Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 75:2 (Fall 2013)
Article: Do Bible Words Have Bible Meaning? Distinguishing Between Imputation As Word And Doctrine
Author: Ben C. Dunson

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WTJ 75:2 (Fall 2013) p. 239

Do Bible Words Have Bible Meaning?
Distinguishing Between Imputation
As Word And Doctrine

Ben C. Dunson

Ben C. Dunson is Professor of New Testament at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Fla.

The Protestant definition of justification in terms of imputation is no mere description of biblical teaching for which terminology is lacking in Scripture, as is the case, for example, with the doctrine of the Trinity. Here we are dealing in some measure with the replacement of the biblical categories with other ways of speaking.1

I. Introduction

“The beginning of education is the scrutiny of terms.” So said Epictetus, the first-century Stoic philosopher, citing his hero Socrates.2 Following Socrates’s advice, I propose in this article to put the term imputation under the microscope to see if new light can be shed on the stalemate that has developed over the last decade in evangelical scholarship on this issue. My focus is on the particular features of the debate over imputation that have arisen in evangelical discussion in light of recent trends in mainstream NT scholarship.

The majority of modern biblical scholars do not accept the classic Protestant understanding of imputation. One need only peruse, for example, the treatment of Paul’s use of imputation terms in Rom 4 in the major Romans commentaries published over the last few decades to see evidence of this trend. In actuality, it is not so much that the doctrine of imputation is disputed in recent Pauline scholarship, as that it is usually ignored.3 Yet there are some, such as

WTJ 75:2 (Fall 2013) p. 240

Robert Gundry and N. T. Wright, who have voiced vigorous protests against the doctrine claiming that it simply does not correspond with biblical categories and modes of expression.

The central contention of this article is that recent debates over imputation have largely been exercises in missing the point. This is so because those defending and those disputing the doctrine are not actually talking about the same thing when they talk about imputation. One side is talking about a systematic theological doctrine; the other side, about the meaning of a single word in Paul’s letters. Unless this distinction—as simple as it seems—is clear in the minds of all involved in these debates, confusion is inevitable.

The purpose of this article, then, is to bring clarity to recent debates over the meaning and validity of the classic Protestant doctrine of imputat...

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