Newman and Justification examines John Henry Newman's via media 'doctrine of the justifying presence' in his Lectures on Justification. T. L. Holtzen contends that Newman put forth his via media doctrine of the justifying presence by employing a trinitarian grammar of divine inhabitation in which the Holy Spirit is the formal cause of justification as a solution to the Reformation debate over justification. Newman sets his via media of justification between the extremes of justification by 'mere imputation' in 'popular Protestantism' and that of justification by works-righteousness in 'English Arminianism' and 'Romanism'. The word 'justification' means both being declared and being made righteous because the eternal Word is spoken into the soul by the Holy Spirit in justification. Newman identifies this with 'the gift of righteousness' (Romans 5:17) and calls it the 'doctrine of the justifying presence'. The justifying presence is an imparted righteousness, in distinction from both the Protestant notion of imputed and Roman Catholic idea of inherent righteousness. The justifying presence comes through the sacraments, creates faith in the human soul, and begins a renewal in good works, all of which in different ways justify. The divine inhabitation of the Holy Spirit in the soul is the formal cause of justification by causing a duplex iustitia of both Christ's imputed righteousness and by beginning an actual righteousness in renewal. Newman's via media 'doctrine of the justifying presence' has great ecumenical promise because it shows how the trinitarian grammar of justification necessarily causes renewal through divine inhabitation.

Many factors contributed to the Protestant Reformation, but one of the most significant was the debate over the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In fact, Martin Luther argued that justification is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. This comprehensive volume of 26 essays from a host of scholars explores the doctrine of justification from the lenses of history, the Bible, theology, and pastoral practice—revealing the enduring significance of this pillar of Protestant theology.

In this ground-breaking study first published in 1966 FitzSimons Allison carefully analyzes the seismic shift that occurred in English theology at the end of the seventeenth century. Until then, classical Anglicans such as Richard Hooker and James Ussher united in affirming that in justification the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer. So there is no sense in which the believer contributes to his own righteousness in order to be justified. Rather, the Christian life is a response to Gods free justification, not a part of it. But with the rise in influence of thinkers such as Jeremy Taylor and Richard Baxter such a view of justification became muffled; they held that a persons repentance and sincere obedience to Christ contributed to personal justification. It followed that justification requires moral effort. This rise of moralism, is characterized, Allison argues, not only by compromised ideas of justification but by superficial views of human need."This remarkable study demonstrates that moralistic versions of Christianity arise from deficient views of salvation through Christ. Sound theology and truly Christian ethics go hand in hand. Allisons thesis continues to demand close attention."Paul Helm, Regent College