I have posted an essay which contains many of the themes that will be expounded upon in my upcoming book Christification: A Lutheran Approach to Theosis. This essay presents an argument that Luther's "great exchange" formula is more than a legal transaction. Drawing on Patristic and Medieval sources, Luther's idea of the great exchange involves a concept of theosis alongside of forensic imputation.
Here is the article.
2 comments:
But you wouldn't call this "infusion" in the Roman Catholic sense, or an "experientially based" conversion, right?
I only ask this, Jordan, because the response I'm anticipating with your paper is either 1.) "It sounds like infusion a la Rome" or 2.) that it's a step in the direction of Pietism because it can be looking for the "conversion experience" (read: emotionalism) as evidence of the union of the soul with God. And while I understand and agree with the point made that this is more than a merely legal transaction (though it is certainly not less than a legal transaction), I can also see a pietist or a Romanist reading this and saying "Aha!" as well.
No, I wouldn't call this either infused righteousness, or an experiential conversion. Mystical union is a reality brought about by Word and Sacrament, it's not something we need to search deep inside our souls to find through mystical experience.
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