As Rousas Rushdoony asserts: “Every aspect of the Old Testament law still stands, except those aspects of the ceremonial and priestly law specifically fulfilled by the coming of Christ, and those laws specifically re-interpreted in the New Testament.” And again, “It is a serious error to say that the civil law was also abolished, but the moral law retained. In contrast, theonomists assert that because civil laws are situational applications of the moral laws they too carry over through Christ and should guide both the church and the state. While the civil and ceremonial laws pertain exclusively to the theocracy and are no longer binding, the moral law is still in force. ut the moral law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, is inscribed on our consciences by virtue of our being created in the image of God. are similarly “canonical” only as long as the theocracy stands. are obviously in force only so long as the theocracy itself exists.
For example, Michael Horton writes,Ĭivil laws. Many covenant theologians believe the “moral laws” alone (most clearly exemplified in the Ten Words) remain legally binding on Christians today, whereas the “civil” and “ceremonial” laws are time-bound and no longer applicable. Ceremonial laws are those symbolic requirements related to Israel’s religious rituals and cult worship that find their typological end in Christ.
Civil laws relate to Israel’s political and social structures and supply case-specific applications of the moral law in Israel’s context.Moral laws are those fundamental ethical principles that are eternally applicable, regardless of the time or covenant.Historically, Protestants have often made distinctions between three kinds of laws when considering the contemporary importance of Moses’s instruction: It first tackles the tripartite division of the law (moral, civil, and ceremonial) and then critiques three vital tenets for theonomy: its understanding of how Christ fulfilled the law, its understanding of the nature of Christ’s kingdom, and its understanding of church-state relations.ĪSSESSING THE THREEFOLD DIVISION OF THE LAW This article considers theonomy as an alternative proposal to how Moses’s law relates to Christians.
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