Sunday, November 14, 2010

Gerhard and Calov in the Book of Concord? - Rydecki Dishonesty - Typical for UOJ


Rydecki claimed:

"By raising Christ from the dead God absolved him for our sins which had been imputed to him, and consequently he also absolved us in him. In the resurrection of Christ we are absolved from our sins, so that they are not able to condemn us any more before God." (Excitando Christum a mortuis absolvit eum Deus a peccatis nostris ipsi imputatis, ac proinde etiam nos in ipso absolvit. - In Christi resurrectione a peccatis nostris sumus absoluti, ut non amplius coram Dei iudicio nos condemnare possint.) – Johann Gerhard

"Christ's resurrection took place as an actual absolution from sin (respectu actualis a peccato absolutionis). As God punished our sins in Christ, upon whom He laid them and to whom He imputed them, as our Bondsman, so He also, by the very act of raising Him from the dead, absolved Him from our sins imputed to Him, and so He absolved also us in Him." – Abraham Calov

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GJ - Which quotation is in the Book of Concord?

Answer - Neither one.

What is the source of the quotations?

Answer - Rydecki. He did not give a citation for either one. That would never be allowed in an accredited school. Scholars need the source, even if the source is wrong. Otherwise, people will just invent or twist their quotations.

Did Robert Preus, an expert in Post-BOC Orthodoxy refute these claims?


Answer - Yes. He did - in his book Justification and Rome.

What did those authors say?

Answer -


From Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant (second edition), p. 108:

However, Preus clarified the true meaning of justification in his final book, Justification and Rome, p. 72, which was published posthumously. Preus wrote this definitive comment:

"But the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the sinner takes place when the Holy Spirit brings him to faith through Baptism and the Word of the Gospel. Our sins were imputed to Christ at His suffering and death, imputed objectively after He, by His active and passive obedience, fulfilled and procured all righteousness for us. But the imputation of His righteousness to us takes place when we are brought to faith."

Preus immediately followed the statement above with a quotation from Quenstedt, one of his favorite orthodox Lutheran authors:

It is not just the same thing to say, “Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us” and to say “Christ is our righteousness.” For the imputation did not take place when Christ became our righteousness. The righteousness of Christ is the effect of His office. The imputation is the application of the effect of His office. The one, however, does not do away with the other. Christ is our righteousness effectively when He justifies us. His righteousness is ours objectively because our faith rests in Him. His righteousness is ours formally in that His righteousness is imputed to us.

Preus also quoted Abraham Calov with approval:

"Although Christ has acquired for us the remission of sins, justification, and sonship, God just the same does not justify us prior to our faith. Nor do we become God's children in Christ in such a way that justification in the mind of God takes place before we believe."

What does the Book of Concord say?

Answer -


"For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which could not attain ourselves."
            The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #38, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 689. Tappert, p. 415.

            
"But outside of this Christian Church, where the Gospel is not, there is no forgiveness, as also there can be no holiness [sanctification]. Therefore all who seek and wish to merit holiness [sanctification], not through the Gospel and forgiveness of sin, but by their works, have expelled and severed themselves [from this Church]."
            The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #56, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693. Tappert, p. 418.

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GJ -


 Note the hand-me-down quotations noted: JP Meyer, Becker then Webber then Rydecki.  Rydecki hasn't studied this doctrine at all.  
 
By raising Christ from the dead God absolved him for our sins which had been imputed to him, and consequently he also absolved us in him. In the resurrection of Christ we are absolved from our sins, so that they are not able to condemn us any more before God. (Excitando Christum a mortuis absolvit eum Deus a peccatis nostris ipsi imputatis, ac proinde etiam nos in ipso absolvit. - In Christi resurrectione a peccatis nostris sumus absoluti, ut non amplius coram Dei iudicio nos condemnare possint.) – Johann Gerhard (quoted in John P. Meyer, “Objective Justification,” in Our Great Heritage [Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1991], Vol. 3, p. 42)

By raising [Christ] from the dead, [God] absolved him from our sins which had been imputed to him, and therefore he also absolved us in him that Christ’s resurrection might thus be the cause and the proof and the completion of our justification. – Johann Gerhard (Annotationes in Epist. ad Rom. [Jena, 1666], p. 156; quoted in Siegbert W. Becker, “Universal Justification,” in Our Great Heritage, p. 56)

Christ’s resurrection took place as an actual absolution from sin (respectu actualis a peccato absolutionis). As God punished our sins in Christ, upon whom He laid them and to whom He imputed them, as our Bondsman, so He also, by the very act of raising Him from the dead, absolved Him from our sins imputed to Him, and so He absolved also us in Him. – Abraham Calov (Bibl. Illust., ad Rom. 4:25; quoted in Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. III [Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1951], p. 321).
http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/djw/lutherantheology.justificationquotes.html

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GJ - This is called academic dishonesty, or footnote stealing. The quotation implies the author looked up this material when he did not. Rydecki is quoting Webber, who is quoting JP Meyer and Becker, OJ Stormtroopers, who are quoting from what source? The trail goes cold, Gibbs.

UOJ is a self-perpetuating racket.