For instance, in John 6 Christ says: "Him
has God the Father set his seal upon (versiegelt)." It would be
more clear in German to say "Him has God the Father signified
(gezeiehent)" or even "God the Father means him." But rather than
doing violence to the original, I have done violence to the German
tongue. Ah, translating is not every one's skill as some mad
saints think. A right, devout, honest, sincere, God-fearing
Christian, trained, educated, and experienced heart is required.
So I hold that no false Christian or divisive spirit can be a good
translator. That is obvious given the translation of the Prophets
at Worms which although carefully done and approximating my own
German quite closely, does not show much reverence for Christ due
to the Jews who shared in the translation. Aside from that it
shows plenty of skill and craftsmanship there.
So much for translating and the nature of language. However, I was
not depending upon or following the nature of language when I
inserted the word "solum" (alone) in Rom. 3 as the text itself,
and St. Paul's meaning, urgently necessitated and demanded it. He
is dealing with the main point of Christian doctrine in this
passage - namely that we are justified by faith in Christ without
any works of the Law. In fact, he rejects all works so completely
as to say that the works of the Law, though it is God's law and
word, do not aid us in justification.
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