Thomas Goodwin on Union with Christ: The Indwelling of the Spirit, Participation in Christ and the Defence of Reformed Soteriology(T&T Clark Studies in English Theology)

Thomas Goodwin has been described as 'the forgotten man of English theology' and, though known by some as a pioneer of congregationalism and a prominent member of the Westminster Assembly, the true significance and scope of his life's work has only recently been discovered. Historical reassessment has uncovered that the majority of Goodwin's treatises were intended to form a grand project defending Reformed soteriology in the 1650s against new threats as well as traditional opponents. Examining Goodwin's notion of union with Christ in relation to mystical indwelling, transformation, justification and participation, this study demonstrates the central role of union with Christ in Goodwin's soteriology. The application of salvation, he contended, must be founded on 'real' union with Christ (i.e., mystical union forged by Christ's indwelling) in order to advance a trinitarian, federal, high Reformed soteriology in which redemption from sin is set within a Reformed scheme of Christocentric deification. This in-depth analysis makes a fresh contribution to recent controversy over union with Christ in the post-Reformation period.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 The Importance of Goodwin's Doctrine of Union with Christ Chapter 2 The Reality of Union with Christ in his Mystical Indwelling Chapter 3 Real Union with Christ and the Reality of Transformation Chapter 4 Real Union with Christ and the Reality of Justification Chapter 5 Partaking of Christ: the Centrality of Real Union with Christ Chapter 6 Conclusion and Assessment Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Jonathan M. Carter is an ordained minister in the Church of England and is currently minister at Christ Church Lowestoft, UK.

Review :
Carter's exploration of real union with Christ in the theology of Thomas Goodwin is exemplary. His contribution not only properly attends to the historical circumstances and the various debates contained therein, but also to Goodwin's arguments and their relation to current scholarship. In this way, Carter's work is preparatory for further consideration of Goodwin and soteriology in seventeenth-century Puritanism. In my estimation, it is likely to precipitate further research and should be on the historian's and theologian's bookshelf. Jonathan Carter has produced a deeply thoughtful and nuanced study of Thomas Goodwin's unconventional soteriology. In what is in many ways an exemplary examination of post-Reformation theology, Dr Carter's contextualised reading of this congregationalist giant offers a model for students and mature academics to imitate. Here is a book that offers balanced engagement with current scholarship, and with the writings of Goodwin's own mentors, colleagues, and opponents. Historians and theologians alike will find in Thomas Goodwin on Union with Christ a work that is enormously stimulating and enlightening. T&T Clark is to be commended for publishing a monograph that displays the fruits of wide reading and careful scholarship, and which will surely offer an essential reference point for studies of both Goodwin and puritan soteriology for years to come. Jonathan Carter's monograph, at the forefront of this research, moves Goodwin scholarship forward with great strides. [This] volume is a thorough treatment of Goodwin's “grand project” and Carter accomplished what he set out to do.