Justification and the Churches

Pastoral Questions at the Heart of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Theology

Gerald Hiestand

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493454679
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

What the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Traditions Teach Us About the Doctrine of Justification

In Justification and the Churches, Gerald Hiestand explores one of the most debated doctrines in Christian theology--justification and salvation--by asking a deceptively simple question: What if Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians aren't just giving different answers but are answering different pastoral questions?

Through a careful historical, biblical, and theological analysis, Hiestand traces the distinct pastoral concerns that have shaped each tradition's approach to soteriology:

● the Protestant concern for assurance and acquittal
● the Catholic concern for interior transformation
● the Orthodox concern for glorification and union with God

Rather than treating these as competing systems, he shows how each tradition's doctrinal conclusions grow organically out of its pastoral questions--and how recognizing this can turn theological disagreement into an opportunity for mutual enrichment. This is ecclesial theology at its best: rigorous scholarship written from the church and for the church.

Ideal for professors and students of theology and soteriology as well as pastors seeking a deeper grasp of comparative theology, this book doesn't ignore real differences--it illuminates them, inviting readers into a richer, more charitable understanding of the doctrine that stands at the heart of the Christian faith.

The volume closes with substantive responses from Bruce D. Marshall (Catholic), Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Protestant), and Esteban Julio Vazquez (Orthodox), turning the book itself into an ecumenical conversation on one of theology's most consequential questions.

Table of contents

• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• A Pastoral Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. Justification and Nicaea
• 2. Justification and Eden
• 3. Justification and Paul
• 4. Justification and the Reformation
• 5. Justification and Ecumenism
• 6. Justification and Baptism
• Epilogue: Justification and Love
• A Catholic Response
• A Protestant Response: Toward a Genuinely Catholic Grammar of Justification
• An Orthodox Response
• Bibliography
• Scripture and Other Ancient Sources Index
• Subject Index
• Back Cover