Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/382

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JUSTICIABY COURT. 350 JUSTIN. judges of the Court of Session — viz. the lord president, the lord justice clerk, and five others iippointed l>y patent. Its quorum consists of three judges. It e.ereises an appellate as well as an original jurisdiction and usually sits in Edin- burgh. See CouKT of Se.ssion. JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE. The killing of a luuiiiin creature wiUiout incurring legal guilt, as w iiere a man is duly sentenced to ho hanged; where one, in self-defense, necessarily kills another to preserve his own life, etc. See llo.MICHlE. JUSTIFICATION (I.at. jiislificatio. from justi/iciirr, to justify, from jiisli/icus, acting just- ly, from Justus, just + fuccre, to do). A defense to a civil or criminal action, admitting llie facts alleged in the comjilaint or declaration, but set- ting forth other facts tending to show that the defendant had a legal right to do the acts com- plained of, and that, therefore, the plaintifT never had a good cause of action. Facts con- stituting a legal justification may be pleaded in answer to an nidictment for an alleged crime, as where a person is accused of liomicide (q.v.), and pleads that he committed the act in self- defense; or that he was an olhccr of the peace, and killed the deceased in a reasonable elFort to ])revent his escape. Under the conunon-law sys- tem of pleading and practice, such a plea is said to he by way of 'confession and avoidance.' The facts constituting a legal justification for an act must be fully set forth in an answer, and not alleged as a conclusion of law. Whether a plea of justification can be sus- tained or not depends upon the nature of the action and the substantive law involved. For example, in an action against a street-railroad company for negligently running over the plain- tiff and' injuring him, the defendant cannot plead that it had any legal riglit to do so, even if it can show that defendajit was a trespasser upon its tracks. It might, however, plead contributory negligence on his part, which would be in the nature of an excuse rather than a strict justifica- tion. Pleas of justification are most common in actions for assault and battery, false imprison- ment, libel, slander, and malicious prosecution. .Justification is also employed to denote the proof by sureties on a bond or undertaking that they possess the property qualifications required of them by law. See Answer; Defense; Plea; Pixading": Suretyship. JUSTIFICATION. A doctrine of theology. The Co uil of Trent defines the Roman Catholic doctrine lluis: ".Justification is not remission of sins merely, but also the sanctification and re- newal of tile inward man. through the voluntary reception of the grace and of the gifts, whereby man from unjust becomes just." It thus includes sanctification and is 'infused' righteousness. The distinguishing doctrine of Protestantism is that of justification 'by faith,' which, in the words of the Westminster Confession, is "accounting and accepting their [believers'l per.sons as righteous, not for anything wrought in them or d<me by them, but for Christ's sake alone." The New Testament doctrine is developed by Paul, espe- cially in the Kpistles to the Romans and to the Galatians. The Apostle begins the former Epistle by exhibiting the universality of sin. All men, Jews as well as Greeks, have sinned, and have therefore no ground of acceptance with God upon the basis of righteousness. Works, then, viewed as single holy deeds, performed in obedience to the divine law, and together constituting a llaw- less life, will qualify no one for justification before the bar of God. Hence God provides a righteousness of His own. Kepentant man, exer- cising faith in Jesus Christ, shall he forgiven and treated as if he had olieyed the law perfectly for Christ's sake. He shall be 'declared righteous.' This is justification. The historic Protestant doctrine has a second element besides the forgiveness of the sinner embraced under his justification, viz. the impu- tation to him of the righteousness of Christ. At first this plirase meant only that he was for- given for Clirist's sake; or, technically speaking, the imputation was of the 'passive obedience' of Clirist (the Atonement). In tlic scholastic de- veloimiont of the system, the imputation came to be conceived as that of the 'active oliedience' of Christ, or He was said to have obeyed the law for man, and this obedience, imputed to man, made him righteous before God. In spite of denials, this had too much the appearance of a transfer of moral character, which is psyclio- logically impossible. The idea of the merits of Christ, by which He gained a title to something which He could make over to man. was a further idea, of Catliolic origin, which was inharmonious with the fundamental Protestant principles. And there was a still deeper error inhering in the strongest of the Protestant contentions. All the early reformers were strong determinists in their theory of the will. The holy choice which was wrought in the soul by God was not a work of man at all. because he was passive in it, God being the true agent. Hence 'faith' was in direct antithesis to 'works.' which were conceived as something done by ourselves. !Man wa.s saved bv faitli and not by works, and the most diametrical opposition was supposed to exist between the two. But a better theory of the will has shown that faith, as a c'noice, is an act of the will, in fact the most vital and important act a man can per- form, and that it is essentially holy in its nature. Abraham's faith was imputed to him for righteousness because it was righteousness. Consult: Buchanan, 'flu: Doctrine of Justification (Edinburgh, 1807) ; Cardinal Newman, Lectures on the Doctrine of Justification (.3d ed., Ixindon, 1874) ; Ritschl, Christian Doctrine of Justifica- tion and IfeeoncHiation: Positire Dcretopment of the Doctrine (Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1!)00). JUS'TIN (Lat. Justinus). A Roman histo- ' rian uf whnm almost nothing is knoTi, but he probably lived in the third centurj' A.D. His work. Historiarum Philippicaruni Libri XLIV., is merely .a collection of extracts from the large works of Pompeius Trogus. an historian of the Augustan age. but is of considerable value to us, as the original has perished. The latest edition is that of Ruehl (Leipzig. 1886). JUSTIN, surnamed The Makttb (c.lOO- C.165). A Christian apologist of the second cen- tury, commonly called .Justin Jlartyr. He was bom about 100. in Flavia Neapolis, a Roman city erected on the site of the ancient Shechem, in Samaria. His father, Priscus, was a heathen, and .Justin was educated in the religion of his father. He became an ardent student of the philosophy of his age, beginning with the school of the Stoics, but finally adhering to that of