Judicial Warfare: Christian Reconstruction's Blueprints

by Greg Loren Durand

The Christian Reconstruction movement, also known as Theonomy, had its beginnings in 1973 with the publication of Rousas John Rushdoony’s Institutes of Biblical Law. Not long after, Greg L. Bahnsen’s Theonomy in Christian Ethics appeared, followed by numerous works by Gary North, Kenneth Gentry, Gary DeMar, and others. The stated goal of the Reconstructionists is to “apply the Word of God to all areas of life.” However, despite its wide influence and acceptance within some Presbyterian denominations, the theology of the movement departs significantly from the historic Reformed faith on the subject of Old Testament law, merges the Covenant of Works with the Covenant of Grace, and dangerously undermines the nature of the Gospel itself. Himself a former Reconstructionist, the author of this book carefully documents from the published works of the leaders of the movement that Christian Reconstructionism is a modern-day variation of the 2,000-year-old Galatian error. This is an updated and expanded second edition.

299 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Greg Loren Durand has been involved in biblical apologetics since 1986 and has authored several books and articles on both theological and historical subjects.

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Reconstructionist's mantra is "applying the Word of God to every area of life." I heard it hundreds of times from the pulpit as a member of an OPC church which openly embraced the teachings of theonomy and the pastor a graduate of Bahnsen's seminary. This book helped connect so many dots in the theology problems we experienced at this church. This teaching denies the imputation of Christ and His righteousness, so therefore the definition of the Gospel at best is anemic: Christ died, was buried and rose again. (Heard this from the pulpit too)
This book is heavy reading. Only those who have a solid base of normative Reformed theology will understand the dangers presented with theonomy. The author, a former Reconstructionist himself, presents a solid case with footnotes and quotes of original works to explain how the theonomy doctrine deviates from the traditional Reformed Presbyterian view of the Gospel and covenant theology. The first four chapters of the book lay out the historic and biblical Reformed view of the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace. Then he goes on to explain how theonomy redefines the covenants by mixing them together and then how they replace sanctification with obeying the Mosiac (moral-judicial law) law with a works based righteousness. "Sanctification depends on our law keeping in mind, word and deed. The perfection of the incarnate Word was manifested in His law keeping; can the people of His Kingdom pursue their calling to be perfect in any way other than by law keeping?" (Rushdoony p 225) Much emphasis is placed on covenant keeping, but their definition is different.

I would encourage anyone who has been influenced by Vision Forum, Generations with Vision, Federal Vision or OPC to read this book. This book makes a good case to show the doctrinal error of the Federal Vision teaching of justification that also has creeped into Reformed circles. I can clearly attest that the doctrine preached by theonomists is another Gospel and not true Reformed teaching. Several instances are stated where the leaders of this movement outright deny the teachings of the Westminster Confession and redefine the law to mean something the Bible does not teach.

A few quotes to whet the appetite for this book:
"Because of their rejection of the bi-covenantalism of traditional Covenant theology, and their identification of the Adamic covenant with the Covenant of Grace, Theonomists undermine the biblical doctrine of justification through faith alone and prevent the typology of the OT from finding true fulfillment in Christ's covenantal obedience on behalf of His people. Their denial of the Covenant of Works ultimately transforms redemptive history into a program for maintaining God's favor through law keeping. This redefinition of Covenant Theology is most clearly seen in Theonomy's view of the law's role in the life of the Christian." (52)

"If a man disobeys God's law, he has broken covenant with God" (Bahnsen).... This necessarily leads to the conclusion that "obeying the Gospel" is not "resting upon Christ alone for salvation" but obeying the law in order to remain in covenantal relationship with God. (55)

"One of theonomy's flaws is a misidentification of sanctification with righteousness." (56)

"Because Rushdoony and Bahsen both expressly denied that the Mosiac covenant was a republication of the Covenant of Works, it was inconsistent for them to attempt to fit the imputation of Christ's active obedience to the law into their system. Theonomy implies that God has relieved the Christan from the penalty due to his sins because that penalty was suffered by Christ on the cross. There is therefore a negation of punishment, but there is no positive declaration of righteousness; there is a payment of past debts, but no fulfillment of what is required for the promise to take effect. The believer is merely restored to the position of Adam before he sinned and therefore has the law set before him with all its requirements, together with blessings for obedience and cur sings for disobedience. This perversion of the Gospel if directly related to the denial of the Covenant of Works." (66-67)