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| Calvinist Leonard Woods, Junior, graduated from Andover Seminary. He explained Knapp's theology with these terms - Objective Justification and Subjective Justification. |
Objective Justification is the Helen of Troy for the Synodical Conference, the dogma that launched a thousand essays. Simply put, OJ states that God declared the entire world forgiven when Christ died - or when Christ rose from the dead. They have not decided on the Moment of Absolution, but the entire unbelieving world was absolved on or about Good Friday - they say. We have not yet heard from the Holy Spirit where this dogma is revealed, but in a world where John Lawrenz debates with the Holy Spirit and almost wins, anything goes.
A related matter is the salvation of the entire unbelieving world. That is often claimed by OJ Enthusiasts, who say, "I was saved 2,000 years ago!" That gets awkward, dating their salvation from the approximate time Jesus was in the Temple. The more astute among the false teachers say, "I was saved at Calvary." Redeemed, yes, but not saved.
Objective Justification and its overlooked partner, Subjective Justification, were articulated by a Calvinist, Leonard Woods Junior, the super-star son of Leonard Woods, Senior, the first theology professor of Andover Seminary - also a Calvinist.
But Subjective Justification is not Justification by Faith, as some might assume, just as OJ is not the atonement, in their own words. Subjective Justification means accepting the dogma of Objective Justification.
These two terms - OJ and SJ - came from a Calvinist translator of the Halle University professor's Pietistic lectures on theology - George Christian Knapp. His German doctrinal book was published in 1827 and translated by the Calvinist Woods in 1831.
Explain this - how did Luther teach Objective Justification 300 years before the term was articulated by a Calvinist, Woods, translating a German Pietist, Knapp?
The quotation above, from the commentary commended by the Formula of Concord editors to explain justification, repudiates the claim solemnly declared by Jay Webber, ELS pastor with an STM from an ELCA online seminary.
Where did Walther obtain his special revelation about universal absolution without faith? The scholars have shown, and Walther admitted, that he learned his OJ from Bishop Martin Stephan, who studied at Halle but never graduated from any university.
Now we begin to smell the pot-roast, as Luther said. The concept of OJ came to Protestants through Pietism.
An Even Bigger Question
Lutherans are about to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. But they dodge this question with the greatest of ease.
- WELS claims twice in their precious Essay File that OJ is the Chief Article of the Christian religion.
- The ELS and LCMS are itching to work with WELS on the basis of OJ.
- ELCA teaches exactly the same false doctrine, because their various segments all came from Pietism too.
When Benjamin Mayes announced his call to Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, he mentioned his work editing Luther's works at CPH. I had to ask -
Mayes holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Concordia University Nebraska (1997), a M.Div. from CTSFW (2003) and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan (2009). While working on his doctorate he served as assistant pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids. He has taught as an adjunct professor at CTSFW since 2011. Most recently, he has worked as an editor for Concordia Publishing House (CPH), St. Louis, Missouri. He will continue to serve CPH as managing editor and co-general editor of Luther’s Works: American Edition. He and his wife, Rebecca, have two sons, Caleb and Jonathan.
Will 2017 be one giant con-job, with Lutheran leaders letting everyone think they teach Justification by Faith?
