Saturday, March 23, 2013

Theonomy Explained??? Intro. (Part 1)

     I have been to many different churches over the years, and I have met different pastors who love the Lord yet hate theonomy, or don't care for it.
     As I have continued in my own personal studies of ethics and epistemology, I have come to realize why, to a certain extent, that this is the case. One of the reasons, among many, is that there is a caricature of theonomy that still is out there, and also, another big reason, is that people are simply absolutely unwilling to submit their entire mind and worldview to God.
     I say this second point because this seems to be the most natural conclusion given how our churches do not really emphasize our entire Christian worldview to be under God.
     I have heard of cases (and have experienced them myself) where Christians, who are very Biblically informed otherwise, start getting irritated looks and very dismissive when someone (such as I) starts discussing about attempting to bring up the Bible to address social issues, and how the Bible should be applied to the civil magistrate today.
     Of course everyone is going to not agree on everything. But I would like to see those against theonomy to see the intent behind why theonomists are doing what they are doing. It really is an attempt to be consistent with the ethical standards found in the Bible, and trying to have our worldview informed and literally to take every thought, deed, word and action to Christ. As a side note, I also have seen non-theonomists look down upon theonomists for "obsessing" over culture wars and societal sins etc... And in the non-theonomists eyes, these culture wars are usually relegated to the issue of "secondary" importance. Why waste so much time and effort on matters that don't involve salvation and that people have "liberty" on?
     I think that this is perhaps misunderstanding the nature of the effort. Is it an issue of primary salvation for the believer if he doesn't actively speak out about societal sexual immorality? No. But, that is not how one with a worldview approach should be looking at these sorts of issues. One with a worldview approach sees all issues, big and small, and attempts to do the loving thing by honoring Christ in effecting change in their own hearts, and by loving his neighbor in wanting to bring about that positive (law of God abiding) societal change. Is it actually sinful to want to have an orderly society? Is it actually sinful to want to have a society in which the ability to spread the gospel is facilitated rather than hindered?
     I think that perhaps some explanations and quick background into theonomy will help shed some light (as if it hasn't already been done on the Internet ad nauseum.. Ha!!).. In the next part, I will explain define theonomy.
     




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