Evangelism and Apologetics
Class 2 – Scripture and Tradition and Justification

Scripture and Tradition

Natural and supernatural revelation (or general and special revelation) 
	Natural – Rom. 1:19-20, Acts 17:26-28, Job 38-40, Ps. 19, Wisdom 13-15
	Supernatural – Gen. 6:13 ff., John 1:1, 14, Heb. 1:1-3, 2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:19-21
-- Theophanies (e.g., Gen. 18-19)
-- Scripture (2 Tim 3:16)
-- Audible Speech (e.g., Gen. 2:16; 1 Sam. 3:4)
-- Prophecy (e.g., Jer. 25:30-38)
-- Miracles or Miraculous Events (Gen. 21, Ex. 7:14 ff., Ex. 16) 
-- Dreams (e.g., Gen. 28:12-16)
-- Visions (e.g., Dan. 7:13; 8:1)

Signs of a true prophet
	His words come true (1 Sam. 3:19-20)
	What he says is consistent with previous revelation (Dt. 13: 1-5)
	His ministry is confirmed miraculously (2 Cor. 12:12) 

Unique purpose of written revelation
	Act as an ongoing standard – Dt. 31: 24-29, Josh. 1:8, Is. 8:20 
To reform the church -- 2 Chron. 34: 14 ff 

Interaction between written and oral revelation
Not everything Jesus said or did is in the Bible – Jn. 21:25
The early church knew of other sayings of Jesus – Acts 20:35
The faith of the church was based on oral as well as written sources – 1 Cor. 11:2, 34, 2 Thes. 2:15
Prophetic messages were sometimes reliably preserved outside of Scripture, 2 Chron. 29:35, 35:4, 15, Jude 14 ff. 
The church is commanded to follow both – 2 Thes. 2:15

The various meanings of “tradition” 
•	supernatural revelation 
•	the oral component of supernatural revelation
•	the authoritative teachings of the church
•	the teachings of the church fathers
•	beliefs and practices based on one of the above
•	practices of the church

Canon
General division of books
Catholic perspective		Protestant perspective
Canonical	protocanonical 	homologoumena	Canonical
		(never disputed)
	deuterocanonical 	Antilegomena	Apocryphal
		(disputed)
Apocryphal	antilegomena	notha  	Pseudepigraphal
		(never accepted)
	
	Important dates
	Third Council of Carthage (397) – set the canon in the west
	Council of Trent (1546) – first infallible decree on the canon

Material sufficiency vs. the “partim partim” theory

Issues in dispute

Deuterocanonical books

All doctrines must be proven from explicit Scriptural statements

Authoritative role of tradition

Relative authority of the church and the individual
	… in ecclesiastical matters
	… in private belief

Ugly polemic

“Luther took books out of the Bible/Catholics added books to the Bible” 

Catholics suppressed the Bible and forbade people from reading it. 

Justification
 “To justify” means to make or declare righteous, so “justification” is about restoring righteousness. 
Cardinal Schonborn insisted that the following words from St. Therese be included in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2011) because he believed they "express with incomparable precision the Catholic doctrine of justification by grace" (Loving the Church, Ignatius Press.) 
"After earth's exile, I hope to go and enjoy you in the fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for your love alone .... In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is blemished in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself." (From Therese's "Act of Oblation" in Story of a Soul. Emphasis in original.)
Justification has several components. 

The legal component – see, e.g., 2 Cor. 3:9, which contrasts condemnation and righteousness; also Jn. 3:18, 5:24, Rom. 4:8, 8:1

Justification as moral transformation – Rom. 6:1-7 (lit. “he who has died has been justified from sin” v. 7), 2 Cor. 5:17-18, 6:14 contrasts righteousness with lawlessness; 2 Pet. 1: 3-4, we partake of the divine nature. 

Removal of sin – Ps. 51:2, 103:12, Is. 44:22, Acts 3:19, 22:16, Jn. 1:29

Non-imputation of sin – 2 Cor. 5:19, Ps. 32:1-2 (Rom 4:5-8)

Re-birth and a new life – Jn. 1:12-13, 3:3, 2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15, Eph. 4:23-24, Col. 1:13, 3:10, 2 Pet. 1:4

Col. 2:13-14 brings several of these together

Justification is based on union with Christ
Union with Christ brings all spiritual benefits (Rom. 6:1-5): justification, sanctification, glorification, etc. Trying to distinguish them is not biblical. Acts 20:32, 26:18, 1 Cor. 1:2, 6:11, 

Justification is by faith “working in love” (Gal. 5:6). Dead faith does not justify (James 2:20-24, Mt. 7:21-23) 

Justification is a process that consists of …
Initial justification – Rom. 5:2, 6:3
Progressive justification – Rom. 6: 19, 22
Final justification – Rom. 6:22 

	… and, in the case of those who fall away …

	re-justification – Jn. 20:23

Justification is a gift from first to last and is never earned (Tit. 3:5) 
	The Catholic doctrine of merit

Issues in dispute

Forensic/juridical/imputed justification vs. infused justification

Ground of justification: entirely external or partly internal? 

“Faith alone” 

Ugly polemic

The Protestant view of justification is a “legal fiction” 

Catholics believe they are saved by works