Thomas Goodwin on Union with Christ: The Indwelling of the Spirit, Participation in Christ and the Defence of Reformed Soteriology

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Thomas Goodwin has been described as 'the forgotten man of English theology' and, though known by some as a pioneer of congregationalism and a prominent member of the Westminster Assembly, the true significance and scope of his lifes work has only recently been discovered. Historical reassessment has uncovered that the majority of Goodwins treatises were intended to form a grand project defending Reformed soteriology in the 1650s against new threats as well as traditional opponents. Examining Goodwins notion of union with Christ in relation to mystical indwelling, transformation, justification and participation, this study demonstrates the central role of union with Christ in Goodwins soteriology. The application of salvation, he contended, must be founded on real union with Christ (i.e., mystical union forged by Christs indwelling) in order to advance a trinitarian, federal, high Reformed soteriology in which redemption from sin is set within a Reformed scheme of Christocentric deification. This in-depth analysis makes a fresh contribution to recent controversy over union with Christ in the post-Reformation period.

Reviews

Jonathan Carter has produced a deeply thoughtful and nuanced study of Thomas Goodwins unconventional soteriology. In what is in many ways an exemplary examination of post-Reformation theology, Dr Carters contextualised reading of this congregationalist giant offers a model for students and mature academics to imitate. Here is a book that offers balanced engagement with current scholarship, and with the writings of Goodwins own mentors, colleagues, and opponents. Historians and theologians alike will find in Thomas Goodwin on Union with Christ a work that is enormously stimulating and enlightening. T&T Clark is to be commended for publishing a monograph that displays the fruits of wide reading and careful scholarship, and which will surely offer an essential reference point for studies of both Goodwin and puritan soteriology for years to come. -- Chad Van Dixhoorn, Westminster Theological Seminary, USA

Author Bio

Jonathan M. Carter is an ordained minister in the Church of England and is currently minister at Christ Church Lowestoft, UK.