Mr. Bultitude
Puritan Board Freshman
Reading WCF chapter 19, it appears that:
Given that, I have some questions:
I know these are a LOT of questions, and I'd be glad to split some into separate threads. They all seem really closely related to me, though, so if you think it's necessary, please help me figure out which ones need to be spun off. Thank you for reading.
- The "moral law" is the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Commandments are the whole of the moral law. The moral law has been in effect since creation as man's obligation in the covenant of works, and is still in effect today.
- The first four of the Ten Commandments can be summed up as, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength," and the latter six can be summed up as, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
- The rest of the commands given through Moses constitute the "civil" and "ceremonial" law, as well as "diverse instructions of moral duties."
Given that, I have some questions:
- Is what I said above accurate?
- I know covenant theology is not explicit (though arguably present) in the 3FU, but are continental beliefs about the tripartite division (specifically regarding the Ten Commandments) similar to that of Westminster? (I don't want to get too far afield, and I know this isn't a Lutheran board, but if someone can also briefly answer this question replacing "continental" with "Lutheran" as a sidenote, I'd be grateful.)
- My understanding of the republication controversy is limited, and I don't want to get too deep into it in this thread (there are loads of other threads that already do, which is great), but my understanding is that it has to do with whether and to what extent the civil and ceremonial laws were a part of the covenant of works from the beginning. Is that correct?
- Would it be proper to say that New Testament regulations about church government and proper worship constitute a "new ceremonial law"?
- In Leviticus 19, "Love your neighbor as yourself" comes right after a section of what seems to be a mix of moral and civil laws (gleaning, stealing, wages, impartiality, and slander) and right before a section of a mix of what's perhaps a mix of all three types of law (cattle breeding, mixing fabrics, illicit sex and the offerings for it, use of fruit trees, diet, tattoos, sorcery, honoring elders and sojourners). If this verse is a distillation of half the moral law, why is it not contained in the Ten Commandments explicitly and instead placed in the context of a jumble of moral, civil, and ceremonial law?
- It would be useful to have some sort of a guide or reference book to say, "Verse X is an example of moral instruction. Verse Y is civil. Verse Z is ceremonial." I realize that a lot of the categorization is self-evident (for instance, laws about sacrifice are ceremonial, those about law courts are civil, etc.), but not all of it is. Why hasn't the church seen any need of such a reference?
I know these are a LOT of questions, and I'd be glad to split some into separate threads. They all seem really closely related to me, though, so if you think it's necessary, please help me figure out which ones need to be spun off. Thank you for reading.