One with God: Salvation As Deification and Justification by Veli-Matti Karkkainen (Liturgical Press) Veli-Matti Karkkainen represents the Finnish school of Lutherian interpretation of the doctrine of justification, a movement which began in ecumenical conversations between Lutherans and Russian Orthodox that are the two main Christian denominations in Finland.

The great service of the slim volume by Veli-Matti Karkkainen, professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, is to introduce the work of the Finnish school of theology and to propose that "salvation as deification and justification" is a crucial contribution to ecumenical discussions not only between Lutherans and Orthodox but also between Eastern and Western theologies.  The belief that people are absolved from all sin if they believe in Jesus Christ is balanced with living a life of Christian virtue as an approach and expression of divine presence.  In fact, Kairkkainen suggests that a fuller appreciation of the idea of deification is also an important theme in the Anabaptist, Methodist and evangelical traditions, somewhat under appreciated in recent times. Whether or not that assertion is convincing, Kairkkainen fills in some valuable pieces of the justification-as-deification puzzle by providing a very helpful chapter on the doctrine of deification in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, that offers to enrich the pietistic strains of Protestant prayer and justification. Kairkkainen point of view also opens up the doctrine of justification to a more universal anthropology of human-divine interaction, the implication holding hope for interreligious as well as ecumenical dialogue. “All major religions agree on one thing: the deepest desire of the human person is to get in contact and to live in union with his or her God,” Kairkkainen asserts.

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