<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Five hundred years ago, in troubling theological and spiritual developments of the Roman Church, Martin Luther critically approached its teaching about the soteriological value of works. The result of his inquiry was the famous <italic>sola fide</italic> doctrine. However he did not ignore the issue of works and tried repeatedly to explain their relationship with the faith. But, unfortunately, he did not consider the important contributions of the Epistle of St James and of St John’s Revelation. In the introduction to the Apocalypse he expressed the possibility that he was missing “more than one thing in this book”. His intuition was right. The book of Revelation conceals many mysteries, but first of all that of salvation. It speaks a lot about Christ and His salvific work, but also about the works of the faithful. In fact, the mystery of salvation is closely related to works. They play a crucial role in the preparation of the wedding of the Lamb with His bride. The accomplishment of God’s plan depends on them. The judgment will be done according to the works. Therefore, a lot of onceignored things stand before us. Have they the potential to bring more light on the much-disputed relationship between faith and works?</p></abstract>

Five hundred years ago, in troubling theological and spiritual developments of the Roman Church, Martin Luther critically approached its teaching about the soteriological value of works. The result of his inquiry was the famous sola fide doctrine. However he did not ignore the issue of works and tried repeatedly to explain their relationship with the faith. But, unfortunately, he did not consider the important contributions of the Epistle of St James and of St John’s Revelation. In the introduction to the Apocalypse he expressed the possibility that he was missing “more than one thing in this book”. His intuition was right. The book of Revelation conceals many mysteries, but first of all that of salvation. It speaks a lot about Christ and His salvific work, but also about the works of the faithful. In fact, the mystery of salvation is closely related to works. They play a crucial role in the preparation of the wedding of the Lamb with His bride. The accomplishment of God’s plan depends on them. The judgment will be done according to the works. Therefore, a lot of onceignored things stand before us. Have they the potential to bring more light on the much-disputed relationship between faith and works?

The Works and the Mystery of Salvation in the Book of Revelation. A New Contribution to an Old Polemic

Andrei Șaguna Faculty of Orthodox Theology

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Five hundred years ago, in troubling theological and spiritual developments of the Roman Church, Martin Luther critically approached its teaching about the...

The Works and the Mystery of Salvation in the Book of Revelation. A New Contribution to an Old Polemic

Published Online: Jan 11, 2018

Page range: 426 - 444

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ress-2017-0029

Keywords
Apocalypse, Christ, works, faith, mystery of salvation, divinization

© 2017 Daniel Mihoc, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Works and the Mystery of Salvation in the Book of Revelation. A New Contribution to an Old Polemic

Published Online: Jan 11, 2018

Page range: 426 - 444

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ress-2017-0029

KeywordsApocalypse, Christ, works, faith, mystery of salvation, divinization

© 2017 Daniel Mihoc, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Apocalypse, Christ, works, faith, mystery of salvation, divinization