From news@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu Tue Apr 30 23:40:04 1996 Return-Path: news@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu Received: from relay4.UU.NET (relay4.UU.NET [192.48.96.14]) by aramis.rutgers.edu (8.6.12+bestmx+oldruq+newsunq+grosshack/8.6.12) with ESMTP id XAA25903 for ; Tue, 30 Apr 1996 23:40:04 -0400 Received: from vixen.cso.uiuc.edu by relay4.UU.NET with SMTP id QQantm03543; Tue, 30 Apr 1996 23:40:01 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from news@localhost) by vixen.cso.uiuc.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA26742; Tue, 30 Apr 1996 22:40:01 -0500 To: soc-religion-christian@uunet.uu.net Path: firefly.prairienet.org!wbhapke From: wbhapke@firefly.prairienet.org (Warren B. Hapke) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Sola Scriptura Date: 1 May 1996 03:40:01 GMT Organization: Prairienet Lines: 67 Message-ID: <4m6meh$p2e@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> References: <4jao40$cvs@geneva.rutgers.edu> <4kfep9$4pe@heidelberg.rutgers.edu> <4kspl0$77q@geneva.rutgers.edu> <4lfas6$2j7@geneva.rutgers.edu> <4lho8a$4co@geneva.rutgers.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: firefly.prairienet.org X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Randal Lee Mandock (gt7122b@prism.gatech.edu) wrote: : Charles the moderator wrote: : >[Do you have a specific reference in Romans? One of our readers : >has offered to look the text up in Luther's translation to see : >what is really there, but so far I've seen only vague references. : During our session the question of justification was raised. One of : the catechists told me that he read with his own eyes the German edition : of Romans in which the word "alone" was inserted in Rom 3:28. I haven't : seen it myself, but I can certify that this catechist knows his Scripture. : For years he was one of the "faith alone" proponents before his I'm the person clh referred to above. The charge is true; Luther did indeed add the word "alone" (allein) to his translation of Romans 3:28. Here's the evidence, for those who want it. I've included verses from the Greek Textus Receptus, Luther's translation, and the Clementine Vulgate. (All translations are mine. They are deliberately made as close as possible to the word order of the originals, so the English will seem stilted. I chose the TR because it's probably the closest Greek text to the base Luther worked from.) Romans 3:28 Greek TR: Logizometha oun pistei dikaiousthai anthropon choris ergon nomou. Luther: So halten wir es nun, dass der Mensch gerecht were ohne des Gesetzes Werke, allein durch den Glauben. Trans: Thus we hold now, that the person is made righteous without the works of the law, alone through faith. Vulgate: Arbitramur enim justificari hominem per fidem sine operibus legis. Trans: For we hold that a person is justified through faith without the works of the law. There was also a mention of James 2:24; here it is, in the same versions: Greek TR: Orate toinun oti ex ergon diakaioutei anthropon kai ouk ek pisteos monon. Luther: So sehet ihr nun, dass der Mensch durch Werke gerecht wird, nicht durch Glauben allein. Trans: Thus you now see, that the person through works is made righteous, not through faith alone. Vulgate: Videtis quoniam ex operibus iustificatur homo, et non ex fide tantum. Trans: Thus you see from works that a person is justified, and not from faith alone. I have two observations. 1) It's odd that Luther felt that he should add the word "allein" to Romans 3:28; the verse can support his theology just as well without it. 2) In a place where you might expect him to try to fudge the text (James 2:24), Luther is as accurate as you could wish. There's no essential difference here between his version and the Vulgate. And both seem to be accurate renditions of the Greek. By the way, when I first started looking into this, the verses I thought of checking first were Ephesians 2:8-9, which seemed the place Luther would be most likely to add something, but he didn't. Warren B. Hapke wbhapke@prairienet.org (All opinions are mine, not Prairienet's) (To the moderator: you can add this to the FAQs if you think it will help prevent future controversies.)