# Books about theonomy



## Mayflower (Oct 11, 2005)

Does anyone knows or recommendaton books about theonomy ?


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## Poimen (Oct 11, 2005)

How about Galatians?


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## Saiph (Oct 11, 2005)

"Theonomy in Christian Ethics" by
Greg. L. Bahnsen


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## Mayflower (Oct 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Saiph_
> "Theonomy in Christian Ethics" by
> Greg. L. Bahnsen



Thanks. do you where i can order it ?


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## Saiph (Oct 11, 2005)

http://www.cmfnow.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=15


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## Mayflower (Oct 11, 2005)

Dear Mark,

Iam thinkig to order Theonomy in Christian Ethics (hardback, Bonded Leather) List $40.00 Price $25.00 

Have you or maybe someone else also read these other books from Bahnsen : ?

* By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law for Today 
* No Other Standard
* Theonomy, An Informed Response


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## Saiph (Oct 11, 2005)

The first two on your list come on the CD included with the Hardback if you buy the 25th Anniversary addition.

I have not heard of the third book.


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## Poimen (Oct 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Mayflower_
> Have you or maybe someone else also read these other books from Bahnsen : ?
> 
> * Theonomy, An Informed Response



To make up for my *cryptic* response above, I cannot say I have read the book but I know that it is a response to this book which criticized theonomy:

Theonomy: A Reformed Critique

http://tinyurl.com/cldgx

You can find more information about the debate here:

http://freebooks.entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/2112_47e.htm

[Edited on 10-11-2005 by poimen]


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## crhoades (Oct 11, 2005)

If you can find God and Politics: Four Views for a reasonable price - grab it.

I would start reading By This Standard as it presents the theonomic thesis in the easiest format available.

Do read Theonomy a Reformed Critique if you can lay hold of it.
No Other Standard
Theonomy: An Informed Response
and Westminster's Confession are all responses to the book.

The Shadow Christ in the Law of Moses by Vern Poythress also deals sympathetically with theonomy but still disagrees with it at points.

As far as other critiques of theonomy, the most widely distributed would be Meredith Kline's, Ligon Duncan's, and T.David Gordon's. I don't have time now but the majority if not all of these are available on the web. Otherwise there hasn't been that many full scale treatments of it. Dave Hunt did do a hatchet job called Seduction of Christianity which was responded by Demar and Leitheart in Reduction of Christianity.

A good resource is seminaries. There have been lots of dissertations on it that you can get interlibrary loan. I have a few of those but I know there are more out there.


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## Mayflower (Oct 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by crhoades_
> If you can find God and Politics: Four Views for a reasonable price - grab it.
> 
> I would start reading By This Standard as it presents the theonomic thesis in the easiest format available.
> ...



Dear Chris, thanks!

I have also : Gods Law in the modern world by Gentry.

So what about you, do believe in theonomy ? If not so , can you please explain me why ?
Iam asking this because iam just new with this tpoc, and i like to hear views on the board ?


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## crhoades (Oct 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Mayflower_
> So what about you, do believe in theonomy ? If not so , can you please explain me why ?
> Iam asking this because iam just new with this tpoc, and i like to hear views on the board ?



Yes I hold to it. I've been studying the topic for the last couple of years and am continually buttressed in my belief in it. I say that to say that I am still searching on it as well. There's a part of me that wants to see a devastating critique of it because it isn't the most popular thing in the world.

Just a few exhortations:
To quote Fred Greco: Read Calvin, then read Calvin, then after you're finished, read Calvin again. 
Read the sections in the Institutes on Law and also the Civil Magistrate. Pick up his Sermons on Psalm 119. Read his commentary on the Harmony of the Law. Pick up his sermons on the Ten Commandments or if you're really frisky and like reading Old English and can find it - his Sermons on Deuteronomy.

I think a proper understanding of God's law is important, but you do have to understand it in a systematic and biblical theological framework.

Drink deeply from the wells of the WCF and WLC. The questions on the law in the Larger Catechism are phenomenal.

Understand that Bahnsen titled his book Theonomy _in_ Christian Ethics for a reason. He didn't title it Theonomy _is_ Christian Ethics. He labors this point in his books but in a lot of cases either proponents of theonomy or the detractors fail to keep this in perspective. He also said that not only is there a Normative Perspective (law), there is an existential perspecitve/motive = love, Plus there are consequences/goals of ethics = Glory of God and Neighbor. Most times we don't argue about love or doing things for the right reason but we always want to focus on the detail. Of course that's where the disagreements occur so that's where the discussion will. 

Whatever you do, please read theonomy in charity and show charity in debates/discussions. Too many people have been scathed from both sides.

You can search on this board for a lot of back and forth discussions that will show really quickly where some of the points of contention are.

After all of that, meditate on Psalm 119. If all of the reading and discussion occurs between men that seek to love the law of God, then it would generate more light than heat. This board has been a good example of that. 

Hope this helps...it's almost the same thing I would encourage someone with if they asked about predestination and have never studied it.

[Edited on 10-12-2005 by crhoades]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 11, 2005)

It is very wise to read the actual writings of theonomists and those particular works which have already been cited are worth reading. It is also wise to immerse yourself in the writings of the Reformers and the Puritans, and their heirs, as to the law of God and its application to the state, and to church-state relations. In that regard, I would ditto the recommendation to study Calvin and the Westminster Standards. In addition, I would recommend William Symington's _Messiah the Prince_, Heinrich Bullinger's _Decades_, Samuel Rutherford's _Lex Rex_ and other works in that vein, some of which are identified in this thread and the many other threads on theonomy. I myself am not a theonomist but I am a theocrat. The distinction, I think, is an important one.


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## crhoades (Oct 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> It is very wise to read the actual writings of theonomists and those particular works which have already been cited are worth reading. It is also wise to immerse yourself in the writings of the Reformers and the Puritans, and their heirs, as to the law of God and its application to the state, and to church-state relations. In that regard, I would ditto the recommendation to study Calvin and the Westminster Standards. In addition, I would recommend William Symington's _Messiah the Prince_, Heinrich Bullinger's _Decades_, Samuel Rutherford's _Lex Rex_ and other works in that vein, some of which are identified in this thread and the many other threads on theonomy. I myself am not a theonomist but I am a theocrat. The distinction, I think, is an important one.





Also, this might be _the_ best place to start: Confessions/Catechisms on the Civil Magistrate

Again...God's law as it relates to ethics touches on much more than Civil Magistrate but again, it is usually one of the more contested points. Look to what the Church has confessed and go from there.


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## Romans922 (Oct 11, 2005)

maybe you should give him a list of books not from all one or two authors, but of multiple authors.


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## crhoades (Oct 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Romans922_
> maybe you should give him a list of books not from all one or two authors, but of multiple authors.


? I'm confused...I thought everyone did that?
God and Politics: 4 views = multiple authors
Theonomy a Reformed Critique = multiple authors
Theonomy an Informed Response = multiple authors
and then we mentioned books by:
Poythress, Bahnsen, Calvin, Confessions, Rutherford, Symington, Bullinger, and then I mentioned articles by Duncan, Kline, and Gordon...

I guess if we need to stack up a few more books on this load, go to www.freebooks.com for a ton of books by various authors on this topic or www.chalcedon.edu. 

Another good book written by various authors is Explicitly Christian Politics ed. by Einwechter.

I think we've officially reached overkill now...

[Edited on 10-12-2005 by crhoades]


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## Mayflower (Oct 12, 2005)

> _Originally posted by crhoades_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by Romans922_
> ...



Thanks Chris!


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