In a desperate attempt to support Sola Fide from early Christian sources, some Protestants appeal to Epistle to Diognetus 9:5. Holmes' translation reads as follows:
O sweet exchange! O
unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the
wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteous
of One should justify many transgressors!
The term translated as “exchange” is ἀνταλλαγή.
Note how BDAG defines the term:
ἀνταλλαγή, ῆς, ἡ (Maximus Tyr. 39, 1c v.l.; PCol IV, 100, 12
[III BC]; Hesych.; Simplicius, in Aristot., Phys. 1350, 32: in a definition of ἀντιπερίστασις [interchange], Simplicius explains it as
‘exchange [ἀνταλλαγή] of places made when one body is thrust out
by another’; Theophilus Antecessor [VI AD] 2, 6 p. 281 [ed. OReitz 1751]; other
reff. DGE) exchange
ὢ τῆς γλυκείας ἀ. what
a sweet exchange (from being sinners to righteous people) Dg 9:5.—DELG s.v.
ἄλλος.
Notice “exchange” does not mean “to
declare” or “to impute.” There is something “real” that takes place. When a “body
is thrust out by another,” that is not a mere legal declaration, but a
recognition of an intrinsic reality.
This actually fits the entire theology of
the epistle, not just an isolated “proof-text” from 9:5. On this, see:
The
Epistle to Diognetus vs. Reformed Theology
Furthermore, the use of δικαιοω does not
support justification being merely forensic. On this, see the discussion
of this verb and an interaction with Leon Morris on -οω verbs at:
Refuting
Christina Darlington on the Nature of "Justification"
