Christian Theologies of Salvation

The ways in which pivotal spiritual figures have attempted to address the complex and various theories of salvation

Salvation – redemption or deliverance from sin – has been a key focus of Christian theology since the first days of the church. Theologians from St. Augustine to Karl Barth have debated the finer points of salvation for nearly as long, offering a bewildering array of competing and often contradictory theories.

Christian Theologies of Salvation explores the ways in which pivotal theological figures have attempted to answer these questions, tracing doctrines of salvation from the first century into the twenty-first century. Each chapter focuses on a different major theologian, first presenting the theologian’s doctrine of salvation, then highlighting how the doctrine makes a distinct contribution to the church’s overall dogma. The volume offers a comparative focus, including doctrines of salvation that reflect the historical development of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant views.

By illuminating the ways in which doctrines of salvation have evolved over the church’s history, Justin Holcomb takes us across the teachings of Origin and Augustine, John Calvin and Martin Luther, and eventually to the more modern theologies of Karl Barth and Gustavo Gutiérrez. A much-needed map to the options and implications of different theologies of salvation, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of Christian thought.

Justin S. Holcomb is Affiliate Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Canon for Vocations in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, and editor of Christian Theologies of Scripture (2006) and Christian Theologies of Sacraments (2017), both of which are available at NYU Press.

S. Mark Heim,Andover Newton at Yale Divinity School:
Christian Theologies of Salvation offers summary statements on salvation as understood by major Christian writers from the first century to contemporary times. This study allows the reader to trace both varieties and continuities in this doctrine as it developed in Western Christianity. It balances informed treatment of the nuances in individual figures with a vision of the big picture in which these sources have given rise to divergent strands of tradition and practice. It will serve students well as a reference on both headings.

Holcomb has assembled a fine group of scholars to look at four major periodspatristic, Middle Ages, Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the 18th to 21st centuries...[A] solid study of important voices on Christian salvation.

The Living Church:
In this valuable textbook of Christian sacramental theologies, editors Justin Holcomb and David Johnson provide a highly serviceable introduction and map to different approaches to the means of grace by key representatives of a sizable range of Christian theological traditions.