If I had dollar for every time a young man asked me about the tradition known as theonomy, or general equity theonomy, I think I could be living on a beach in Hawaii by now. 😉
By the grace of God, several years ago men spoke truth in my life via social media and challenged my proclamation that I was a Confessional (Second London Baptist Confession) Christian and concurrently held to theonomy. Again, I was challenged in my position and not just pushed to the side as someone who was ignorant and didn’t know what I was talking about. But the truth is that I was ignorant, I was foolish, and my claims were not consistent with the Scriptures or the confession of faith I claimed to subscribe to.
I want to attach a few helpful resources that speak truth into the theonomy and general equity theonomy traditions. In my experience, many times theonomy is held by younger Christian men who have a passion to see the world change for Christ. This isn’t a bad thing in itself. In fact, this movement attracts many other young Christians to “get to work” to build Christ’s kingdom in the here and now. This tradition is often tied to the historic post millennial eschatological position. While one could be post millennial and not hold to theonomy, one likely couldn’t hold to theonomy without being a post millennial. These Christian’s often feel that the church is not doing enough, speaking enough, and giving up too much to the secular that doesn’t belong to them. This tradition attempts to use the Old Testament civil laws given only to the nation of Israel, to force on pagan nations today to somehow grow His Kingdom. In other words, they flatten out the Law of God and use it as a weapon that would one day produce a victorious church to our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Again, it sounds very attractive from the onset, but the results of the tradition often lead the people of God astray, and treat Gods law in an unbiblical manner that will have its consequences.
If you have any questions about this tradition, or perhaps, know of a church, pastor, friend, etc., who is leading others into this tradition, please take a look at these well written articles and podcast put together by a respected pastor who has taken the time to work through these potentially dangerous traditions.
Is general equity theonomy a confessional and biblical doctrine?
Theonomy and Baptists With Tom Hicks—The London Lyceum Podcast
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