The Hallmark of the Christian Religion
Via F. Pieper, “C.F.W. Walther as Theologian”
Elijah Calling Upon Yahweh
According to Walther, the doctrine of justification is what differentiates the Christian religion from all other so-called religions; it is the hallmark of the Christian religion. If we speak of justification, he says, then we are speaking of the Christian religion, for the doctrine of the Christian religion is really nothing other than the revelation of God about how one is justified and saved by the redemption which came about through Christ Jesus. All other religions show other ways which are said to lead to heaven (namely the way of works), only the Christian religion shows a different way to heaven through her doctrine of justification. With this doctrine she shows the world something unheard of and unimaginable: thoughts that were hidden in the heart of God before the foundation of the world. And in a different place4 he says that this doctrine is the heavenly sun of the Christian religion through which she differentiates herself from all other religions, just as the light does from the darkness. Therefore, whoever assaults the doctrine of justification encroaches on all doctrine, the entire Bible, and the entire Christian religion. Another way to salvation, and thus an entirely different religion is taught wherever this doctrine is falsified. Fighting for the doctrine of justification, the Bible, and the Christian religion are all one and the same. Without the doctrine of justification the entire Christian religion is like a clockwork without a spring. All other doctrines lose their meaning when the doctrine of justification is incorrect. When the cornerstone falls, the entire building collapses. In the same way, all of Christendom collapses where the doctrine of justification falls. The church then becomes a mere reformatory. As far as the understanding of the Scriptures is concerned: When theologians who do not properly understand the doctrine of justification handle and cite the Scriptures, they do not dwell in the Scriptures, instead they sit in front of a door that is closed to them. For without the doctrine of justification the Bible becomes for the people a book of ethics with all sorts of curious ancillary teachings.