Joseph Fitzmeyer on Romans 5:1 ("Having Been Justified")

 

I was pointed out recently to a rather interesting comment from Roman Catholic scholar Joseph Fitzmeyer in his commentary on Romans. For those of you who do not know, Romans 5:1 is often quoted by Protestants in order to support the view that justification is a once-for-all event, rather than some sort of ongoing process, as the Roman church teaches. Roman Catholic apologists have tried to get around this problem many times, however, Joseph Fitzmeyer, a Roman Catholic scholar (not an apologist), says these words when he is commenting on the phrase "having been justified" (particularly the word justified as it is used as an aorist participle):

" 'justified from faith,' expressed by the aor. pass. ptc. , which connotes the once-for-all action of Christ Jesus on behalf of humanity." (Joseph. A. Fitzmyer, Romans, [DoubleDay, 1992], p. 395)

It is unclear what Fitzmeyer means by "Christ Jesus on behalf on humanity" specifically, but the remains is that Fitzmeyer recognizes that this is a once-for-all action/event.