Today’s guest post is from Joshua Farris, Marc Cortez and S. Mark Hamilton, co-editors of Being Saved: Explorations in Human Salvation
Am I saved? This is a question many of us have grown up asking ourselves. If you were raised in evangelical circles, then you know what we mean. Images of conversion come to mind like images of walking down the aisle to say a prayer to accept Jesus into one’s heart.
But what does it mean to be saved? The contributors in Being Saved: Explorations in Human Salvation give the reader some access to the variety of answers to this question and a host of other related questions on the nature of salvation in Christian dogmatics.
The nature of salvation is typically a topic of discussion not only in revivalist churches, but is the proper subject of dogmatic theology. A discipline of study often perceived as out of fashion, dogmatic theology is the disciplined study of theology by attending to the definitive utterances of the universal church and particular traditions—in this case the Reformed catholic tradition.
In an attempt to revive this important discipline, the authors give expression to Reformed dogmatic theology as it bears on questions of soteriology (i.e., the doctrine of salvation). But don’t let the name throw you, this is not a cold restatement of historical truths disseminated from dusty old books. Rather, the theologians express the truth for a contemporary audience, thus making relevant the truth claims of the past in the ongoing process of proclamation for today.
The proclamation of the gospel truths of salvation requires the hard work of understanding the language of the day and the needs of the church. Giving ear to these concerns, the authors express the gospel truth of salvation from varied perspectives, backgrounds, and disciplines. In what has become a popular word in contemporary theology, polyphonic expression of the faith is found in the pages of Being Saved. That is not to say that there is not one harmonious melody with several notes, in many cases there is one harmony, but not in all cases. With any collection that attempts to give some access to the lay of the land on one topic, there will be voices that sing out of step with the rest or, in other cases, it may be hard to hear how it is that the new notes are in tune with the old notes. Take for example the development of panpsychism (see Joanna Leidenhag), a relatively new personal ontology, newly adapted to the doctrines found in the Christian faith. Does it fit? That is a question worth exploring.
Other voices are playing notes that are not necessarily doctrinally distinct in nature, but the manner in which they approach the topic of soteriology is methodologically distinct. Consider for example, some of the greatest violinists. Each has certain control on the violin. Each bear the mark of excellence. But it can’t be said that each plays the violin in the same way or sounds the same. Some theologians are more acutely attuned to the tools found in analytic philosophy (e.g., Greg Trickett and Tyler Taber, Jonathan Rutledge, R.T. Mullins), others are sensitive to historical development within dogmatics (e.g., Daniel Houck, Katherine Kirkpatrick, Paul Helm), others are attentive to theological readings that are in concert with the tradition (e.g., Carl Mosser, Adonis Vidu, Myk Habits), and others are attracted to doing explicit constructive systematic theology that is motivated by traditional concerns (e.g., Marc Cortez, Joshua Farris and Mark Hamilton). And still others are led by finer denominational distinctives (e.g., J.V. Fesko, Paul Helm). Others, still, have more explicit contemporary concerns in view (e.g., Ben Arbour, Hans Madueme).
In this way, Being Saved gives expression to the polyvalent voice found within Reformed dogmatics. This will of course raise questions about the extent to which each proposal neatly fits into the broader Reformed tradition and which expressions are out of tune with the tradition, but as suggested earlier these discussions need to be had. If for no other reason than the message once received continues to deliver to the saints. Interrogating our faith is a part of the process of faith seeking understanding as we continue to take every thought captive to Christ. And, the present volume aids in that important endeavor.
Marc Cortez is (PhD, University of St. Andrews) Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College.
Joshua R. Farris (PhD, University of Bristol, UK) is Assistant Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University.
S. Mark Hamilton is a PhD candidate at the Free University of Amsterdam.
Being Saved: Explorations in Human Salvation is available to order from our website.
SCM Press Blog 