Martin Luther Justification
MARTIN LUTHER AND JUSTIFICATION
__________________
A Paper
Presented to
Dr. Dongsun Cho
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
__________________
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for SYSTH 3013 B
__________________
by
Yu Park
April 21, 2009
Martin Luther and new perspective justification
Introduction
Justification means that God declares us righteous by his grace.[1] Historically, this issue was started when Martin Luther separated from the Roman Catholic Church.[2] Martin Luther 's understanding of justification was one of the main dividing points in the record of Christian theology. In his production of the German New Testament in 1521 his translation of Romans 3:28 was, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone without the deeds of the law.”[3] This interpretation and the emphasis on the word “alone” was to cause a conflict with Catholic doctrinal views on the issue and an essential rift in doctrine. The reaction to the doctrine of “faith alone” or Sola fide from the Catholic Church was in the extreme. “Great abuse was piled upon both Luther and his doctrine because of this single word, alone. He was accused of falsifying the Scriptures, of adding to the Bible, and of destroying the historic faith of the Catholic Church. For Rome and its authoritative magisterium this settled it—Martin Luther was a heretic! He plainly added to the dogma of Christ!”[4]
The different views on Justification
Roland Bainton in his writings Here I Stand, states that, “One might take the date June 25, 1530, the day when the Augsburg Confession was publicly read, as the death day of the Holy Roman Empire. From this day forward the two confessions stood over against each other, poised for conflict.”[5] There were to be following attempts at peace between the two views and a preliminary agreement was reached in 1541 on different articles of faith. However, at
__________________
A Paper
Presented to
Dr. Dongsun Cho
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
__________________
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for SYSTH 3013 B
__________________
by
Yu Park
April 21, 2009
Martin Luther and new perspective justification
Introduction
Justification means that God declares us righteous by his grace.[1] Historically, this issue was started when Martin Luther separated from the Roman Catholic Church.[2] Martin Luther 's understanding of justification was one of the main dividing points in the record of Christian theology. In his production of the German New Testament in 1521 his translation of Romans 3:28 was, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone without the deeds of the law.”[3] This interpretation and the emphasis on the word “alone” was to cause a conflict with Catholic doctrinal views on the issue and an essential rift in doctrine. The reaction to the doctrine of “faith alone” or Sola fide from the Catholic Church was in the extreme. “Great abuse was piled upon both Luther and his doctrine because of this single word, alone. He was accused of falsifying the Scriptures, of adding to the Bible, and of destroying the historic faith of the Catholic Church. For Rome and its authoritative magisterium this settled it—Martin Luther was a heretic! He plainly added to the dogma of Christ!”[4]
The different views on Justification
Roland Bainton in his writings Here I Stand, states that, “One might take the date June 25, 1530, the day when the Augsburg Confession was publicly read, as the death day of the Holy Roman Empire. From this day forward the two confessions stood over against each other, poised for conflict.”[5] There were to be following attempts at peace between the two views and a preliminary agreement was reached in 1541 on different articles of faith. However, at
Bibliography: Plass, Ewald M. What Luther Says. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959. Martin, Chemnitz. Examination of the Council of Trent. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999. Robert, Kolb. THe Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. Leith, John H. Creeds of the Churches. Louisville,KY: John Knox Press, 1982. Bainton, Roland. Here I stand. Nashville: Abingdon, 1950. Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapid: Baker Academic, 2007. Akin, Daniel L. Theology for the Church. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2007. Reumann, John. "Justification by Faith: The Lutheran-Catholic Convergence." The Christian Century (October 1997): . Falconer, Alan D. "The Joint Declaration: A Faith and Order Perspective." Journal of Ecumenical Studies (no.1 2001):"Justification." Websites [2] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapid: Baker Academic, 2007), p.968. [3] John H. Armstrong, "Justification By Faith Alone," http://www.the-highway.com/Justification-Armstrong.html. (accessed April 7, 2009). [4] John H. Armstrong, "Justification By Faith Alone," http://www.the-highway.com/Justification-Armstrong.html. (accessed April 7, 2009). [5] Roland Bainton, Here I stand (Nashville: Abingdon, 1950), p.375. [6] , "Augsburg Confession," htttp://www.answers.com/topic/augsburg-confession/ (accessed April 7, 2009). [7] Ibid, (accessed April 7, 2009). [8] John H. Leith, Creeds of the Churches (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1982), p.399. [10] Alan D. Falconer, "The Joint Declaration: A Faith and Order Perspective," Journal of Ecumenical Studies (no.1 2001): p.31. [11] John Reumann, "Justification by Faith: The Lutheran-Catholic Convergence," The Christian Century (October 1997): p.23. [13] Thomas L. Sheridan, "New man and Luther on Justification," Journal of Ecumenical Studies (no.1 2001): p.42. [15] Kolb Robert, THe Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p.120. [16] Chemnitz Martin, Examination of the Council of Trent (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), p.352. [18] Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), p.707. [27] Martin, p.355 [28] Fred Berhold, Basic Sources of the Judaeo-Christian Tradition (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1962), p.221. [29] , "Justification," http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery/ (accessed April 9, 2009). [30] Ibid. (accessed April 9, 2009). [31] Ibid. (accessed April 9, 2009).