Dr. Greg Jackson has repeatedly stated on Luther
Quest that Dr. Robert Preus was not in agreement with Objective
Justification. I served as the PR Director for Fort Wayne from 1978-1981.
“Missouri In Perspective” the ELIM paper, criticized the LC-MS position on
Objective Justification. As editor for the Concordia Theological Seminary -
Fort Wayne “News Letters” I asked Dr. Preus to respond in the Spring 1981
Issue. The following is his reply, plus other relative excerpts.
CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
NEWSLETTER – Spring 1981
6600 North Clinton
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – "OBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION"
The doctrine of objective justification is a lovely teaching drawn from
Scripture which tells us that God who has loved us so much that He gave His
only to be our Savior has for the sake of Christ’s substitutionary atonement
declared the entire world of sinners for whom Christ died to be righteous
(Romans 5:17-19).
Objective justification which is God’s verdict of acquittal over the
whole world is not identical with the atonement, it is not another way of
expressing the fact that Christ has redeemed the world. Rather it is based
upon the substitutionary work of Christ, or better, it is a part of the
atonement itself. It is God’s response to all that Christ died to save us,
God’s verdict that Christ’s work is finished, that He has been indeed
reconciled, propitiated; His anger has been stilled and He is at peace with
the world, and therefore He has declared the entire world in Christ to be
righteous.
THE SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT
According to all of Scripture Christ made a full atonement for the sins of
all mankind. Atonement (at-one-ment) means reconciliation. If God was not
reconciled by the saving work of Christ, if His wrath against sin was not
appeased by Christ'’ sacrifice, if God did not respond to the perfect
obedience and suffering and death of His Son for the sins of the world by
forgiveness, by declaring the sinful world to be righteous in Christ -–if
all this were not so, if something remains to be done by us or through us or
in us, then there is no finished atonement. But Christ said, "It is
finished." And God raised Him from the dead and justified Him, pronounced
Him, the sin bearer, righteous (I Timothy 3:16) and thus in Him pronounced the
entire world of sinners righteous (Romans 4:25).
All this is put beautifully by an old Lutheran theologian of our church,
"We are redeemed from the guilt of sin; the wrath of God is appeased; all
creation is again under the bright rays of mercy, as in the beginning; yea, in
Christ we were justified before we were even born. For do not the Scriptures
say: ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them?'’ This is not the justification which we receive
by faith...That is the great absolution which took place in the resurrection
of Christ. It was the Father, for our sake, who condemned His dear Son as the
greatest of all sinners causing Him to suffer the greatest punishment of the
transgressors, even so did He publicly absolve Him from the sins of the world
when He raised Him up from the dead." (Edward Preuss, "The
Justification of a Sinner Before God," pp. 14-15)
OBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION AND JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
The doctrine of objective justification does not imply that there is no
hell, that God’s threats throughout Scripture to punish sins are empty, or
that all unbelievers will not be condemned to eternal death on the day of
Christ’s second coming. And very definitely the doctrine of objective, or
general, justification does not threaten the doctrine of justification through
faith in Christ. Rather it is the very basis of that Reformation doctrine, a
part of it. For it is the very pardon which God has declared over the whole
world of sinners that the individual sinner embraces in faith and thus is
justified personally. Christ’s atonement, His propitiation of God and God’s
forgiveness are the true and only object of faith. Here is what George
Stoekhardt, perhaps the greatest of all Lutheran biblical expositors in our
country, says, "Genuine Lutheran theology counts the doctrine of general
(objective) justification among the statements and treasures of its faith.
Lutherans teach and confess that through Christ’s death the entire world of
sinners was justified and that through Christ’s resurrection the
justification of the sinful world was festively proclaimed. This doctrine of
general justification is the guarantee and warranty that the central article
of justification by faith is being kept pure. Whoever holds firmly that God
was reconciled to the world in Christ, and that to sinners in general their
sin was forgiven, to him the justification which comes from faith remains a
pure act of the grace of God. Whoever denies general justification is justly
under suspicion that he is mixing his own work and merit into the grace of
God."
THE REALITY OF OBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION
Objective justification is not a mere metaphor, a figurative way of
expressing the fact that Christ died for all and paid for the sins of all.
Objective justification has happened, it is the actual acquittal of the entire
world of sinners for Christ’s sake. Neither does the doctrine of objective
justification refer to the mere possibility of the individual’s
justification through faith, to a mere potentiality which faith completes when
one believes in Christ. Justification is no more a mere potentiality or
possibility than Christ’s atonement. The doctrine of objective justification
points to the real justification of all sinners for the sake of Christ’s
atoning work "before" we come to faith in Christ. Nor is objective
justification "merely" a "Lutheran term" to denote that
justification is available to all as a recent "Lutheran Witness"
article puts it – although it is certainly true that forgiveness is
available to all. Nor is objective justification a Missouri Synod construct, a
"theologoumenon" (a theological peculiarity), devised cleverly to
ward off synergism (that man cooperates in his conversion) and Calvinistic
double predestination, as Dr. Robert Schultz puts it in "Missouri in
Perspective" (February 23, 1981, p. 5) – although the doctrine does
indeed serve to stave off these two aberrations. No, objective justification
is a clear teaching of Scripture, it is an article of faith which no Lutheran
has any right to deny or pervert any more than the article of the Trinity or
of the vicarious atonement.
THE CENTRAILITY AND COMFORT OF THE DOCTRINE
Objective justification is not a peripheral article of faith which one may
choose to ignore because of more important things. It is the very central
article of the Gospel which we preach. Listen to Dr. C. F. W. Walther, the
first president and great leader of our synod, speak about this glorious
doctrine in one of his magnificent Easter sermons: "When Christ suffered
and died, He was judged by God, and He was condemned to death in our place.
But when God in the resurrection awakened Him again, who was it then that was
acquitted by God in Christ’s person? Christ did no need acquittal for
Himself, for no one can accuse Him of single sin. Who therefore was it that
was justified in Him? Who was declared pure and innocent in Him? We were, we
humans. It was the whole world. When God spoke to Christ, ‘You shall live,’
that applied to us. His life is our life. His acquittal, our acquittal, His
justification, our justification….Who can ever fully express the great
comfort which lies in Christ’s resurrection? It is God’s own absolution
spoken to all men, to all sinners, in a word, to all the world, and sealed in
the most glorious way. There the eternal love of God is revealed in all its
riches, in its overflowing fullness and in its highest brilliance. For there
we hear that it was not enough for God simply to send His own Son into the
world and let Him become a man for us, not enough even for Him to give and
offer His only Son unto death for us. No, when His Son had accomplished all
that He had to do and suffer in order to earn and acquire grace and life and
blessedness for us, then God, in His burning love to speak to us sinners,
could not wait until we would come to Him and request His grace in Christ, but
no sooner had His Son fulfilled everything than He immediately hastened to
confer to men the grace which had been acquired through the resurrection of
His Son, to declare openly, really and solemnly to all men that they were
acquitted of all their sins, and to declare before heaven and earth that they
are redeemed, reconciled, pure, innocent and righteous in Christ."
THE ISSUE AT OUR SEMINARY
Many of our readers know that our seminary, and one professor in
particular, has been recently criticized for undermining this comforting and
clear teaching of objective justification. The criticism and garbled accounts
of the situation have become so widespread lately that I must now comment on
the matter in this issue of the "Newsletter.
For over 15 years now Professor Walter A. Maier, Jr., has been teaching a
course in the book of Romans, and, although he states he has always presented
the doctrine of objective justification as taught in our synod (e.g. in the
"Brief Statement"), he has taught in class that some of the key
passages used in our church to support the doctrine actually do not speak to
the subject at all. As a result some within the seminary community and some
outside concluded that Dr. Maier did not in fact believe, teach, and confess
the article of objective justification. A few – very few – complaints were
brought against Dr. Maier and against the seminary for letting this go on.
The president of our synod, who has the responsibility for supervising
doctrine in the synod, contacted me and asked me to try to settle the issue
and to persuade Dr. Maier to teach an interpretation of the pertinent passages
(Romans 4:25; Romans 5:16-19; II Corinthians 5:19) compatible with that which
the great teachers of our church in the past (C. F. W. Walther, Francis
Pieper, Theodore Engelder, George Stoeckhardt, Martin Franzmann, William Beck
and others) publicly taught. Meetings and discussions immediately took place
between Dr. Maier and myself. Later on the matter was considered in faculty
meetings, in department meetings, and in special committees appointed to
discuss and hopefully to settle the issue. During these meetings, which were
always most cordial, Dr. Maier has remained unpersuaded that his
interpretation of the pertinent passages is faulty. At the same time he has
consistently assured all that he has always taught the doctrine of objective
justification as understood in the Missouri Synod. He has, however, referred
to other biblical evidence for the doctrine.
In the meantime the president of the synod, growing anxious for a clear
solution to the problem wrote to the entire church body a letter cautioning
congregations not to nominate Dr. Maier for president of the synod until the
issue was cleared up to his satisfaction.
Now the issue became political, and protests and criticisms against the
president of the synod for his action and also against Dr. Maier'’ teaching
began to multiply all over the synod. People naturally began to take sides,
not always so much on the doctrinal issue which was not always understood and
is still being discussed at our seminary, but for ecclesiastical and personal
reasons. We now know that the warning of our synodical president against Dr.
Maier not only failed to dissuade congregations from nominating Dr. Maier for
the presidency of our synod (as Fourth Vice-President Dr. Robert Sauer had
forewarned when attempting to persuade the synodical president not to send his
letter), but possibly gained more nominations for Dr. Maier. Dr. Maier is now
one of the five men nominated for the presidency of our synod.
On January 30, 1981, the Board of Control met with Dr. Maier and three
representatives of the synodical praesidium (which had severely criticized Dr.
Maier’s doctrinal stance). We heard from two members of the praesidium and
then from Dr. Maier and two faculty members who he had requested to accompany
him. The results of this meeting, many of us believed, represented a real
breakthrough in understanding, and the Board exonerated Dr. Maier of any false
doctrine. It was my belief that the representatives of the praesidium present
were also satisfied and happy with the report. In the discussions of this
meeting Dr. Maier expressed many genuine concerns related to the doctrine of
objective justification, e.g., that no one is saved eternally who is not
justified by faith, that God is even now angry with those who reject Christ
and do not repent, and that objective justification ought to be preached and
taught in such a way that the biblical doctrine of justification by faith is
always prominent. The report, in the form of a news release, is found on page
4 of the "Newsletter", and I urge the reader to read it because
"The Reporter," "The Lutheran Witness," and most of the
newspapers over the country which reported on the matter did not reproduce the
report in its entirety. At the same meeting the Board of Control strongly
expressed its disapproval of some of the actions of our synodical president in
the matter.
Meanwhile the administration of the seminary, with the concurrence of the
Board of Control, determined that it would be best for the seminary and for
Dr. Maier if he not teach the course in Romans during the next academic year.
At first I tried to keep this matter private, but later I decided to make a
public report of the fact. My reason for this was threefold. First, Dr. Maier
was reported in the news media all over the country as stating that he had not
changed his position on the doctrine of objective justification, suggesting o
many that three years of discussions with him had been quite fruitless and
that he still did not wholeheartedly believe in objective justification.
Second, several people sympathetic to Dr. Maier had threatened to withhold
funds from the seminary and had even reported our action to the accrediting
association of our seminary, "The Association of Theological
Schools;" it was obvious to me that they would make the matter of Dr.
Maier’s courses public whenever it served their purposes. Third, the
president of the synod was preparing a release revealing the fact that Dr.
Maier would not be teaching Romans during the next academic year. I thought it
would be preferable that the president of the seminary make this fact known
rather than those who have no business making such and announcement and who
might make the announcement in a way detrimental either Dr. Maier or the
seminary.
This is where the matter now stands. The Board of Control has stated its
confidence in the doctrine of Dr. Maier. Dr. Maier is presently teaching
Romans, will teach the course this summer, but is slated to teach courses
other than Romans next year. The faculty will continue to discuss and try to
achieve total agreement in the interpretation of those passages of Scripture
which teach objective justification.
A PLEA FOR CONCERN AND UNDERSTANDING
Through this entire and uncomfortable time the Board of Control and the
administration of the seminary have found themselves in an understandably
awkward position. We are pledged to remain faithful to the doctrinal position
of our church, a position which we believe with all our hearts, and we will
not deviate from this obligation one iota. We are at the same time pledged to
defend a professor and colleague if he fails under unjust attack or abuse. I
think we were able to maintain this delicate balance while the present issue
was pending, until the political issue was injected. Now we find ourselves
uncomfortably between two rather large conflicting elements in our synod, both
friends of our seminary; those who believe that the president of the synod,
whether they agree with his actions or not, had legitimate concerns about the
doctrinal position of Dr. Maier, and those who believe that Dr. Maier had been
wronged by the president of the synod and that the seminary could have done
more to defend and protect him. How can we respond to this divisive situation
in the middle of which we find ourselves? We can only say that we regret
deeply the anxiety and consternation which good friends of our seminary have
experienced because of the episodes I have recounted. May I ask these friends
to bear with us and put the best construction on how we have acted in these
circumstances. If you question Dr. Maier’s teaching on justification, please
read and believe the report on page and trust the honesty and sincerity of
those, including Dr. Maier, who had a part in releasing it. If you believe
that Dr. Maier has been wronged by various parties during the last three year
which have been trying to him, please believe that our Board of Control and
all here at Concordia agree with you; but God, who saved this lost world and
forgave the sins of mankind before anyone ever asked Him, commands us also to
forgive those who wrong us. And please do not try to defend Dr. Maier by
denying the public teaching of the Lutheran Church. God’s forgiveness shines
bright and clear above all the pettiness and weakness and wrongs and
controversy that have transpired in connection with our dear colleague Dr.
Maier, and it WILL cover the sins of us all. Lent teach us this, and Easter
confirms it.
ROBERT PREUS, President
For those who wish to read more on Objective Justification the following
articles can be secured from our bookstore for a nominal charge:
H. J. Bouman _Conference Paper on Romans 4:5" "Concordia
Theological Monthly" (CTM), Vol. 18, 1947, pp. 338-347.
Theodore Engelder, "Objective Justification," CTM, Vol. 4, 1933,
pp. 507-516, 564-577, 664, 675.
Theodore Engelder, "Walther, a Christian Theologian," CTM, Vol.
7, 1936, pp. 801-815.
Martin H. Franzmann, "Reconciliation and Justification," CTM,
Vol. 21, 1950, pp. 81-93.
E. W. A. Koehler, "Objective Justification, CTM, Vol. 16, 1945, pp.
217-235.
Miscellanea, "God Purposes to Justify Those That Have Come to
Faith," CTM, Vol. 14, 1943, pp. 787-791.
George Stoeckhardt, "General Justification," "Concordia
Theological Quarterly," April, 1978, pp. 139 – 144.
STATEMENT ADDED TO PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
While the president’s message "Objective Justification" was
being typeset, an "Official Notice" from the president of Synod was
issued which bears on the Walter A. Maier matter. In the notice the president
of Synod expressed his disagreement with our Board action which announced a
"basic understanding" with Dr. Maier on objective justification. I
felt compelled to respond on behalf of our Board of Control with an Official
Notice from the Seminary. This Official Notice which seeks to clarify the
Board’s action and position vis-à-vis Dr. Maier’s doctrinal stand has
been submitted to "The Reporter." It is herewith appended to the
present article for our readers’ information. – Robert Preus
BOARD OF CONTROL MEETS WITH SEMINARY PROFESSOR
The Board of Control of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, has
announced that a basic understanding resulted from a lengthy and thorough
discussion on January 30th, between the Board, Dr. Walter A. Maier,
Jr., of the seminary faculty, three representatives for the president and
vice-presidents (praesidium) of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, and
two additional faculty members. In a January 5-6 meeting the Praesidium stated
that, in its opinion, "Doctor Walter A. Maier, Jr., holds a position
different from that of the official doctrinal position of the Synod."
At the January 30 meeting, however, Dr. Maier emphatically affirmed his
belief that on the basis of Christ’s vicarious atonement God has put His
wrath away against the world and has declared the whole world to be righteous;
that the benefits of this objective forgiveness are appropriated only by
faith; the even though the entire human race has been redeeme3d, the Law in
all its severity, including the wrath of God against sinners as well as the
Gospel of forgiveness must be preached to all, including Christians. According
to the Gospel, God is indeed reconciled; according to the Law, the wrath of
God abides on all who reject Christ and His work of reconciliation, refuse to
repent, and live in their sins.
Dr. Robert Sauer, Dr. George Wollenburg, and former synodical
vice-president Dr. Theodore Nickel represented the praesidium at the January
30 meeting. Professors Kurt Marquart and Howard Tepker of the seminary faculty
were also present.
The frank five-hour exchange focused on several theological issues which
were isolated for clarification. The discussion showed that there have been
misunderstandings, unclear thinking, and poor communication because of
overstatements, lifting of phrases and snippets of doctrinal expression out of
context, and sometimes even pressing of casual expressions to ultimate
conclusions not intended by the speakers.
More than semantic differences surfaced early in the January 30th
meeting. At the close, however, basic agreement emerged on such topics as the
wrath of God, Law and Gospel, and "objective justification" – a
term used in the Lutheran Church to summarize a concept in the Bible and the
Lutheran Confessions that forgiveness and justification because of the death
of Christ are objectively available for all mankind through the ages, whether
or not individuals appropriate it through faith.
Difference in the interpretation of several critical passages remain. The
Seminary board, as well as Dr. Maier, is concerned that variant
interpretations can lead to a misinterpretation of doctrine. Therefore, the
Seminary board reported, discussions will continue by the faculty.
Dr. Maier stated: "I regret that some publicly quoted statements of
mine from a technical paper ‘prepared for faculty discussion purposes only’
have given a wrong impression about my doctrine of justification as a whole.
I, therefore, withdraw that paper from discussion. Doctrinally, I stand with
our Synod’s historic position."
In his statement to the Board of Control Dr. Maier further stated:
"When the Lord Jesus was ‘justified’ (I Timothy 3:16) in His
resurrection and exaltation, God acquitted Him not of sins of His own, but of
all the sins of mankind, which as the Lamb of God He had been bearing (John
1:29(, and by the imputation of which He had been ‘made….to be sin for us’
(II Corinthians 5:21), indeed, ‘made a curse for us’" (Galatians
3:13).
"In this sense, the justification of Jesus was the justification of
those whose sins He bore. The treasure of justification or forgiveness gained
by Christ for all mankind is truly offered, given, and distributed in and
through the Gospel and sacraments of Christ."
"Faith alone can receive this treasure offered in the Gospel, and this
faith itself is entirely a gracious gift and creation of God through the means
of grace. Faith adds nothing to God’s forgiveness in Christ offered in the
Gospel, but only receives it. Thus, ‘He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but
the wrath of God abideth on Him’" (John 3:30).
"My reservation concerning some of the traditional terminology
employed in expressing the doctrine of justification are fully covered by the
following statements from the major essay delivered to the first convention of
the Synodical Conference, assembled in Milwaukee July 10-16, 1872:
"When speaking with regard to the acquisition of salvation (by
Christ), God has wrath for no man any longer; but when speaking with regard to
the appropriation, He is wrathful with everyone who is no in Christ
("Proceedings," p. 32). Before faith the sinner is righteous before
God only according to the acquisition and the divine intention, but he is
actually ("actu") righteous, righteous for his own person, righteous
indeed, first when he believes ("Proceedings," p. 68."
Following the meeting Board Chairman Raymond N. Joeckel commented, "We
only wish that we could have reached this stage of the discussions and that we
could have had this kind of interchange before unfortunate statements appeared
in the public press. The church can learn from this that the Lord blesses
sincere efforts to discuss and clarify the meaning and message of the Holy
Scriptures."
COMMENT ON AN OFFICIAL NOTICE
The Official Notice of our synodical president regarding Dr. Walter A.
Maier and the doctrine of objective justification in the March 30 issue of
"The Lutheran Witness Reporter" requires an answer by me as
president and executive officer of the Board of Control of Concordia
Theological Seminary where Dr. Maier teaches.
Once again we wish to express our deep appreciation to the president for
his recognition of the central importance of the doctrine of objective
justification and his concern that this comforting teaching be taught clearly
at our school. We agree wholeheartedly with his citation from Dr. Francis
Pieper, ""he doctrine of objective justification is of vital
important to the entire Christian doctrine. Only by keeping this doctrine
intact will the Christian doctrine remain intact. It will be irretrievably
lost if this doctrine is abandoned."
However, there are some serious inaccuracies and mistaken judgments in the
Official Notice which call for correction and comment.
First, the president of the Synod points to an apparent conflict between
my summary of the issues on the subject of justification sent to the Board
of Control December 23, 1980, and some later statements made by me and the
Board of Control concerning Dr. Maier’s position. In the December
statement I described Dr. Maier’s position as he expressed it to the Board
at its November, 1980 meeting (with the president of Synod in attendance).
There I state that Dr. Maier can find no explicit Biblical evidence for the
doctrine of objective justification and no explicit Biblical evidence for
the doctrine that God was reconciled (put His anger aside) on account of the
ransom paid by Christ. Two months later I stated that Dr. Maier "has
always believed" – it would have been better to have said "has
consistently affirmed to the Board and to me his belief" – in
objective justification; and the Board in its release said that Dr. Maier
emphatically affirmed his believe that on the basis of Christs’s vicarious
atonement God put His wrath away against the world and has declared the
whole world to be righteous." The explanation for this apparent
discrepancy lies in the simple fact that in the January meeting of the Board
of Control (which the president of Synod did not attend) Dr. Maier clearly
affirmed that Scripture does in fact teach the doctrine of objective
justification and that on the basis of Christ’s atonement God put away His
wrath, whereas in the November meeting, as reported, he did not do so. An so
"all" the statements cited are true and factual
Our synodical president says "I must report that the vice-presidents
are of the opinion that there is no evidence from the Board of Control
meeting which would change their judgment that Dr. Maier is at variance with
the doctrinal position of the Synod." This must be a mistake. Former
Vice-President Theodore Nickel and Vice-President George Wollenburg,
together with Vice-president Robert Sauer, represented the Praesidium at the
January Board meeting. Dr. Nickel and Dr. Wollenburg criticized Dr. Maier’s
position at the meeting. But when Dr. Maier affirmed his belief that
objective justification was taught in Scripture (I Timothy 3:16) and that
God’s wrath has been appeased through the death of His Son, the Board
gained the distinct impression that both Dr. Nickel and Dr. Wollenburg were
sufficiently satisfied that Dr. Maier was not at variance with the doctrinal
position of the Synod. At least, these two men never expressed themselves to
the contrary to the Board or to Dr. Maier. The Board report of the January
30 meeting with Dr. Maier and representatives of the Praesidium has been out
since February 2, and so Dr. Wollenburg and Dr. Nickel have had plenty of
time to dissociate themselves from it, if they wanted to do so. It does seem
strange to us that the president of the Synod did not announce his
misgivings soon after the Board meeting and news release, but rather waited
until after Dr. Maier has been clearly nominated for the presidency of the
Missouri Synod.
Furthermore, Vice-President Sauer is a member of the Board of Control and
had a hand in writing and issuing the Board release of February 2. According
to the February 14 St. Louis Globe Democrat Dr. Sauer said, "’After a
recent discussion lasting several hours,’ Dr. Maier ‘appears to be in a
position of changing with regard to the vital doctrinal matter.’" So
the president of our Synod apparently is not including Dr. Sauer when he
said, "I must report that the vice-presidents are of the opinion that
there is no evidence from the Board of Control meeting which would change
the judgment that Dr. Maier is at variance with the doctrinal position of
the Synod." Perhaps there are other vice-presidents he is not
including.
The suggestion of our synodical president that the Board of Control is
engaging in a
cover up in regard to Dr. Maier is unkind and false. The Board has acted
with utmost integrity. While the president may differ with the Board’s
conclusion and decision in the Maier matter, it is not right of him publicly
to question the ethics and posture of the Board in the entire matter.
The president’s only evidence for a cover up is the fact that the Board
did not publicly announce that Dr. Maier would not be teaching a course in
the Book of Romans beginning with the next academic year. This was not
considered significant for the news release. At the same meeting the Board
also objected "strenuously" to "certain things" done by
the president of the Synod "which are high-handed, inexcusable, and
harmful to Dr. Maier or our school." The Board did not think of
including such items in its release either, and that out of love and concern
for the reputation of our synodical president. The omission of pertinent or
irrelevant facts in a release does not necessarily constitute a "cover
up." If it did, the president of the Synod would be guilty of a serious
"cover up." In his Official Notice he omitted any mention of a
verbatim quotation from Dr. Maier in the Board release, affirming that
Scripture does indeed teach objective justification. Dr. Maier’s statement
goes as follows, "When the Lord Jesus was ‘justified’ (I Timothy
3:16) in His resurrection and exaltation, God acquitted Him not of sins of
His own, but of all the sins of mankind, which as the Lamb of God He had
been bearing (John 1:29), and by the imputation of which He had been ‘made…..to
be sin for us’ (II Corinthians 5:21), indeed ‘made a curse for us’
(Galations 3:13). In this sense the justification of Jesus was the
justification of those whose sins He bore. The treasure of justification or
forgiveness gained by Christ for all mankind is truly offered, given, and
distributed in and through the Gospel and Sacraments of Christ." It was
on the basis of this statement and other assurances given by Dr. Maier that
the Board announced in its February 2 release that a "basic understand
resulted from a lengthy and thorough discussion on January 30 between the
Board, Dr. Walter A. Maier, Jr. of the seminary faculty, three
representatives for the president and vice-presidents (Praesidium) of The
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, and two additional faculty
members."
We share our synodical president’s "frustration and amazement"
at the confusion which shrouds both the issue itself and the way it has been
handled. I know I speak for Dr. Maier and the Board of Control when I say that
we all are sorry for anything we have said or done which adds to this
confusion. I am sure that the president of the Synod too is sorry for what he
has contributed to the confusion and misunderstanding which surrounds the
matter. It is my hope that this response to his Official Notice will serve to
clarify the matter.