[Apologetics] Re: Subversive Apologetics

Sat Mar 29 00:37:22 EDT 2008

According to an article about Martin Luther in the
Theopedia at
http://www.theopedia.com/Martin_Luther

“Luther had a low view of the books of Esther,
Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation. He called the
epistle of James ‘an epistle of straw,’ finding little
in it that pointed to Christ and His saving
work--though he later revised his opinion of James,
seeing it as more compatible with Pauline teaching
later in his career than earlier. 

“He also had harsh words for the book of Revelation,
saying that he could ‘in no way detect that the Holy
Spirit produced it.’ He had reason to question the
apostolicity of these books since the early church
categorized these books as antilegomena, meaning that
they weren't accepted without reservation as
canonical. 

“Luther did not, however, remove them from his edition
of the scriptures.”

That’s good because, according to the 1913 Catholic
Encyclopedia, the author of the Epistle of St. James
“is commonly identified with the Lord's brother, the
Bishop of Jerusalem” who presided at the Council of
Jerusalem and who might know a thing or two about
Christian theology.

However, even if the Epistle to St. James is totally
discounted, the advocates of salvation by faith alone
have insurmountable problems to overcome in Scripture,
including the direct words of Jesus:

Matthew 7:21

[21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful
works? 
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 
[24] Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise
man, which built his house upon a rock: 
[25] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell
not: for it was founded upon a rock. 
[26] And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish
man, which built his house upon the sand: 
[27] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it.

COMMENT: This statement seems to aimed directly at
Protestants, who Jesus knew would revolt against the
Catholic Church in 1,500 years. Note that Jesus does
NOT say that you enter the kingdom of heaven by
accepting him as your Lord and personal savior.
Rather, salvation is attained by faith plus doing the
will of the Father.

Matthew 25:31

[31] When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon
the throne of his glory: 
[32] And before him shall be gathered all nations: and
he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats: 
[33] And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but
the goats on the left. 
[34] Then shall the King say unto them on his right
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: 
[35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and
ye took me in: 
[36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye
visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 
[37] Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or
thirsty, and gave thee drink? 
[38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or
naked, and clothed thee? 
[39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came
unto thee? 
[40] And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me. 
[41] Then shall he say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 
[42] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I
was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 
[43] I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked,
and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye
visited me not. 
[44] Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord,
when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not
minister unto thee? 
[45] Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say
unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me. 
[46] And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

COMMENT: Jesus is very specific about what must be
done to obtain salvation. Faith alone is not enough.
We must engage in acts of charity. Failure to do so
will result in "everlasting punishment."

Matthew 19:16

[16] And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good
Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have
eternal life? 
[17] And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

COMMENT: Note that Jesus does not say we enter eternal
life by accepting him as Lord and personal savior.
Rather, we must "keep the commandments." Faith alone
will not result in eternal life. We must avoid sin.

Matthew 18:5

[5] And whoso shall receive one such little child in
my name receiveth me. 
[6] But whoso shall offend one of these little ones
which believe in me, it were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea.

COMMENT: Unrepentant sins will have serious
consequences. Eternal salvation requires a lot more
than faith alone. 

Matthew 18:32

[32] Then his lord, after that he had called him, said
unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all
that debt, because thou desiredst me: 
[33] Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on
thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? 
[34] And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the
tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto
him. 
[35] So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto
you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his
brother their trespasses.

COMMENT: Once again, Jesus makes it clear that actions
matter, not just faith alone. This continues the
message in the Lord’s Prayer, "forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive others," meaning we will not
be forgiven unless we do what Jesus tells us to do. 

Matthew 10:22

[22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's
sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

COMMENT: Jesus warned the apostles that salvation
depends on a lifetime of endurance.  A one-time altar
call won’t do it.

Revelation 22:12

[12] And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall
be.

COMMENT: Very close to the last words of the Bible.

There’s a whole lot more, both from the direct words
of Jesus and from many different epistles.  But I
think the point has been already been made very
clearly. Still, if you’d like to see more, I’d be
happy to provide them.  Just let me know. 

Art

--- "Stuart D. Gathman" <stuart at gathman.org> wrote:

> 1. Should James be removed as heretical?  After all,
> he says,
> "Therefore a man is justified by works, and not by
> faith alone."
> 
> 2. Lively discussion ensues.  Defenders of James say
> it is "hyperbole". 
> Detractors say Luther was right to reject it.
> 
> 3. Present something like the following:
> Yes, it is semantics.  People use the same word to
> mean entirely different 
> things.  For instance, the word 'love' in English
> has many overloaded 
> meanings, causing no end of confusion.  There is no
> one right definition 
> of Biblical words, because each author is unique in
> his vocabulary and 
> outlook.
> 
> First off, the word "faith".  There are two primary
> meanings, "fide 
> formata" - faith formed by charity, and "fide
> informis" - intellectual 
> ascent.  Jesus and Paul mean the former, whereas
> James clearly means the 
> latter, for he says, "You _believe_ there is one
> God?  You do well.  The 
> demons also _believe_ and tremble."   Jesus refers
> to formed faith when He 
> says, "If you love Me, keep my commandments." 
> Formed faith is best 
> expressed in English as "Trust and Obey", hence the
> traditional hymn by 
> that title.  You may believe (fide informis) that
> airplanes can fly, but 
> you don't really believe it until you actually
> follow the boarding 
> procedures, get on the airplane, and trust yourself
> to it.
> 
> Second, the word "justification".  There are two
> primary Biblical meanings 
> (and there are more).  Forensic justification - as
> in "just-as-if-i'd 
> never sinned", and material justification - to make
> just, as in "the word 
> processor has justified my ragged text".  Paul is
> generally referring to 
> forensic justification, but James uses justification
> in the material sense 
> - "sanctification" would be closer equivalent for
> Protestants steeped in 
> the "just-as-if-i'd" sense.
> 
> Third, the word "works".  Paul refers to two senses
> at once when he talks 
> about laying up "wood, hay, and stubble" vs "gold,
> silver, and precious 
> stones".  The first is the fruit of works done "in
> the flesh", without the 
> sanctifying power of the Spirit.  The second is the
> fruit of works done 
> "in the spirit" by the power of the Spirit.
> 
> The bottom line is that James clearly says,
> "therefore a man is justified 
> by works, and *not* by faith alone."  If you insist
> on reading Paul's word 
> usage into that statement, you would have to throw
> James out of the Bible 
> (as Luther was inclined to do).  But James is not
> Paul, and it is entirely 
> consistent with Paul when you understand James
> style.  To amplify in less 
> ambiguous terms, James says, "therefore, a man is
> made actually just 
> through works done in the Spirit, and *not* by
> intellectual ascent alone."
> 
> The sound bite of the Reformation was "sola fide". 
> If only the more 
> qualified sound bite had been "sola fide formata",
> the Reformation might 
> have affected more of the Church and with less
> division.
> 
> 4. "Thanks, that was very interesting!"  (Notice I
> said nothing about
> Catholics.)
> 
> 5. Next time the Subject of Catholics vs. Sola Fide
> comes up, innocently 
> ask if they could possibly be using the language of
> James.
> 
> -- 
>  	      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.
> _______________________________________________
> Apologetics mailing list
> Apologetics at gathman.org
> http://bmsi.com/mailman/listinfo/apologetics
> 

ART KELLY, ATM-S
13524 Brightfield Lane
Herndon, Virginia 20171-3360
(703) 904-3763 home
(703) 396-6956 work
arthurkelly at yahoo.com
art.kelly at cox.net
ArtK135 at Netscape.net

      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Special deal for Yahoo! users & friends - No Cost. Get a month of Blockbuster Total Access now 
http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text3.com