13 - Justification in Lutheranism, 1516–1580

Summary

Chapter 13 assesses the changes in understanding of justification within Lutheranism between 1516 to 1580, noting in particular the growing influence of Melanchthon’s forensic understanding of justification on the shaping of the Wittenberg movement’s approach to ʻjustification by faith alone’. The chapter highlights some divergences in early Lutheranism, and tracks the growing convergence within the movement around a forensic doctrine of justification through an imputed righteousness, reflecting the increasing theological authority of Melanchthon during this period. Justification was now identified as the divine act of acceptance of an individual as righteous, followed by the process of sanctification, through which that individual became righteous. After considering the theology of justification set out in the Augsburg Confession and its apology, the chapter concludes by focussing on the consolidation of a distinctively Lutheran approach in the Formula of Concord, noting how this aimed to resolve some significant debates within Lutheranism around this time.