Open main menu

OrthodoxWiki β

Changes

Justification

8 bytes removed, 01:38, August 21, 2007
m
link
==Definition==
The word justification is used three times in the [[Book of Romans]]. The word group is defined in the following manner: ''dike'' (root word of the group, meaning right or just), ''dikaios'' (meaning righteously or justly), ''dikaiosune'' (meaning righteousness or justice), ''dikaiosis'' (meaning “the act of pronouncing righteous” or acquittal), ''dikaioma'' (meaning an ordinance, a sentence of acquittal or condemnation, a righteous deed), ''dikaio'' (meaning “to show to be righteous” or “to declare righteous”), and ''dikastase'' (meaning “to judge” or “a judge”). It appears that the word group, when taken as a whole, can convey both a sense of righteousness and justice (as a legal declaration).
This legal framework for understanding justification all hinges on the concept of justice as understood in the pagan Greek culture of the time - ''dikaiosis''. The ancient, pagan Greeks, Thucydides for one, adhered to a juridical understanding of this concept as punishment. It is valid to assume that [[Apostle Paul|St. Paul]] was familiar with these pagan concepts, since this Greek culture was his immediate cultural context. The question arises: What do we do with St. Paul’s Jewish heritage and culture that was no less familiar to St. Paul, but was surely of more importance to him? Dr. Alexandre Kalomiros in ''The River of Fire'' proposes that the traditional Eastern Christian and [[patristics|patristic]] view of justification is more compatible with the nature of the Christian God. He says:
16,951
edits