[Apologetics] (no subject)

[Stuart D. Gathman]

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004, Dianne Dawson wrote:

> Are you saying that justification is a one-time deal?

I'm saying (as usual), that different folks use the word to mean
completely different things.  Yes, the "just-as-if-i'd" never sinned 
Protestants are saying that (that kind of) "justification" is a one-time deal.
*However*, that does *not* mean that they deny the thing that
Catholics call "justification", or think that it is a one-time deal.  They just
use a different word for what Catholics call "justification".  Both uses are
Scriptural - it is used in both senses in different contexts.

The word "justification" can be qualified (like "faith") to distinguish
the two meanings.  The Protestant use is "forensic justification" -
or the Lutheran/Catholic accord calls it "initial justification".
I haven't seen a suggested qualifier for the Catholic use, but I would
suggest "material justification".

-- 
	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
    Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - background song for
a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.