The Meaning of Protestant Theology: Luther, Augustine, and the Gospel That Gives Us Christ

This book offers a creative and illuminating discussion of Protestant theology, helping readers rethink their own theology and its place in the larger story of Christian thought. Veteran teacher Phillip Cary, an internationally acclaimed expert on Augustine and Augustine's thought, explains how Luther's theology arose from the Christian tradition, particularly from the spirituality of Augustine. Luther departed from the Augustinian tradition and inaugurated distinctively Protestant theology when he identified the gospel that gives us Christ as its key concept. More than any other theologian, Luther succeeds in carrying out the Protestant intention of putting faith in the gospel of Christ alone. Cary also explores the consequences of Luther's teachings as they unfold in the history of Protestantism. This work will appeal to professors and students of theology, pastors, and laypeople.
Contents
Introduction: Why Protestantism?
Part 1: Spirituality and the Being of God
1. Philosophical Spirituality
2. Divine Carnality
3. Christ the Mediator in Augustine
4. The Augustinian Journey and Its Anxieties
Part 2: The Gospel and the Power of God
5. Young Luther: Justification as Penitential Process
6. Young Luther: Justification without Gospel
7. Luther the Reformer: Gospel as Sacramental Promise
8. Luther the Reformer: Gospel as Story That Gives Us Christ
Part 3: Christian Teaching and the Knowledge of God
9. Scripture: Demanding the Wrong Kind of Certainty
10. Salvation: Faith in Christ's Promise Alone
11. Sacrament: Turning Outward to Divine Flesh
12. Trinity: God Giving Himself in Person
Conclusion: Why Luther's Gospel?
Appendix 1: Luther's Devils
Appendix 2: Gospel as Sacrament: Luther's Sermon on Christmas Day 1519
Index