[2025-10-09: added note in red]
While researching and translating one of Walther's convention essays, the 1877 Western District (also the 1873 Western District, p. 56, [Convention Essays, p. 40]), I ran across his explanation of Romans 9:21-23 that cleared up my confusion of what these verses actually say. Calvinists, who hold that God predestined some to damnation, or "Double Predestination", use these verses for their own interpretation of God's election to damnation for some. And indeed the major English translations of these verses are in need of clarification so that one may not be misled. While Calvinists claim to be strictly according to the Bible, we find that not to be the case with these verses. From the essay, p. 92:
C. F. W. Walther, and Lutheran teaching, on Romans 9:20-23:
In our passage we now speak of vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy; of the former it is said in our German Bible that they were prepared for condemnation; of the latter it is said that God had prepared them for glory. In the Greek, however, it is more precisely said of the latter that God prepared them beforehand, not merely prepared them; but this word "beforehand" is not used of the vessels of wrath. This is very important! For from this we see that all who are saved are prepared for salvation by God before the foundation of the world, whereas the vessels of wrath, i.e. those who are damned, are also prepared for damnation, but firstly, not beforehand, and secondly, not by God, but by the devil and their own evil will. Here our doctrine shines forth completely. It would be blasphemy to say that the Holy Spirit has forgotten to add the words "before" and "from God" to the vessels of wrath, so that we have nothing to give to these different ways of speaking! He, who is eternal wisdom, knew perfectly well why he says "from God" one time and not the other, why he says "before" one time and not the other. It is also very important to know that verse 22 in the Greek does not contain the words "therefore there", but instead the words "but if [Εἰ δὲ]". From this we see that when the apostle says in the previous verse, "Does not a potter have power to make one lump into a vessel for honor and another for dishonor?", he does not mean to say: and this is how God really does it, but that he only wants to reject human reason with its foolish objections, which so readily masters and even blasphemes God as soon as it cannot understand why he acts as he does. The apostle rather wants to say: As natural as we find it that a potter makes a soup tureen from clay, and from the same material a nasty vessel, which is placed in a corner so that it is not seen, and how no one confronts him about it: it is just as natural that whatever God may do, no one may confront him about it. This thought, that God does not allow himself to be mastered by us, also precedes the 20th verse, where it expressly says: "Yea, dear man, who are you, then, that you want to be right with God?" No one should therefore be misled by the words "therefore there" into Calvinistic errors, since these words are not in the original text at all, and since the apostle does not say: as a potter makes vessels of honor and dishonor from a lump, so God also first made vessels of mercy and then vessels of wrath; but he continues: "But if God... bore the vessels of wrath with great patience?" So the apostle's meaning is: What will you, what can you say then? [cp. All Glory To God, p. 221]
I had thought that Walther was the only Lutheran teacher to point out this teaching, but he then referred to the Formula of Concord which taught much the same thing: FC SD XI 79-80. But Walther goes one step further than the Formula by introducing the second point, that the "vessels of mercy" were chosen "beforehand", not "in time". The following chart delineates Walther's points:
Potter (Ro. 9:21):
God (Ro. 9:22-23):
These verses set God in contrast to the potter.
In searching for a literal translation of the Bible, I was pleased to find that the Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT) had perhaps the best translation of the initial words of verse 22: "But what if God…". The word "but" clearly shows that verse 22 is in contrast to verse 21, i.e. God is not like the potter in regards to the "vessels of wrath", He endures them, He does not make them. The DLNT had a wonderful footnote to verse 23: "Note that God endured the one group, but actively prepared-beforehand the other". (I may purchase the DLNT based on this. Hopefully it does not have too much "Reformed leaven".)
May the readers (like me) be enabled to defend against the false Calvinistic error and be strengthened in their faith in a gracious God who will stay with us if we don't push Him away. (The full text of Walther's essay is upcoming in a future blog series.)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments only accepted when directly related to the post.