A Biblical-Theological Review of Michael Allen's Sanctification - Part 2: Chapter One
Chapter 1: Sanctification and the Gospel In Chapter One, Allen outlines and argues for his four-part approach to sanctification. He first asserts that the Bible will serve as the source of his theologizing and the judge of its legitimacy. A Christian consideration of … sanctification seeks to do justice to ... the Holy Scriptures. Exegetical reasoning, then, serves as a barometer of any claim regarding sanctification. If an approach cannot pass muster as an exegetical reflection upon texts like 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, then it will not count as a truly Christian approach to the subject (27-28). Second, he identifies the common inadequacies of merely exegetical doctrinal formulations: Exegetical reasoning can easily be construed [too] narrowly, … offering literary and/or theological reflection upon those … passages … that employ the idioms of holiness and sanctification alone (28). Such an approach offers “more of an annotated lexical index of the terminology of sanctifi...