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Antinomianism ( 'against' and νόμος 'law') is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (), or is at least considered to do so. The term has both religious and secular meanings.
In some Christianity belief systems, an antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the point of asserting that the saved are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments. (2025). 9781576076781, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576076781 Christian antinomians believe that faith alone guarantees humans' eternal security in Heaven regardless of one's actions.
The distinction between antinomian and other Christian takes on moral law is that antinomians believe that obedience to the law is motivated by an internal principle flowing from belief rather than from any external compulsion, devotion, or need. Antinomianism has been considered to teach that believers have a "license to sin" and that future sins do not require repentance. Johannes Agricola, to whom antinomianism was first attributed, stated "If you sin, be happy, it should have no consequence."
Examples of antinomians being confronted by the religious establishment include Martin Luther's critique of antinomianism, the Ranters of the English Civil War, and the Antinomian Controversy of the seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay Colony. The charge of antinomianism has been levelled at Reformed, Baptist, and some nondenominational churches.
By extension, the word "antinomian" is also used to describe views in religions other than Christianity:
The term antinomianism was coined by Martin Luther during the Reformation to criticize extreme interpretations of the new Lutheran soteriology. In the 18th century, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist tradition, severely attacked antinomianism.
(2025). 9781171081746, Gale Ecco, Print Editions. ISBN 9781171081746
According to some Christian denominations, moral laws (as opposed to civil or ceremonial laws) are derivative of what St. Paul indirectly refers to as natural law (Rm 2.14–15). According to this point of view, the Mosaic law has authority only insofar as it reflects the commands of Christ and the natural law. Christian sects and theologians who believe that they are less constrained by laws than critics consider customary are often called "antinomian" by those critics. Thus, classic Methodist commentator Adam Clarke held, "The Gospel proclaims liberty from the ceremonial law, but binds you still faster under the moral law. To be freed from the ceremonial law is the Gospel liberty; to pretend freedom from the moral law is Antinomianism."
Marcion of Sinope was the founder of Marcionism which rejected the Hebrew Bible in its entirety. Marcion considered the God portrayed in the Bible to be a lesser deity, a demiurge, and he claimed that the law of Moses was contrived. Such deviations from the moral law were criticized by proto-orthodox rivals of the Gnostics, who ascribed various aberrant and licentious acts to them. A biblical example of such criticism can be found in , which criticizes the Nicolaism, possibly an early Gnostic sect.
Upon hearing that he was being charged with the rejection of the Old Testament moral law, Luther responded: "And truly, I wonder exceedingly, how it came to be imputed to me, that I should reject the Law or Ten Commandments, there being extant so many of my own expositions (and those of several sorts) upon the Commandments, which also are daily expounded, and used in our Churches, to say nothing of the Confession and Apology, and other books of ours." This edition of Luther's treatise is excerpted from:
In his "Introduction to Romans," Luther stated that saving faith is, from
The Lutheran Churches teach that God rewards good works done by Christians; the Apology of the Augsburg Confession teaches: "We also affirm what we have often said, that although justification and eternal life go along with faith, nevertheless, good works merit other bodily and spiritual rewards and degrees of reward. According to 1 Corinthians 3:8, ‘Each will receive his wages according to his labor.’"
The Lutheranism label antinomianism as a heresy. (2017). 9781351996075, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351996075
In contrast, Philipp Melanchthon urged that repentance must precede faith and that knowledge of the moral law is needed to produce repentance. He later wrote in the Augsburg Confession that repentance has two parts. "One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake, sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from terrors."
Shortly after Melanchthon drew up the 1527 Articles of Visitation in June, Agricola began to be verbally aggressive toward him, but Martin Luther succeeded in smoothing out the difficulty at Torgau in December 1527. However, Agricola did not change his ideas and later depicted Luther as disagreeing with him. After Agricola moved to Wittenberg, he maintained that the law must be used in the courthouse but it must not be used in the church. He said that repentance comes from hearing the good news only and does not precede but rather follows faith. He continued to disseminate this doctrine in books, despite receiving various warnings from Luther.
Luther, with reluctance, at last, believed that he had to make a public comment against antinomianism and its promoters in 1538 and 1539. Agricola apparently yielded, and Luther's book Against the Antinomians (1539) was to serve as Agricola's recantation. This was the first use of the term Antinomian. But the conflict flared up again, and Agricola sued Luther. He said that Luther had slandered him in his disputations, Against the Antinomians, and in his On the Councils and Churches (1539). But before the case could be brought to trial, Agricola left the city, even though he had bound himself to remain at Wittenberg, and moved to Berlin where he had been offered a position as preacher to the court. After his arrival there, he made peace with the Saxons, acknowledged his "error", and gradually conformed his doctrine to that which he had before opposed and assailed. He still used such terms as gospel and repentance in a different manner from Luther's.
As a result, the Book of Concord rejects antinomianism in the last confession of faith. The Formula of Concord rejects antinomianism in the fifth article, On the Law and the GospelSee the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, article five, Law and Gospel and in the sixth article, On the Third Use of the Law.See the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, article six, On the Third Use of the Law
However, a number of seventeenth-century English writers in the Reformed tradition held antinomian beliefs. None of these individuals argued that Christians should not obey the law. Instead, they believed that believers would spontaneously obey the law without external motivation. Antinomianism during this period is likely a reaction against Arminianism, as it emphasized free grace in salvation to the detriment of any participation on the part of the believer. John Eaton () is often identified as the father of English antinomianism. Tobias Crisp (1600–1643), a Church of England priest who had been Arminian was later accused of being an antinomian.Granger, J. (1769). A Biographical History of England, from Egbert the Great to the Revolution: Consisting of Characters Disposed in Different Classes, and Adapted to a Methodical Catalogue of Engraved British Heads. Intended as an Essay Towards Reducing Our Biography to System, and a Help to the Knowledge of Portraits. Interspersed with Variety of Anecdotes, and Memoirs of a Great Number of Persons. With a Preface. United Kingdom: T. Davies. He was a divisive figure for English , with a serious controversy arising from the republication of his works in the 1690s.Barry H. Howson, Erroneous and Schismatical Opinions: The Questions of Orthodoxy Regarding the Theology of Hanserd Knollys (c. 1599–1691) (2001), p. 158. Also lesser known was John Saltmarsh (priest).
From the latter part of the 18th century, critics of Calvinists accused them of antinomianism. Such charges were frequently raised by Arminian Methodists, who subscribed to a synergistic soteriology that contrasted with Calvinism's monergistic doctrine of justification. The controversy between Arminian and Calvinistic Methodists produced the notable Arminian critique of Calvinism: Fletcher's Five Checks to Antinomianism (1771–75).
The consider antinomianism to be a heresy.
The apostles and elders met at Jerusalem, and after a spirited discussion, their conclusion, later called the Apostolic Decree, possibly a major act of differentiation of the Church from its Jewish roots Jewish Encyclopedia: Baptism: "According to rabbinical teachings, which dominated even during the existence of the Temple (Pes. viii. 8), Baptism, next to circumcision and sacrifice, was an absolutely necessary condition to be fulfilled by a proselyte to Judaism (Yeb. 46b, 47b; Ker. 9a; 'Ab. Zarah 57a; Shab. 135a; Yer. Kid. iii. 14, 64d). Circumcision, however, was much more important, and, like baptism, was called a "seal" (Schlatter, Die Kirche Jerusalems, 1898, p. 70). But as circumcision was discarded by Christianity, and the sacrifices had ceased, Baptism remained the sole condition for initiation into religious life. The next ceremony, adopted shortly after the others, was the imposition of hands, which, it is known, was the usage of the Jews at the ordination of a rabbi. Anointing with oil, which at first also accompanied the act of Baptism, and was analogous to the anointment of priests among the Jews, was not a necessary condition." (the first being the idea that Jesus was the messiahMcGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction, Blackwell Publishing,(2006), , Page 174: "In effect, they Jewish seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief – that Jesus was the Messiah. Unless males were circumcised, they could not be saved ()."), was recorded in :
Beginning with Augustine of Hippo, Contra Faust, 32.13 many have seen a connection to Noahide Law, while some modern scholarsFor example: Joseph Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries), Yale University Press (2 December 1998), , chapter V reject the connection to Noahide Law and instead see Lev 17–18 as the basis.
James sets out a preliminary list of commands which Gentiles should obey. Gentiles were not required to be circumcised but were required to obey the four beginning requirements to be part of the larger congregation. This passage shows that the remainder of the commandments would follow as they studied "Moses" in the Synagogues. If Gentiles did not follow this reduced requirement, they risked being put out of the Synagogue and missing out on a Torah education (in and ). James's list still includes some dietary commands, but many of those also passed out of some Christian traditions quite early. describes the following vision, which was used to excuse early gentile Christians from the Mosaic dietary laws.
Peter was perplexed about the vision in Acts 10. His subsequent explanation of the vision in Acts 11 gives no credence to antinomianism as it relates to the admission of Gentiles into covenant relationship with God.
Though the Apostolic Decree is no longer observed by many Christian denominations today, it is still observed in full by the Greek Orthodox. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church also preserves many Judaic customs.
In the Letter to the Hebrews (), it is written that under the Old Testament Law, priests had to be from the tribe of Levi, Aaron, and his sons:
It is pointed out that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, and thus Jesus could not be a priest under the Old Testament Law, as Jesus is not a descendant of Aaron. It states that the Law had to change for Jesus to be the High Priest: "For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law." (Hebrews 7:12)
Paul used the term freedom in Christ, for example, . Some understood this to mean "lawlessness" (i.e. not obeying Mosaic Law). For example, in , Paul is accused of "persuading ... people to worship God in ways contrary to the law."
In Acts 21, James the Just explained his situation to Paul:
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul says,
Some cite : "And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." states twice that believers are not under the law: Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." and Romans 6:15 "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (KJV)
In Galatians 3, Paul describes the Galatians as "foolish" for relying on being observant to the Law:
He goes on to say that the purpose of the Law was to lead people to Christ, so once people believe in Christ, they are no longer under the Law:
In , Paul compares the Old Covenant with the New Covenant. In this comparison, he equates each covenant with a woman, using the wives of Abraham as examples. The old covenant is equated with the slave woman, Hagar, and the new covenant is equated with the free woman Sarah (). He concludes this example by saying that we are not children of the slave woman, but children of the free woman. In other words, we are not under the old covenant, we are under the new covenant.
Also cited is : "He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace," NRSV. Another passage cited is , especially Romans 7:4 "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." and Romans 7:6 "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." KJV
The first covenant (made with Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament) is compared with the new covenant in . In Hebrews 8:6–7: "But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another." It goes on to say that the problem with the first covenant was with the people who were supposed to keep it and that in the new covenant: "I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
The first covenant was said to be obsolete, and would soon disappear: "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." . It identifies the first covenant which is disappearing in . Particularly the "stone tablets of the covenant" in Hebrews 9:4 referred directly to the Ten Commandments.
However, the notion that the Ten Commandments have been abrogated, as found in New Covenant Theology, is challenged by some. In Defense of the Decalogue: A Critique of New Covenant Theology, Richard Barcellos, Founder's Press, 2001. Barcellos is an associate professor of New Testament Studies at the Midwest Center for Theological Studies.
Some scholars consider Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (particularly the Antitheses) to be an antitype of the proclamation of the Ten Commandments or Mosaic Covenant by Moses from the Biblical Mount Sinai.
The Jewish Encyclopedia article on "Gentile: Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah" notes the following reconciliation: "Rabbi Emden, in a remarkable apology for Christianity contained in his appendix to "Seder 'Olam,"Emden, R. "Appendix to "Seder 'Olam," pp. 32b–34b, Hamburg, 1752 gives it as his opinion that the original intention of Jesus, and especially of Paul, was to convert only the Gentiles to the seven moral laws of Noah and to let the Jews follow the Mosaic law — this explains the apparent contradictions in the New Testament regarding the laws of Moses and the Sabbath."
The Tübingen school of historians founded by F. C. Baur holds that in Early Christianity, there was a conflict between Pauline Christianity and the Jerusalem Church led by James the Just, Simon Peter, and John the Apostle, the so-called "Jewish Christians" or "Pillars of the Church." Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. James the Less": "Then we lose sight of James till St. Paul, three years after his conversion (A.D. 37), went up to Jerusalem. ... On the same occasion, the "pillars" of the Church, James, Peter, and John "gave to me (Paul) and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision" (Galatians 2:9)." In many places Paul writes that he was an observant Jew and that Christians should "uphold the Law" (). In , part of the Incident at Antioch, Catholic Encyclopedia: Judaizers see section titled: "THE INCIDENT AT ANTIOCH" Paul publicly accused Peter of judaize. Even so, he says sins remain sins and upholds by several examples the kind of behaviour that the church should not tolerate (e.g., , ). In he cites Jesus' teaching on divorce ("not I but the Lord") and does not reject it, but goes on to proclaim his own teaching ("I, not the Lord"), an extended counsel regarding a specific situation which some interpret as conforming to what the Lord said. But, this may mean he received direct knowledge of what the Lord wanted him to teach through the Holy Ghost ().
James also wrote: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker." . One interpretation is that people who want to keep the Old Testament Law must perfectly keep all of the Law—"an impossible task." James appeals to his readers to follow the "Royal Law of Love" instead of in the preceding verses (James 2:8–9). But the scholar Alister McGrath says that James was the leader of a Judaizing party that taught that Gentiles must obey the entire Mosaic Law.McGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction, Blackwell Publishing (2006). , p. 174: "Paul notes the emergence of a Judaizing party in the region – that is, a group within the church which insisted that Gentile believers should obey every aspect of the law of Moses, including the need to be circumcised. According to Paul reference, the leading force behind this party was James ... the brother of Jesus ..."
Paul made a statement that appears to agree with James, saying that "both" faith produced as a result of repentance (the initial requirement for justification) "and" works (the evidence or proof of true faith) must exist together:
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus' disciples were picking grain for food on the Sabbath (). This was against one of the Pharisaic laws that had been added to the original Torah law which prohibited work on the Sabbath day. When the Pharisees challenged Jesus over breaking their law, he pointed to Biblical precedent and declared that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath". Some claim Jesus rejected complete adherence to the Torah. Most scholars hold that Jesus did not reject the law, but directed that it should be obeyed in context. E. P. Sanders notes, "No substantial conflict existed between Jesus and the Pharisees with regard to Sabbath, food, and purity laws. ... The church took some while to come to the position that the Sabbath need not be kept, and it is hard to think that Jesus explicitly said so."E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism, 1985 SCM Press , pp. 264–69. There may be passages where the words of Jesus have been misinterpreted and were not really in contradiction with the Jewish law. "New Testament: Misunderstood Passages", Jewish Encyclopedia Jesus never once broke the Torah, yet he did denounce the added Pharisaic rules and openly defied the Pharisees.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is sometimes said to refer to wicked people with the term ergazomenoi tēn anomian (ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομἰαν)—e.g., , . Due to this negative context, the term has almost always been translated as "evildoers", although it literally means "workers of lawlessness". A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Bauer, Gingrich, Danker; Young's Literal Translation: "ye who are working lawlessness"; New American Standard Bible: "You who practice lawlessness"; NKJV: "you who practice lawlessness". In Hebrew, lawlessness would imply "Torahlessness". Matthew appears to present Jesus as equating wickedness with encouraging antinomianism. Scholars view Matthew as having been written by or for a Jewish audience, the so-called Jewish Christians. Several scholars argue that Matthew artificially lessened a claimed rejection of Jewish law so as not to alienate his intended audience. But, Jesus called for full adherence to the commandments () He declared: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Neviim; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (). A parallel verse to is .
Actions, behavior, or beliefs that are considered to violate any or all of these four sources — primarily in matters of religion — can be termed "antinomian". Depending on the action, behavior, or belief in question, a number of different terms can be used to convey the sense of "antinomian": shirk ("association of another being with God"); bidʻah ("innovation"); Kafir ("disbelief"); Haram ("forbidden"); etc.
As an example, the 10th century Sufi mystic al-Hallaj was executed for shirk for, among other things, his statement Anal Haq (أنا الحق), meaning "I am the Truth". As الحق al-Ḥaqq ("the Truth") is one of the Names of God in Islam, this would imply he was saying: "I am God."Pratt 72 Expressions like these are known as shath. Another individual who has often been termed antinomian is Ibn Arabi, a 12th and 13th-century scholar and mystic whose doctrine of Sufi metaphysics ("unity of being") has sometimes been interpreted as being Pantheism, and thus shirk.Chittick 79
Apart from individuals, entire groups of Muslims have also been called antinomian. One of these groups is the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa, who have always had strong Millenarianism tendencies arising partly from persecution directed at them by Sunnīs. Influenced to a certain extent by Gnosticism,See, for example, the Ismāʿīlīs developed a number of beliefs and practices—such as their belief in the imamatte and an esoteric exegesis of the Qurʾān—that orthodox Sunnī Muslims considered being shirk and, hence, to be seen as antinomian.Daftary 47; Clarence-Smith 56 Certain other groups that evolved out of Shīʿah belief, such as the AlawitesBar-Asher & Kofsky, 67 ff. and the Bektashi Order,Schimmel 338 have also been considered antinomian. The Bektashis, particularly, have practices that diverge from conventional Islamic practice, such as the consumption of alcoholic beverages, the non-wearing of the hijab ("veil") by women, and gathering in the cemevi in preference to the mosque.Weir " Differences Between Bektashism and Islamic Orthodoxy "
The psychologist Nathan Adler defined the "antinomian personality type" as "manifested by one whose frame of reference is threatened or has been disrupted. He suffers from a breakdown in the balance of his control and release mechanisms and from the permeability of his body boundaries."
In his study of late-20th-century western society, The Age of Extremes, the historian Eric Hobsbawm used the term in a sociological sense.
Second antinomian controversy
The antinomian doctrine, however, was not eliminated from Lutheranism. Melanchthon and those who agreed with him, called Philippists, were checked by the Gnesio-Lutherans in the Second Antinomian Controversy during the Augsburg Interim. The Philippists ascribed to the Gospel alone the ability to work repentance, to the exclusion of the law. They blurred the distinction between Law and Gospel by considering the Gospel itself to be a moral law. They did not identify Christ's fulfillment of the law with the commandments which humans are expected to follow.
Reformed views
The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England (revised and altered by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, in 1643) condemns antinomianism, teaching that "no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral. By the moral law, we understand all the Ten Commandments taken to their full extent." The Westminster Confession, held by Presbyterian Churches, holds that the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments "does forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof". The Westminster Confession of Faith further states: "Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love."
Methodist views
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist tradition, harshly criticized antinomianism, considering it the "worst of all heresies". He taught that Christian believers are bound to follow the Ten Commandments and that they are to partake in the means of grace for their sanctification. (2013). 9780810878945, Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810878945 Methodists teach the necessity of following the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments, citing Jesus' teaching, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (cf. John 14:15).
Quaker views
Religious Society of Friends were charged with antinomianism due to their rejection of a graduate clergy and a clerical administrative structure, as well as their reliance on the Spirit (as revealed by the Inner Light of God within each person) rather than the Scriptures. They also rejected civil legal authorities and their laws (such as the paying of tithes to the State church and the swearing of oaths) when they were seen as inconsistent with the promptings of the Inner Light of God.
Antinomian charges against other groups
Other Protestant groups that have been accused of antinomianism include the and . The of 17th century England were one of the most outright antinomian sects in the history of Christianity. New Covenant Theology has been accused of antinomianism for their belief that the Ten Commandments have been abrogated, but they point out that nine of these ten are renewed under the New Covenant's Law of Christ. The Law, the Gospel, and the Modern Christian: Five Views, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993. , also republished as Five Views on Law and Gospel, page 343: "The entire Mosaic law comes to fulfillment in Christ, and this fulfillment means that this law is no longer a direct and immediate source of, or judge of, the conduct of God's people. Christian behavior, rather, is now guided directly by "the law of Christ". This "law" does not consist of legal prescriptions and ordinances, but of the teaching and example of Jesus and the apostles, the central demand of love, and the guiding influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.", page 376: "The content of all but one of the Ten Commandments are taken up into "the law of Christ", for which we are responsible. (The exception is the Sabbath commandment, one that Heb. 3–4 suggests is fulfilled in the new age as a whole.)" John Eaton, a leader in the antinomian underground during the 1630s, interpreted Revelation 12:1 with a quote recorded by Giles Firmin: "I saw a Woman Clothed with the Sun That and the Moon, that under her Feet." Scholars have speculated that the "sun" and "light" may have been code-words used to surreptitiously reveal antinomian sympathies. Sects such as the Ranters and Christian Science were accused of teaching that sin was nonexistent while New England Theology was accused of teaching that sin was beneficial.
Biblical law in Christianity
The question of the obligation to follow the Mosaic Law was a point of contention in the Early Christian Church. Many early converts were Greek and thus had less interest in adherence to the Law of Moses than did the earliest Christians, who were primarily Jewish and already accustomed to the Law.Fossum,, Thomson Learning, 2004 Thus, as Christianity spread into new cultures, the early church was pressured by Judaizers and Pharisees to decide which laws were still required of Christians, and which were no longer required under the New Covenant. The New Testament, (especially the book of Acts) is interpreted by some as recording the church slowly abandoning the "ritual laws" of Judaism, such as circumcision, Biblical Sabbath and kosher law, while remaining in full agreement on adherence to the "divine law", or Jewish laws on morality, such as the Ten Commandments. Thus, the early Christian church incorporated ideas sometimes seen as partially antinomian or parallel to Dual-covenant theology, while still upholding the traditional laws of moral behavior.
Supporting Pauline passages
The Apostle Paul, in his Pauline Epistles, says that believers are saved by the unearned grace of God, not by good works, "lest anyone should boast",Ephesians 2:8-9 and placed a priority on orthodoxy (right belief) before orthopraxy (right practice). The soteriology of Paul's statements in this matter has long been a matter of dispute. In modern Protestant orthodoxy, this passage is interpreted as a reference to justification by trusting Christ.
is sometimes presented as proof of Paul's antinomistic views. For example, the [[NIV]] translates these verses: "... he forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." But, the [[NRSV]] translates this same verse as: "... he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross." This latter translation makes it sound as though it is a ''record of trespasses'', rather than ''the Law itself'', that was "nailed to the cross." The interpretation partly depends on the original Greek word χειρόγραφον which, according to Strong's G5498, literally means "something written by hand;" it is variously translated as "the bond" (RSV, NAB), "written code" (NIV), or "record" (ESV, NRSV, CEB), as in a record of debt.
is sometimes translated: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (KJV), or "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes" (NRSV). The key word here is ''telos'' (Strong's G5056). Robert Badenas argues that ''telos'' is correctly translated as goal, not end, so that Christ is the ''goal'' of the Law.Badenas, Robert (1985). ''Christ the End of the Law, Romans 10.4 in Pauline Perspective''. Sheffield (UK): JSOT Press. N. T. Wright in his ''New Testament for Everyone'' translates this verse as: "The Messiah, you see, is the goal of the law, so that covenant membership may be available for all who believe."Wright, N. T. (2011). ''The New Testament for Everyone''. London: SPCK. [[Andy Gaus]]' version of the New Testament translates this verse as: "Christ is what the law aims at: for every believer to be on the right side of [God's] justice."''Unvarnished New Testament'', 1991,
Opposing Pauline passages
Those who oppose antinomianism invoke Paul as upholding obedience to the law: Law and Grace
Theology
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) article on "Judaizers" notes: "Paul, on the other hand, not only did not object to the observance of the Mosaic Law, as long as it did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentiles, but he conformed to its prescriptions when occasion required (). Thus he shortly after the Council of Jerusalem circumcised Saint Timothy (), and he was in the very act of observing the Mosaic ritual when he was arrested at Jerusalem ( sqq.)."
Paul versus James
The Epistle of James, in contrast, states that we are to obey the Law of God and that "a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (). Historically, this statement has been difficult for Protestants to reconcile with their belief in Sola Fide as it appears to contradict Paul's teaching that works don't justify (Romans 4:1–8). Martin Luther, believing that his doctrines were refuted by James's conclusion that works also justify, suggested that the Epistle might be a forgery, and relegated it to an appendix in his Bible. Literature which discusses this includes the article on James 2:20 in Law and Gospel. , , and Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.
"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." Acts 26:19–20 (NIV)
Jesus
The Torah prescribes the death penalty for desecrating the Sabbath by working (). To avoid any possibility of breaking the simple and few original Torah commands, the Pharisees formulated and added several thousand strict laws and numerous traditions which they treated as laws. According to the Christians, Jesus criticized the Pharisees for adding to the law (). The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus notes:
"Jesus, however, does not appear to have taken into account the fact that the Halakah was at this period just becoming crystallized, and that much variation existed as to its definite form; the disputes of Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai were occurring about the time of his maturity." "Jesus", Jewish Encyclopedia
states: "Everyone who commits [[sin]] is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness."
Islamic antinomianism
In Islam, the law — which applies not only to religion, but also to areas such as politics, banking, and sexuality — is called Sharia (شريعة), and traditionally draws from four primary sources:
Nonreligious antinomianism
George Orwell was a frequent user of "antinomian" in a secular (and always approving) sense. In his 1940 essay on Henry Miller, "Inside the Whale", the word appears several times, including one in which he calls A. E. Housman a writer in "a blasphemous, antinomian, 'cynical' strain", meaning defiant of arbitrary societal rules.
See also
Footnotes
Sources
External links
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