The Notebooks of Schubert Ogden

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According to J. W. Baier, "Finis . .. scripturæ utimus est salus nostra; [finis] intermedius [est] fides in Christum" (Schmid: 560).

Baier's distinction is not between "end" and "means," but between "ends," i.e., "ultimate end" and "intermediate end." But if one allows that the significance of Jesus Christ both is and is not constitutive, depending upon whether what he is said to constitute is Christianness (die Christlichkeit) -- of which he is constitutive -- or salvation/ultimate transformation -- of which he is not constitutive -- one might well use Baier's distinction to make the same point I usually make by saying that Jesus Christ is the primal means of salvation. In other words, just as Baier distinguishes between ends -- ultimate and intermediate -- so I distinguish between means -- primal, on the one hand, and primary and secondary, on the other.

In any event, the distinction Baier makes between "our salvation" and "faith in Christ" makes clear that they are not simply the same thing. To this extent, it fits nicely with my reflections on the distinction between media salutis exhibitiva (including the primal medium s. exhibitivum) and medium(a) s. apprehensivum(a).

13 July 1995; rev. 1 February 2002; 24 June 2009

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