Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Antinomian, legalist, or both at once?

One thing that I've noticed as our family goes through the Gospels and Pauline epistles (we're getting around to those of Peter, James, John, and the author of Hebrews of course) is the interesting position of the law,and how when the "Judiazers" oppose Paul (or Peter) on the basis of "the law," they often do not appear to be doing so on the basis of not the written Torah or Pentateuch, but on the "Oral Torah" or commentaries on the books of Moses.  Translated, this means that the opposition isn't directly in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy, but rather in traditions of the Pharisees of the day--many of which appear in today's Talmud.

In the same way, we also find that in enforcing this "Oral Torah," many of the provisions of the written Torah are neglected--a famous example being when our Lord chastised the Pharisees for neglecting their own parents if they gave money to the Temple.  And so it seems that in the "legalism" Paul and Christ rightly decry, there is an element of lawlessness, or antinomianism.

What about today?  Well, there are many who would enforce various extra-Biblical rules on believers--don't drink alcohol, don't use any Bible but the KJV, don't use the KJV, sing only hymns or the metric Psalms, don't sing hymns or the metric Psalms, don't dance, women must wear a skirt or a dress but never pants--but in the application of those extra-Biblical laws, Biblical morality is often neglected.  KJV-only advocates viciously attack their opponents, fellow believers are slandered, and accusations are thrown across 17 centuries of history with no substantive evidence. 

In short, if you're not living according to the Gospel of Christ, you are likely to become both a legalist and an antinomian, ironically.  Given what it takes to become either, this makes sense; whether one begins with works righteousness or a rejection of the moral law of God, one must begin by rejecting the Bible's authority and setting up one's own moral law. Legalism and antinomianism are, in practice, synonymous.

6 comments:

Joanna said...

Confession: I had to look up antinomian. You're right, the two are the same when you put it into practice.

I always found it curious that Jews refer to the Talmud more than the Bible itself.

Once we went to a Baptist church with some friends and they had the most shocking literature, including some on why you were going to hell if you read anything but the KJV. The pastor then badgered and guilted everyone into coming to church that night, since going to church is much more holy than watching the Super Bowl. WHOA! It was stunning. I was raised in the craziness of the Charismatics, but I thought Baptists were just...boring. I guess we all have our hang-ups. We stayed home to watch the Super Bowl.

Steffen said...

Excellent observation. I agree with sticking to the written scriptures in practice, but I wonder...

What does the church (pick your denomination) officially follow in its doctrine and why? Aren't catechisms and creeds somewhat extra-scriptural?

Bike Bubba said...

Steffen; definitely extra-Biblical, but if done correctly, they can serve as a shorthand as to how to correctly interpret Scripture.

Understood incorrectly, yes, absolutely, they become an "oral torah."

Joanna; as a died in the wool Baptist myself, it is my dream that we will become more boring in running away from the kind of nonsense you describe!

Joanna said...

We're going to a Baptist church currently, and they have none of that. I can't figure out what brand of Baptist they were to be subscribing to such extreme views.

Bike Bubba said...

Joanna; you stumbled into a church that is in the "King James Only" wing, which is a distinct minority. Sometimes they're open about it, sometimes not. Sometimes KJO churches don't even mention that they are--they think it's a normal part of Baptist polity, even though Baptists rejected the "Authorized Version" until they removed the Apocrypha in the mid-1700s.

You probably also saw some things advocating a "Trail of Blood" or "Landmark."

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Very interesting point, Bubba, and right on the mark I think. Humans crave the law, but we don't much want to be held accountable to God's law.