought and how those dimensions create difficulties in his reading of Romans--difficulties not found in Aquinas's more participatory reading. CharlesRaith further suggests how Calvin's interpretation, especially on the topics of justification and merit, should be augmented by Aquinas's thought. Raith then rereads Calvin's criticisms of the Council of Trent in light of these suggestions.

Charles Raith II

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