BWC3a: Vol. III(A): Grace; "God did not owe it, man could not do it"

      This continues from Part BWC2h in a series (Table of Contents in Part BWC1) presenting Walther's edition of Baier's Compendium of Positive Theology. — This begins the largest volume, by far, of the 3 volumes, exceeding the total of the 2 previous volumes. Because it is so large, I am splitting it up into 2 parts, approximately 400 pages each: IIIA and IIIB. 

      This volume contains the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. The first half IIIA contains the 34-page section on "The Office of Christ" that Synoptic Text Information Services published in 2023 (Amazon). This is in a series of books addressing their overall focus on Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy. This excerpt was well chosen for not only its intended purpose of focusing on "Atonement" but also on Christ's "vicarious satisfaction" for the sins of the world. This was a particular focus of Prof. Franz Pieper in his Christian Dogmatics. — However, this excerpt is just that — it truly points to the need for the full volume that includes also the section on the Lutheran doctrine of "Justification". 

The following Table of Contents provides the overview of Part IIIA:

PART THREE. (A)

Chapter I. Of the Grace of God toward fallen men, the first principle of our salvation 3

Chapter II. Of Christ, the principle and foundation of our salvation 18

Section I. Of the Person of Christ 20

Section II. Of the states of humiliation and exaltation 75

Section III. Of the Office of Christ     100

Chapter III. Of Faith in Christ  134

Chapter IV. Of Regeneration and Conversion 177

Chapter V. Of Justification 240

Chapter VI. Of Renewal and Good Works   299

Chapter VII. Of the Word of the Law and the Gospel 337

 We begin now, from pages 3-18, our selection of

Notable Quotes: (Italics follow the original. All quotes not from Baier are from Walther's additions of quotes. Red text indicates my comments.)

[Chapter 1: Of the Grace of God toward fallen men]

3-4: Luther: "a lawyer speaks of man as the possessor and lord of his own things; a physician speaks of man as healthy and sick; but the theologian, however, discusses man as a sinner"

5: Huelselmann: "it pleased Philip Melanchthon…to leave the word ‘grace’ in its ambiguity.…Our symbolic book freed the word 'grace' and 'freely' from the equivocation regarding an infused habit [by the Papists]

5: Luther to Melanchthon: "You write that Eck was forced by you to confess that we are justified by faith: I wish you had forced him not to lie."

6: "Hence it is commonly called universal grace, a designation taken from its object, which is the entire human race"

8: Luther: The Son of God "takes my sin upon His back; yes, not only my sin, but also the sin of the whole world".

8: Quenstedt: "On 1 Tim. 2:4: 'God wills all men to be saved,' etc. the Calvinists except, that by all men the apostle does not mean every single man, but any men, i.e. men of every kind"

9: Quenstedt: "hypothetical Calvinists, who indeed admit a certain universal benevolence of God toward all men, but only on the condition of faith, if they believe"

11: Gerhard: An example of God's efficacious universal grace: "of a father, who is equally favorable to all his children and wants all to become heirs of his goods, but excludes from the inheritance those who are stubbornly disobedient and depraved."

13: Gerhard: "Thomas [Aquinas], P. III. q. 46. art. 2 argues: 'That God can remit sins to man without satisfaction, since He has no superior.' … [But] God is so merciful that He is also at the same time just.… no other remedy remained than for the Son of God Himself to assume human nature and in it and through it to make satisfaction; God did not owe it, man could not do it."

15: "It is also of divine grace, which regards our salvation, to move God to will and confer what is His own, so that we may all enjoy the foreign satisfaction of another, the mediator." [I.e. the "vicarious satisfaction".]

16: Chemnitz: "that God is not to be regarded as the actual cause of such rejection or damnation, as the opposing doctrine does…but we wish to adhere to the saying of the prophet Hosea, chapter 13[:9], where God speaks: 'O Israel, you bring disaster upon yourself; your salvation is in me alone.'"

In the next Part BWC3b…

BWC1e: Pieper→Baier-Walther cross-reference (#1), updated

      This continues from Part BWC1d in a series (Table of Contents in Part BWC1) presenting Walther's edition of Baier's Compendium of Positive Theology. — The following cross-reference was presented in 2017 before all the updates became available where one could link directly to English translations of the sources. Now all links have been updated to their English sources and have been compiled in the following tables. This allows fast access for rigorous study of various topics as covered by Pieper and Walther (and Baier). — Rather than a scrollable embedded window, I am presenting the table in the blog itself so that it may be archived as a unit. What follows is the listing for Volume 1 with over 300 links (pink shaded links will be updated when the translation of Volume 3 of Baier-Walther is completed):

Christliche Dogmatik v:ppp:xxxxx	Christian Dogmatics ppp;nnnn	Baier- Walther Compendium	Notes
1:006n12	8n8	1:014	Calov’s detailed account of various derivations of the Latin religio
1:044n164	42	1:002	Baier: Theology  – Greek word composite of God and Word.
1:051n181	47	1:069	Baier: Theology is a supernatural aptitude
1:056n202	52n80	1:043, 076	Pfeiffer: no doctrine outside of those based on Scripture
1:064n225	58n87	1:005	true nature of theology, is based on Scripture
1:091n319	81	3:245 f.	Dogmaticians call doctrine of justification the fundamental article.
1:095n346	85	1:061 note e [sic?]	"fundamental doctrines" did not originate with the Church
1:099n361	88n122	1:062	not every false doctrine which by its nature is destructive of the foundation of faith … "felicitous inconsistency" (“glückliche Inkonsequenz”)
1:103n376	92	1:065	Baier: errors on non-fundamental articles  – be “on our guard lest by embracing and teaching error we rashly sin”
1:106n387	94n135	1:067 nota c	Open question: Is the soul of each individual created by God immediately (creationism) or mediately through the parents (traducianism)?
1:107n390	95n137	1:067  1767 ed.: p 52	Open questions: “... the many questions which Scripture leaves unanswered”
1:117n422	104	1:040	The subject of the operation of theology is homo peccator (the sinner) in so far as he is to be led to eternal salvation
1:158n545	138n190	1:076	Does theology constitute a system?
1:173n570	150n200	1:076	Baier prefers “analytic method” over synthetic” method of theology
1:173n572	150n201	1:029	Analytical method, however, proceeds from effect to cause or seeks to derive the whole from a particular part
1:175n583	151n204	—	Baier is infected with the synergistic bias of his father-in-law Musaeus.  The edition of Walther, St. Louis, 1879, is not a mere reprint of Baier's compend, but by the addition of quotations has been expanded to three volumes - - - - - - -  In the cited quotations, not only Luther and the old theologians, but also the modern theologians of the 19th century, are abundantly cited, so that students are offered a source material which enables them to judge both the old and modern theology.  Prof. Th. Bünger has supplied a index of subject and names on this edition of Walther’s, which has been worked with great diligence and great expertise.
1:176	152	—	Baier discusses the last things: death, resurrection, the Judgment, and the destruction of the world immediately in connection with salvation
1:176n585	152n205	1:077	The all-important point is that the theologian observe the principle of divine revelation, not the “faith” of the theologian (Objective!)

The balance for Volume 1 is available after the jump break (Volumes 2 and 3 will come later, see below):

BWC2h: Actual sins, crying sins; full download v. 2

      This continues from Part BWC2g in a series (Table of Contents in Part BWC1) presenting Walther's edition of Baier's Compendium of Positive Theology. —  From pages 308–330.

Notable Quotes: (Italics follow the original. All quotes not from Baier are from Walther's additions.)

Actual Sins:

309: Gerhard: "but when they cover their neighbor's nakedness, help them, etc., these acts in themselves and by their nature are not sins, but they become sins because of something else: because the person is not yet reconciled to God… they are not directed toward the glory of God."

311: Luther: "For this is the tendency of our nature: in sudden terrors and dangers, it turns away from the true God, because it believes He is angry, ……For God is not cruel, but is the Father of consolation"

312: "men of their own accord consent to the deceiver"

315: Luther: "But that some weak people [restricting what is free] also get angry about this is not our fault, but the fault of the tyrants who prevent the Gospel from reaching them and teaching the weak"

320-321: Hollaz: "A sin against conscience is fourfold…against a right conscience,…against an erring conscience,…against a probable conscience,…against a doubtful conscience,…the matter [of doubtful] must always be settled either by his own prudence or by the counsel of wiser others"

323: Balduin: "actual sin, of the kind that usually accompanies original sin,…should not be denied to be present in infants, even though they are unaware of it."

323: Quenstedt: "Antithesis: 1. Of the Papists, as Bellarmine and others, who deny to infants all actual sin, even that of omission."

323: Actual sins "directed at the person of the sinner himself.…For example, fornication (through which a person is said to sin against his own body, 1 Cor. 6:18… drunkenness…suicide (in which one is injurious and violent to one's own life itself)"

325: The Papist's "remedies prescribed for them [venial (lesser) sins], however, are the formation of the cross, the beating of the breast, the sprinkling of holy water, the episcopal or even priestly and monastic blessing, the use of the Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer, and whatever other prayers there may be"

325-327: "crying [sins], or those which, even when men are silent, are wont to move God to public vengeance …Such are principally four that are numbered: homicide, Gen. 4:10; sodomy, or a lust most alien to human nature, Gen. 18:20; the oppression of the innocent, e.g., of subjects by tyrants, Ecclus. 3:7…"

328: Huelsemann: "The sin against the Holy Spirit is committed by enlightened men, who are convinced of the truth of the faith and of the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit."

  The following is my translated version utilizing DeepL, Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and Grok. Highlighting and red text are mine. Italics follow the original. Hyperlinks added to each page which follow the original publication:

Download the above here, non-highlighted version here,  PDF here, original languages here.

The next listing, for Volume 3, will come in Part BWC3y after the translation of Volume 3 is completed. Otherwise the next post is for Part BWC3a. in which we begin presenting Volume III.

BWC2g: Last Judgment; Sin in General; Original Sin

      This continues from Part BWC2f in a series (Table of Contents in Part BWC1) presenting Walther's edition of Baier's Compendium of Positive Theology. —  From pages 250–308.

Notable Quotes: (Italics follow the original. All quotes not from Baier are from Walther's additions.)

Last Judgment and Consummation of the Age:

251: Quenstedt: "Antithesis: 1. Of the Epicureans and mockers, who, upon hearing that Christ would return for judgment, with the Athenians and Stoic philosophers, scoff, Acts 17:32"

251: "there are no lack of signs by which God shows that judgment is drawing near in a certain way"

253: Gerhard: "Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, traced its [millennialism/chiliasm] origin back to the apostolic traditions,…it is by no means probable that the apostles would have handed down some things by word of mouth while committing others to writing."

254: Hollaz: Against millennialism: "…kingdom of Christ at the end of the world, because of the most corrupt morals of the wicked and the most bitter afflictions of the righteous, will be the most turbulent and the most sorrowful." [Today's world: "Corrupt morals" √,  "bitter afflictions of the righteous" √]

Antichrist:

257: "the adversary of Christ (the Antichrist) will be seated in the temple of God, that is, the Christian Church, as its head or monarch, after he has, by the power of Satan, with signs and lying wonders, deceived a great number of people and established his kingdom, so that for some time and by many, the nature or identity of the Antichrist will not be recognized; yet in its own time he will be revealed and acknowledged as the Antichrist. [by Martin Luther] However, even then the day of the Lord will not come immediately; rather, the Antichrist himself, now revealed, will continue on, until he is abolished by the brightness of Christ's coming. The revelation of the Antichrist to the faithful, therefore, should signify, like a sign, the following judgment, by which the Antichrist, now manifested, will finally be abolished."

258: Quenstedt: Lutheran theologians erroneously defending "universal conversion of the Jews": A. Hunnius, Hafenreffer, Menzer, Balduin, Meisner. [Surprising to me. Luther opposed. Also Walther.]

259: Gerhard: "Christ will administer that judgment not only as God, but also as man."

262: "For Christ will judge, so that to each one He will render a clear testimony according to the works of faith or of unbelief (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 2:6 ff.; Matt. 25:35, 36, 42, 43; Rev. 20:12, 13)."

263: Scherzer: "The standard of this judgment will be the law and the gospel in one word, but with a different and properly noted respect. The gospel indeed with respect to the elect... The law, however, with respect to the reprobate, but so that it is illuminated by the light of the gospel."

264: "After the judgment is completed, the consummation of the world will immediately follow, in which the heavens and the earth, …by means of fire, will perish.…time will end along with it"

On Sin in General:

268: "concupiscence, being evil by nature; vicious habits contracted by wrongdoing; and all acts that are contrary to the law are customarily and correctly called sins."

269: Balduin: "…synteresis is the faculty of the soul, which always opposes vices and immediately points out committed evils, and thus always desires to keep the soul immaculate from sin. … Synteresis can never err; conscience sometimes errs in its judgment."

270: Kromayer: "A pre-Mosaic Decalogue could easily have been constructed. The first commandment may be found in Gen. 12:1–16:7: 'I am the God who brought you out…' etc.

271: "Christ purged the old law of the corruptions of the Pharisees"

273: Brute animals "are plainly devoid of the faculty to know what the law commands and forbids."

274: Calvinists "nevertheless hold that God is altogether the author and efficient cause of sins."

275: "In the Scriptures, however, sin is taken in a much broader sense, as 1 John 3:4 is content to define sin by ἀνομία (lawlessness), without expressly mentioning the voluntary element."

275: "Zwingli and Calvin, in chap. 3 of Genesis, who deny original sin for the same reason, that it is involuntary."

277: "the paternal chastisements of the pious must be carefully distinguished from what are properly called punishments." [Parental disciplining defended. Likewise God's chastisements of His people.]

278: Luther: "The thief [on the cross] turns around and accuses himself and confesses his sins,…a completely different person is made of him, and his shameful death, which he well deserved, now becomes a service to God, so that from then on he suffers not as a murderer, but as a true saint"

On Original Sin:

282: Gerhard: "Death has passed upon all men, because all have sinned, i.e., because Adam, the parent of the human race, representing the person of all posterity who descend from him by carnal generation, sinned."

282: Zwingli: "'Original sin is not properly a sin, but only a disease and an effect of sin.'"

283: "so, deprived of that original righteousness, man is like a dead man [Eph. 2:1], a being destitute of all the powers necessary to elicit and exercise vital acts and motions within himself"

285: Formula of Concord [Trigl. p. 883]: "the more diligently they labor in this matter to investigate and comprehend these spiritual things with the keenness of their own reason, the less they understand and believe, and they consider all of it to be foolishness and mere nonsense and fables, until they are enlightened and taught by the Holy Spirit."

285: "…Phil. 2:13. For when both of these [to will and to accomplish spiritual things] are attributed to God entirely, and we are therefore commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, it is certain that this is denied to our natural powers"

289: "See Rom. 5:12, where one man, Adam, is declared the cause of sin as the common parent of the entire human race and its root and active principle, since through him sin came into the world."

293: "the woman, seeing that the tree was desirable for understanding, took of the fruit, verse 6 [Gen. 3:6]. Thus, the woman's will more eagerly desired that apparent good, promised by Satan"

297: "we deny that in a man infected with original sin, before he is reborn, there are any powers of the intellect or will such that… the will can determine itself to the good in spiritual matters."

300: Quenstedt: "Antithesis: The Papists, especially the Jesuits. For thus they assert in the Council of Trent, Session VI, Chapter 1: ‘Free will (in unregenerate men) is by no means extinguished’"

300: Quenstedt: "Antithesis:…Lutheran synergists, who posit some synergeia, or cooperation of human forces with grace, in the work of conversion. . . The seeds of this synergistic error were sown quite prolifically by Philip Melanchthon in his various writings and books.…In the Loci Communes of Philipp Melanchthon… inserted into the body of doctrine the definition of free will, which Luther reproved in Erasmus as erroneous" 

304: Luther: "in reality, however, he [Adam] sank his teeth into a thorn, which was the prohibition of God and disobedience to God."

306: Augustine: "When a certain man had fallen into a well… another man came up, and seeing him, said in admiration, 'How did you fall in here?' But he replied, 'Please, think about how to get me out of here, not how I fell in.'…it is enough for us to know the way by which it [an infant] is saved, even if we never know how it fell into that evil."

In the next Part BWC2h we conclude our quotes and provide downloads for Volume 2.