Alister McGrath's Iustitia Dei first appeared in 1986, and the fortunes of the Christian doctrine of justification have changed dramatically since that time. Whereas the demise of the doctrine appeared imminent in the late twentieth century, justification has exceeded all expectations in recent years by proving to be an enduring topic of interest across a wide range of subdisciplines. The tectonic shifts that have accompanied this increased attention have led McGrath to undertake “a complete reappraisal” of positions taken in previous editions, and, in fact, the changes are so significant that, by McGrath's own admission, “earlier editions of this work can no longer be considered to be reliable in their judgements at points of importance” (x).

Among the most noteworthy reassessments is a new treatment of “regenerative” or “transformative” interpretations of justification, which McGrath no longer attributes to the translation of the Greek dikaioun into the Latin iustificare. (According to this now-questionable view, it is only in the Latin iustificare that one finds the idea of being made righteous; the Greek understanding of justification involves being reckoned as righteous.) McGrath now recognizes that Greek Christian writers “generally interpreted dikaioun in a factitive manner” (25), placing a transformative dimension of the doctrine firmly in the Christian East. This revised understanding has far-reaching implications for ecumenical relations, as it suggests that Augustine actually draws from—and does not dramatically break with—Eastern patristic writers in his treatment of justification. Greek Christian emphases on the transformative aspect of justification also aid readers seeking to find harmony between justification and deification; the two are still often seen as antithetical to one another despite recently improved understandings of the relationship between the doctrines.

Notable revisions continue into McGrath's discussions of the sixteenth century and the contemporary setting. In an indication of just how extensively views of justification have changed in recent years, the penultimate section has been retitled; it is no longer called, “The eclipse of justification, 1950–2000,” but instead, “Contemporary Renewal: Justification and Theological Reconstruction.” The doctrine of justification, it appears, will be significant for contemporary theology for some time to come.