Journal: Reformed Baptist Theological Review
Volume: RBTR 02:2 (Jul 2005)
Article: John Calvin Versus Norman Shepherd On Sola Fide
Author: Samuel E. Waldron

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RBTR 2:2 (July 2005) p. 87

John Calvin Versus Norman Shepherd On Sola Fide

Samuel E. Waldron

Samuel E. Waldron, Ph.D., is a pastor of Heritage Baptist Church, Owensboro, KY, and a professor in the Midwest Center for Theological Studies.

Evangelicals seem destined to re-think the issue of justification by faith alone. This will not be a bad thing if it serves to re-acquaint us with the powerful gospel preached by our Protestant forefathers. Ideas regarding the doctrine of justification that originated in “the new perspective on Paul” movement are invading Evangelicalism through a number of increasingly well-known writers and many evangelicals are proving receptive to these ideas. Some (such as Don Garlington, who studied under James D.G. Dunn and is profoundly influenced by his views) have derived “new perspective”-like views of justification directly from “new perspective” sources. Others, however, who have adopted views of justification that parallel “new perspective” ideas in important respects, do not seem to owe them specifically to “new perspective” influences. Such is the case, for example, with Daniel Fuller.1 In the same category is Norman Shepherd, whose views will be weighed in this essay. The controversy over Shepherd’s views at Westminster Theological Seminary was well under way before the publication of E.P. Sanders’ famous Paul and Palestinian Judaism and concerned ideas that Shepherd had taught in his classes for a number of years.2

RBTR 2:2 (July 2005) p. 88

Shepherd’s Present Significance

Shepherd was dismissed from Westminster in 1982 because of the controversy over his views of justification. At that time sharp division developed within Presbyterian circles over his ideas. This division seems to have been a major factor in the failure of the PCA to approve merger with the OPC.3

Still, someone may well ask, What relevance can Shepherd have today? The fact is that his views of justification are enormously relevant today. The reason is, first, that after his retirement in 1998, Shepherd has revisited the subject of justification in two publications. The Call of Grace: How the Covenant Illuminates Salvation and Evangelism was published in 2000 by P&R Publishing. “Justification by Faith Alone” was published in the Reformation and Revival Journal in the Spring of 2002. The same issue featured articles by Don Garlington, Daniel Fuller, and an interview with N.T. Wright. These publications will be the focus of this essay, especially Shepherd’s article, “Justification by Faith Alone.” Second, She...

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