Lutheran Notes - some interesting comments about UOJ and translating.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Universal Objective Justification, or UOJ
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GJ - I expect to have a comment from Anonymous any second now. He is angry that UOJ is not in the Bible, the Book of Concord, the post-Reformation theologians, and Lenski.
I've only done preliminary research into the subject, but in the Lutheran Confessions and the Bible, there's no such thing as Universal Objective Justification (UOJ). Also, there's no such thing as Objective Justification (OJ) or Subjective Justification (SJ). There is only Justification by Faith via the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments, period.
Of course, I'll continue to study the issue more. Already , I've gathered information off the Web and blogosphere, as well as one of Martin Franzmann's pro-UOJ papers and his Roman's commentary (1968), and I'll have Dr. Gregory Jackson's book Thy Strong Word any day now. The book can be found online for free. Chapter 5 on Justification is the anti-UOJ chapter in Thy Strong Word, which can be found online, too.
The LCMS, WELS, ELS, CLC* synods, and perhaps other micro-synods, were all affected by European Pietists via C.F.W. Walther (1811-1887). It seems the doctrine that drove the Pietists' piety the most was UOJ. They believed that everyone was already forgiven, but the gift of forgiveness of sins was not accepted by everyone. Therefore, they felt compelled toward emotionalism so they would feel as though they really had faith, and feel as though they were saved. Not surprisingly, the role of the sacraments and the ministry of the keys
in justification were downplayed. In reality, UOJ is a form of decision theology, or enthusiasm, which separates justification from the Word and sacraments, and make it a matter of mere mental or emotional process.
*Concordia Lutheran Conference, not to be confused with the Church of the Lutheran Confessions.
Where did the Pietists get this UOJ doctrine? No one seems to have done the research yet, and that’s because the powers that be don't want to know. It’s similar to how SDA don’t want to know where E.G. White really received her inspiration from, i.e., plagiarism. The information is probably locked up in German Pietistic tracts and manuals on some dusty bookshelf in a library or archive back in Germany. However, we know that C.F.W. Walther transmitted some Pietistic doctrine to the LCMS, WELS, ELS and micro-synods such as the CLC. (Okay, ELS might qualify as a micro-synod, too. They only have a decent seminary and college thanks to Schwan’s generosity.)
I'm supposing that one of the main driving passages behind UOJ (and Pietism) was a common German mistranslation of 2Co 5:19, one of three passages commonly cited as supporting UOJ: Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25. Here is the NIV for 2Co 5:19:
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
The Greek has the present active participle of katallassw, meaning "reconciling." The English translations as early as the KJV all have "reconciling," which is correct:
KJV 2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 2 Corinthians 5:19 how that God was in Christ -- a world reconciling to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses; and having put in us the word of the reconciliation,
ASV 2 Corinthians 5:19 to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
However, most German translations have the past tense "reconciled," as though Jesus didn't just kick start the ministry of reconciliation, but actually reconciled the entire world at some point, unbelievers and all. UOJ enthusiasts say that the world was plumb reconciled when Jesus died, or else when he rose. Here are the German mistranslations translated via an unbiased machine translator: German-English Translator: http://imtranslator.com/default.asp
EIN Einheitsubersetzung (1980) 2 Corinthians 5:19 Ja, Gott war es, der in Christus die Welt mit sich versöhnt hat,
Translation: Yes, it was a God who has reconciled the world
with himself in Christ
ELB Revidierte Elberfelder (1993) 2 Corinthians 5:19 nämlich daß Gott in Christus war und die Welt mit sich selbst versöhnte,
Translation: namely the fact that God was in Christ and reconciled the world with himself
LUO Luther Bibel (1912) 2 Corinthians 5:19 Denn Gott war in Christo und versöhnte die Welt mit ihm selber,
Translation: Since God was in Christ and reconciled the world with himself,
LUT Revidierte Lutherbible (1984) 2 Corinthians 5:19 Denn Gott war in Christus und versöhnte die Welt mit sich selber,
Translation: Since God was in Christ and reconciled the world with himself,
MNT Munchener NT (1998) 2 Corinthians 5:19 weil Gott war in Christos (die) Welt (mit) sich versöhnend,
Translation: because God was the world (with) being reconciled in Christos,
SCH German Schlachter (1951) 2 Corinthians 5:19 weil nämlich Gott in Christus war und die Welt mit sich selbst versöhnte,
Translation: because since God was in Christ and reconciled the world with himself,
Luther, and the writers of the Lutheran Confessions were familiar with the Greek, Hebrew and Latin, so they interpreted 2Co 5:19 correctly--as meaning Justification by Faith, not UOJ. Their German translations of 2Co 5:19 might have been a little sloppy, but they had no idea that years later people would contrive UOJ based on a mere three passages, and the tense of one verb in 2Co 5:19.
UOJ was an unknown concept to the Confession writers, and first emerged in the fevered imagination of the Pietists, yet some Lutherans today try to anachronistically read (i.e., isogesis) UOJ into Luther's Works, and other documents of the period. If you look at any such passages claiming to be UOJ in Luther or the Confessions, the justification is always connected with the Means of Grace, not some supposed declaration of the Father that the entire world is guilt free. Just thinking of how audacious it is to put such words in the mouth of the Father boggles the mind!
So this Pietistic doctrine, perhaps popular among many German Lutherans in the 19th C, came over to the U.S. When it was adopted as official doctrine for the first time in the LCMS' Brief Statement of Doctrine (1932), most German Lutherans probably were still reading from German Bibles where it said "reconciled" rather than "reconciling."
Major backers of UOJ include a handful of LCMS theologians, some deceased, including Martin Franzmann, the WELS theologian, Siegbert Becker. UOJ is found in the "This We Believe" NPH pamphlet put out by the WELS. Of course, all these theologians grew up with German spoken in the home, no doubt, so they imbibed the mistranslation of 2Co 5:19 early on, it would seem. Nowadays, all the synods with UOJ in their belief statements rigorously enforce this doctrine.
LCMS: Brief Statement of Faith, Adopted 1932: Of Justification
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=570
Excerpt: Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25;...
WELS: This We Believe: IV Justification by Faith
http://www.wels.net/s3/uploaded/4421/eng.pdf
Excerpt: 1. We believe that God has justified all sinners, that is, he has declared them righteous for the sake of Christ. This is the central message of Scripture upon which the very existence of the church depends. It is a message relevant to people of all times and places, of all races and social levels, for "the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men" (Romans 5:18). All need forgiveness of sins before God, and Scripture proclaims that all have been justified, for "the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men" (Romans 5:18).
CLC: This micro-synod buys into UOJ as espoused in the LCMS’ Brief Statement of 1932:
http://www.concordialutheranconf.com/content/history.cfm
excerpt: At Okabena we reaffirmed our original subscription to Holy Scripture and the Confessions, including the Brief Statement of 1932, and rejected the false confessions aforementioned.
http://www.concordialutheranconf.com/doctrine/brief_1932.cfm
excerpt: Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod in the By-Gone Days of Its Orthodoxy (1932) Still by God's Grace the Scriptural Position of the Concordia Lutheran Conference
ELS: The ELS believes the same things the WELS does, basically:
http://www.evangelicallutheransynod.org/believe/els/webtc.html/
excerpt: By His perfect life and His innocent sufferings and death Jesus has redeemed the entire world. God thereby reconciled the world to Himself, and by the resurrection of His Son declared it to be righteous in Christ. This declaration of universal righteousness is often termed "objective justification."
ELS/WELS/LCMS:
The ELS is just as fanatical as the Wisconsin sect in promoting UOJ. Missouri has done the same, but tries to hide the UOJ behind justification by faith. The 1987 Theses of Abomination are an example of this verbal trickery.
Bruce Church
