Justice and Justification
What is Justification? This is the real question that drove the schism of the Reformation. Luther believed that it was the fundamental question of the gospel, and I agree. In my master’s thesis, I argued that both Luther and Catholics got it wrong because Augustine misunderstood biblical justice. That’s an audacious claim, I know. I invite you to peruse the following links, examine the evidence, and prayerfully consider for yourself whether I’m onto something or dead wrong. In fact, I invite you to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth as Jesus promised he would. Do it before you read. I’m fallible, but God is not. He’s also not changeable, and that’s a big part of my approach. I hope you enjoy reading, and I pray that it enriches your walk with Christ and your ministry (every Christian has one!)
This is copyrighted by Benjamin M. Smith, 2023. It may be quoted or cited as is customary under academic fair use practices, but it may not be reproduced without the author’s express permission, including local storage. It is published in the ProQuest thesis and dissertations database and may be purchased from there and used according to that purchase agreement.
Abstract:
Justification is said to be the article by which the church stands or falls, but Western ideas of justice differ significantly from those expressed in scripture and in the earliest fathers. This paper will trace the twin ideas of justice and justification from the concepts and language of the Greek Old Testament to quotations and usage of such language in the New Testament and the Greek Fathers. It will then contrast these with the ideas of the Latin Fathers, showing a distinct change in doctrine with the shift to Latin. Modern non-Western traditions, such as Orthodoxy, have views more closely aligned with the Greek Fathers. This reveals that language and cultural barriers created a doctrinal difference that persists to the present day. I conclude that Western conceptions of justice and justification are cultural artifacts that inhibit advancing the gospel in a post-modern world and divide the church.
Chapter 2–Hebrew Justice and its Translation
Chapter 3–New Testament Justice