Gary discusses the need for biblical and worldview teaching and preaching that helps Christians to understand how God’s truth applies and informs every area of life.
Does the Bible have a clear standard of ethical behavior that should be followed by sinners everywhere? Why the need to go to general revelation if the Bible already gives an answer? When you lead someone to Christ, do you point him to general revelation or special revelation? What book did you use for daily devotions this morning? What law have you adopted for the governance of your family? What principles should govern your mind as you enter the voting booth?
Westminster Seminary graduate Kenneth A. Myers has gone so far as to argue that “there is a biblical mandate for not attempting to solve all cultural problems with deductions from Scripture.” What about some cultural problems? The theonomist asks: Wouldn’t it be legitimate to exhaust the Bible of all that it says about answers to “cultural problems” before we lay aside Scripture for the less clear statements of general revelation? He deserves a forthright answer.
My guess is that advocates of a general revelation ethic are viewing general revelation through the corrective lens of special revelation. For them general revelation is clear only because special revelation is clear.
It is one thing to talk about the ethical requirements easily distilled from general revelation, but theonomists are still waiting for someone to demonstrate that this can actually be done. Theonomists often catch general revelation advocates borrowing from the theonomist’s garden, similar to the way humanists borrow from the Christian’s garden. But as our nation moves steadily from an ethic that most Americans recognize as being Bible-based, any ethic based on general revelation will dissipate as quickly as a morning fog vanishes at the appearing of a blazing sun.
Theonomy: An Informed Response
Christendom is a civilization—the kingdom of God in history—that is governed in every area, every nook and cranny, by God: a society whose lawfully anointed rulers govern in terms of God’s revealed law. In this view, God is not in retirement or on vacation; He is a King who has delegated to His officers the authority to exercise command. There are three covenantal institutions: family, church, and state. To deny that God’s covenant law applies to civil government in New Testament times is necessarily to abandon the ideal of Christendom.
Buy NowWhy do Christians go to church every week? Gary discusses the need for biblical and worldview teaching and preaching that helps Christians to understand how God’s truth applies and informs every area of life. No aspect of life is “off limits” to a biblical worldview; all of life is to be claimed for God’s glory.