Christian Spirituality: Four Christian Views

How can we grow closer to God? Is there a secret to spiritual life? Do we need a second blessing? Is sanctification God's work or ours? Is it instantaneous or is it a process?

The nature of Christian spirituality has been widely debated throughout the history of the church. The doctrine of sanctification was one of the main fissures separating Luther from the Catholic Church. Even today different groups of Protestants disagree on how we draw closer to God. What distinguishes the different positions and what exactly is at stake in these recurring debates?

To answer these questions Donald L. Alexander, professor of biblical theology at Bethel College, has brought together five scholars that represent each of the main historical Protestant traditions:

• Gerhard O. Forde on the Lutheran vew
• Sinclair B. Ferguson on the Reformed view
• Laurence W. Wood on the Wesleyan view
• Russell P. Spittler on the Pentecostal view
• E. Glenn Hinson on the Contemplative view

With an introduction by Alexander and responses to each of the main essays by the other contributors, this Spectrum volume provides a helpful and stimulating introduction to an important doctrine of the church.

Spectrum Multiview Books offer a range of viewpoints on contested topics within Christianity, giving contributors the opportunity to present their position and also respond to others in this dynamic publishing format.

Author: Donald Alexander
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 01/11/1989
Pages: 204
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.51lbs
Size: 8.52h x 5.26w x 0.56d
ISBN: 9780830812783

About the Author
Alexander, Donald: -

Donald Alexander (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara) is emeritus professor of Biblical Studies at Bethel University, St. Paul, MN. He served for ten years as a missionary at the Alliance Bible Seminary, Hong Kong, China. He is the author of The Pursuit of Godliness: Sanctification in Christological Perspective.

Gerhard O. Forde was professor of theology at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He also taught at Luther College in Iowa and St. Olaf College in Minnesota. His many publications include The Law-Gospel Debate, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Life and Death and Where God Meets Man: Luther's Down-to-Earth Approach to the Gospel.

Sinclair B. Ferguson is senior minister at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, and serves as professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary in Dallas, Texas.