REVIEWS
Dennis Bielfeldt
"Mark Mattes has succeeded in writing a truly confessional book on justification. Instead of allowing justification to become merely a part of a comprehensive systematic theology seeking a 'God's-eye perspective' on reality, Mattes argues that it should form the hub of a confessionally based theology decentering academic construction in favor of the discernment of faith. In his analysis of Jüngel, Pannenberg, Moltmann, and Jenson, Mattes adroitly describes the general trajectories of what goes wrong in Lutheran theology when justification is taken to ground first-order proclamation but not second-order theological reflection. He makes clear throughout that a properly robust view of justification conflicts with much ecumenical ecclesiology currently popular within North American Lutheran circles. This important book deserves to be read by all those interested in the future of Lutheran theology in North America."