The Catholic Roots of the Protestant Gospel: Encounter between the Middle Ages and the Reformation (Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, 60)

The Catholic Roots of the Protestant Gospel is concerned with anti-Catholic bias in Protestantism. It wishes to show that the special concepts of salvation in Protestantism actually arose from Catholic ideas and that these same concepts became distorted or one-sided as Protestantism sought to negate their orthodox Catholic opponents.
Among the doctrines discussed are included the following: justification by faith, assurance of salvation, imputation of righteousness, covenant theology, penal substitution, limited atonement, and supralapsarianism.
The work is filled with historical analysis, theological insights, and ecumenical exhortations. The historian will find a thorough analysis of primary and secondary sources of the Reformation. The theologian will be challenged with fresh approaches to traditional doctrines. The ecumenist will be heartened by its spirit and analysis of subjects that suffer too often from anti-Catholic bias.

Stephen Strehle, Ph.D. (1985) in Historical Theology, Universität Basel, is Professor of Religion at St. Leo College. He has published extensively upon the theology of the Reformation.