Theonomy, from ''theos'' (God) and ''nomos'' (law), is a hypothetical
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
form of government in which society is ruled by
divine law
Divine law is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a transcendent source, such as the will of God or godsin contrast to man-made law or to secular law. According to Angelos Chaniotis and Rudolph F. Peters, divine laws are typically ...
.
Theonomists hold that divine law, particularly the judicial laws of the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, should be observed by modern societies.
The precise definition of theonomy is the presumption that the
Old Covenant
The Mosaic covenant (named after Moses), also known as the Sinaitic covenant (after the biblical Mount Sinai), refers to a covenant between God and the Israelites, including their proselytes, not limited to the ten commandments, nor the eve ...
judicial laws given to Israel have not been
abrogated, and therefore all civil governments are morally obligated to enforce them (including the specific penalties). Theonomy holds that all civil governments must refrain from coercion in areas where Scripture has not prescribed their intervention (the "regulative principle of the state").
Theonomy is distinct from the "theonomous ethics" proposed by
Paul Tillich
Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologi ...
.
Origin
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
held that "if a sovereign were to order these judicial precepts to be observed in his kingdom, he would not sin." Some have mistakenly referred to this as "General Equity Theonomy" but it is in fact distinct from theonomy insofar as Aquinas believed the specifics of the Old Testament judicial laws were no longer binding. He instead taught that the judicial precepts contained varying degrees of universal principles of justice that reflected
natural law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
.
In
Christian reconstructionism
Christian reconstructionism is a fundamentalist Calvinist theonomic movement. It developed primarily under the direction of Rousas Rushdoony, Greg Bahnsen and Gary North and has had an important influence on the Christian right in the United ...
, theonomy is the idea that God provides the basis of both
personal and social ethics in the Bible. Theonomic ethics asserts that the Bible has been given as the abiding standard for all human government – individual, family, church, and civil – and that biblical Law must be incorporated into a Christian theory of biblical ethics.
Some critics see theonomy as a significant form of
dominion theology
Dominion theology (also known as dominionism) is a group of Christian political ideologies that seek to institute a nation which is governed by Christians and based on their understandings of biblical law. Extents of rule and ways of acquiring go ...
, which they define as a type of
theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy origina ...
. Theonomy posits that the biblical law is applicable to civil law, and theonomists propose biblical law as the standard by which the laws of nations may be measured, and to which they ought to be conformed.
Goals
Various theonomic authors have stated such goals as "the universal development of Biblical theocratic republics,"
exclusion of non-Christians from voting and citizenship,
and the application of Biblical law by the state.
Under such a system of biblical law, homosexual acts,
adultery, witchcraft, and blasphemy
would be punishable by death. Propagation of idolatry or "false religions" would be illegal and could also be punished by the death penalty.
More recent theonomic writers such as Joel McDurmon, President of
American Vision
American Vision is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1978 by Steve Schiffman. It operates as a Christian ministry, and calls for "equipping and empowering Christians to restore America’s biblical foundation." The organization ...
, have moved away from this position, stating that these death penalties are no longer binding in the new covenant. Polemicist and theonomy critic, JD Hall, who debated McDurmon in 2015, has argued that abandoning Mosaic penologies such as the death penalty means that McDurmon and others who hold similar positions cannot be said to hold to theonomy in any meaningful way.
According to theonomist
Greg Bahnsen
Greg L. Bahnsen (September 17, 1948 – December 11, 1995) was an American Reformed philosopher, apologist, and debater. He was a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and a full-time Scholar in Residence for the Southern Californi ...
, the laws of God are the standard which Christian voters and officials ought to pursue. Civil officials are also not constrained to literally enforce every biblical law, such as one-time localized imperatives, certain administrative details, typological foreshadows, or those against envy and unbelief. "Rulers should enforce only those laws for which God revealed social sanctions to be imposed."
Relation to Reformed theology
Some in the modern
Reformed churches
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...
are critical of any relationship between the historical Reformed faith and theonomy, while other
Calvinists
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
affirm that theonomy is consistent with historic Reformed confessions.
[Se]
''Theonomic Ethics and the Westminster Confession''
by Kenneth Gentry
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (3 May 1950) is a Reformed theologian, and an ordained minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly. He is particularly known for his support for and publication on the topics of orthodox preterism an ...
, ''The New Puritanism: A Preliminary Assessment of Christian Reconstruction'' by Robert Bowman, Jr.
Theonomy and the Westminster Confession''
by Martin Foulner
''The Theonomic Precedent in the Theology of John Calvin''
by Christopher Strevel, an
by James Jordan, an
by Greg Bahnsen
''Biblical Ethics and the Westminster Standards''
by Dr. W. Gary Crampton
See also
*
Biblical law in Christianity Biblical law refers to the legal aspects of the Bible, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity.
Judaism
* Law of Moses
* Mitzvah, divine commandment
** The Ten Commandments
** 613 commandments
* Seven Laws of Noah, laws applicable to all o ...
*
Christian anarchism
Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answ ...
*
Christian views on the Old Covenant
The Mosaic covenant or Law of Moses which Christians generally call the "Old Covenant" (in contrast to the New Covenant) played an important role in the origins of Christianity and has occasioned serious dispute and controversy since the beginn ...
*
Halachic state
A halachic state ( he, מדינת הלכה, ''Medinat Halakha'') is a Jewish state governed by ''halakha'', Jewish religious law.
Public opinion
An opinion poll released in March 2016 by the Pew Research Center found high support for a halach ...
*
Islamism
Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
*
Kahanism
Kahanism () is an extremist Jewish ideology based on the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League and the Kach party in Israel. Kahane maintained the view that the majority of Arabs living in Israel are enemies of Jews an ...
*
Kinism
Kinism is a white nationalist interpretation of Christianity. The ideology is a "movement of anti-immigrant, ' Southern heritage' separatists who splintered off from Christian Reconstructionism to advocate the belief that God's intended order is 'l ...
*
Law and Gospel
In Protestant Christianity, the relationship between Law and Gospel— God's Law and the Gospel of Jesus Christ—is a major topic in Lutheran and Reformed theology. In these religious traditions, the distinction between the doctrines of ...
*
Macroethics and microethics
Macroethics (from the Greek prefix "makros-" meaning "large" and "ethos" meaning character) is a term coined in the late 20th century to distinguish large-scale ethics from individual ethics, or microethics. It is a type of applied ethics. Macroeth ...
*
Neo-Calvinism
Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into t ...
*
Postmillennialism
In Christian eschatology (end-times theology), postmillennialism, or postmillenarianism, is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring ''after'' (Latin ''post-'') the "Millennium", ...
*
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
*
Theodemocracy
Theodemocracy is a theocratic political system proposed by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. According to Smith, a theodemocracy is a fusion of traditional republican democratic principles—under the Un ...
References
Further reading
;Primary sources by theonomists
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;Secondary sources and criticisms
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External links
What is Theonomy?by
Chalcedon Foundation
The Chalcedon Foundation is an American Christian Reconstructionist organization founded by Rousas John Rushdoony in 1965. Named for the Council of Chalcedon, it has also included theologians such as Gary North, who later founded his own organiz ...
Proof that Modern Theonomy Advocates the Historic Understanding of the Judicial LawComments on an Old-New Errorby
Meredith Kline
Meredith George Kline (December 15, 1922 – April 14, 2007) was an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. He also had degrees in Assyriology and Egyptology.
Academic career
Kline received his AB from Gordon College, Th.B. and Th.M. ...
The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Mosesby
Vern Poythress
Vern Sheridan Poythress (born 1946) is an American philosopher, theologian, New Testament scholar and mathematician, who is currently the New Testament chair of the ESV Oversight Committee. He is also the Professor of New Testament Interpretatio ...
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Far-right politics
Christian reconstructionism
Christian terminology
Dominion theology
Mosaic law in Christian theology
Theocracy