WIC3a: reprint "The Reconciliation of Man With God" (1916, S. Illinois updated in 1921 L. u. W.)

      This continues from Part WIC2 (Table of Contents in Part WIC1) in a series presenting a new translation of all of Franz Pieper's essays previously translated in the 1933 CPH book What Is Christianity? And Other Essays. — In this third essay of six, we encounter an unusual case. The 1916 Southern Illinois District convention essay (text file) was reprinted in Lehre und Wehre 5 years later in 1921. Editor Prof. Friedrich Bente explained that this was done "In response to several requests", and because "the basic Christian truth…is almost universally…openly and deliberately denied". And we are told by Bente that "several deletions and additions [were] made by the speaker [Pieper] himself". Pieper wanted to polish this remarkable essay for this reprint after 5 years. So this translation will not use exactly the same German text as Prof. J. T. Mueller used for his translation in 1933. 

Notable Quotes: (comments in red):

289: "Reconciled with God! These words express the greatest happiness that a person can enjoy here on earth." [Pieper grabs our attention with the very first words!]

290: "God must come upon the world with terrible plagues… in order to remind people…for the purpose that people repent and embrace in faith the reconciliation with God brought about by Christ"

291: "all these things [calamities] should bring home to us the fact that we need reconciliation with God."

292: "We live in "the age of newspapers". [Now the Internet.]"

292: "the Lord adds the instruction that misfortunes bring to light what all people deserve because of their sins"

292: "However, in Germany, the land of the Reformation, the contempt for the Word of God is great."

292: "In our country the pope is spreading"

293: "sectarian preachers of our time often speak of a 'fatherhood' of God and a 'brotherhood of all men'… without the reconciliation brought about by the blood of Christ." 

294: "When Adam sinned, the fact registered in his conscience."

295: "the world is still under the sign of divine sparing"

296: "the most powerful revelation of God's wrath against sin is that God gives His only begotten Son, to whom He imputed the sin of the whole world, to death."

296: "The world does not despise the religion of works."

321: "It was not people who were reconciled to God, but God reconciled people to Himself…"

322: "reconciliation…does not consist in the fact that people have changed their attitude towards God… God in Christ or for the sake of Christ has changed His attitude towards mankind." [See this blog post.]

323: "…in God's heart, forgiveness of sin has taken the place of imputation of sin, and grace has taken the place of wrath"

323: "This reconciliation is behind us, it has happened, it is an accomplished fact.… the reconciliation that is not only to happen in the future, when people change, repent and believe, but which has happened"

324: "each one of us, can and should be certain that he is already reconciled with God through Christ"

325: "The Romans [Catholic Church] in particular come here with a whole series of objections."

325: "What the Romans still teach about a necessary confession before the "priest" and about satisfactions that the priest determines, is contrary to God's Word"

326: "But man is created for eternity, and if…he does not fully abide by God's law, then he lives on, but as one eternally cast out from God's presence."

327: "the worm that does not die and of the fire that does not go out, and … the utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" [For eternity!]

327: "God has made his incarnate Son our, human, substitute before his forum."

327: "other so-called founders of religions … Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, the Pope, the Unitarians … impose burdens on people.… [Christ] does not place the slightest burden on people"

328: "His actions and suffering means that the whole world of mankind is reconciled with God"

Critics of God's method of reconciliation.

328: "And now people are not satisfied with this reconciliation!"

328: "They call it unnecessary, unworthy of God, contradictory, completely unjust, inadequate or not covering the matter, too external or too legalistic."

329: "They see the essence of Christianity not in the belief in Christ crucified for the sins of the world, but in the endeavor to keep the commandments of God."

In the next blog post, Part WIC3b, we complete our "Notable Quotes" from this Christian essay, and a new full translation free for use by all.