LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Brock University

14 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XV
of depersonalizing, since it is commonly used in English to deal with people
as objects. Furthermore, one might question whether “people” and “person”
are, in fact, synonyms of “men” or “humans”. Awkward expressions like
“man or woman” and “he or she” merely call attention to the modern
political agenda and distract from the message of the text itself. Although
intended to include both sexes, such constructions tend rather to highlight
sexual distinctions in texts that had no intention of doing so.
There is a linguistic richness available to all languages that use the same
word for both individual and collective senses. Consider Neil Armstrong’s
famous lunar line, “One small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind”—
indicating succinctly and poetically how his trip to the moon was a triumph
not of one individual but of the whole race. With Christian texts, however,
our concern is not only poetic but also theological. Inclusive language in the
context of the Second Article of the Creed destroys the scriptural teaching
that joins together sin and salvation, sinner and Saviour, in a most personal
way. Paul teaches in Romans 5 that all people were joined together in Adam,
and with him sinned. We do not just inherit original sin as a sin committed
by someone else, but we ourselves committed that sin in and with Adam. By
the same theological logic, Paul can then say that in Christ we are all
righteous. For Christ, the Second Adam, true Man, redeemed the flesh of all
men. Paul’s argument hinges on the identity of nature between Adam, all
men, and Christ, an identity that Paul expresses by using the same Greek
word, a;nqrwpoj in each case. Note how beautifully this connection is made
in English when the same word is used for each:
12 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man [e`no.j avnqrw,pou]
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men [pa,ntaj avnqrw,pouj]
because all sinned … 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many
died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the
free gift in the grace of that one man [e`no.j avnqrw,pou] Jesus Christ abounded
for many. … 17 If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that
one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the
free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18
Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s
act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. 19 For as by one
man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience
many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:12-19 RSV; cf. I Cor. 15:21-22)
Lazarus Spengler’s great Reformation hymn, as translated by Matthias Loy,
summarizes Paul succinctly:
As by one man all mankind fell
And, born in sin, was doomed to hell,
So by one Man, who took our place,
We all received the gift of grace. (TLH 369/LW 363:5)