# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1928_S29
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1928. 29

the iniquity of us all." Paul writes in the same great chapter from which the
passage discussed above is taken, 2 Cor. 5: "Christ died for all, that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died
for them and rose again." And the book from which we have drawn instruction
especially in these days, the Epistle to the Hebrews, says in chapter 2:9:
"that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." In 1 Tim. 2:5, 6
Paul writes the golden words: "For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time." And with these strong statements, in which the
expressions "world" and "all" stand in the foreground, Scripture is not yet
satisfied. It tells us, as it were over and above, that even those who are lost
are not excepted here. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 8:11: "And through thy knowledge
shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died." And Peter says in his
second epistle, chapter 2:1, speaking of the false prophets and teachers:
"denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift
destruction." In what truly mighty manner, beating down all doubts, Scripture
thus proclaims to us the truth that Christ made satisfaction for the sins of all
men!

As we know, the contradiction of the Calvinists arises against this. Only for
the elect has Christ brought about reconciliation with God, is their assertion,
by which they darken the sun of grace. Have they Scripture ground for it?
Not at all. It is pitiable how they want to deal with the expressions that
Christ is the propitiation for the sin of the world, that he gave himself for
all as a ransom. Christ gave himself for all as a ransom, that, they say, has
the sense that he gave himself for all nations, for all classes, for all
estates. It does not lie in these words that he went into death for all
individuals. That is truly to make a wax nose of Scripture, which one can twist
this way or that as one pleases. Such an interpretation of Scripture we need
not take seriously. A similar pitiful squirming of the Calvinists we notice in
their attempt to bring the words "Christ is the propitiation for the sin of the
world" into harmony with their theology. "World" means the church of the elect
in the whole world, some of them say, and thus put a quid pro quo or, as one
says in German, an X for a U [pass off one thing for another]. Calvin himself
says on 1 John 2:2 that by "world" those are meant who would believe at some
time and who are scattered over the various parts of the world. Quite rightly
Huther in Meyer's Commentary, who cannot be accused of partiality for the
Lutheran Confession, declares Calvin's interpretation improper and says that
the little word "whole" ("the whole world") puts the matter beyond all doubt.
He then also cites the beautiful saying of Bengel: "As far as sin extends, so
far also extends the reconciliation."

The Calvinists have, to be sure, claimed that in some passages of Scripture a
confirmation of their doctrine is to be found. They point to Matt. 20:28, where
the Savior says: "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." "For many," they say, it
says, not: for all. They point further to the similarly worded