BY THIS STANDARD-Greg L. Bahnsen

[1ofthechosen]

Originally Posted by Esaias

It's not giving up, it's just being realistic. We need to get away from pop psychology messages on "Five Ways To Feel Better About Your Vain Life" and the attitude that we're just hanging in there till we die while the world around us goes to pot. Too much trying to cater to mass appeal. Time to get Kingdom minded and be salt and light to a desperate generation.

Not saying everyone's toast, just saying we're too rich and increased with goods, generally speaking.

I agree with that.

[Amanah]

What a Theonomic society would look like

Life and Liberty

Life would have its utmost protection in a theonomic state. It would be protected both by the state and from the state. Murderers would be executed (Ex. 21:12–14, 18–25; Lev. 24:17, 19–22). Children in the womb would be protected as living persons. Anyone causing injury to an unborn child would be liable for damages (Ex. 21:22–25). Anyone willfully or through criminal negligence causing the death of an unborn child would be considered a murderer and subject to the death penalty. Abortion would, therefore, be strictly outlawed.

People would be strictly liable for the safety of others on their property. Those found negligent would be strictly liable for damages up to and including criminal negligence for life (Ex. 21:29–36; Deut. 22:8). Pets or livestock known to be a threat to life must be controlled as such. If one should cause injury, damages, or death, the owner could be held liable for all damages up to the death penalty (Ex. 21:29–30). The principle of liability in general, and for life in particular, certainly would extend to factory conditions, workplaces, businesses open to the public, machinery, and more.
Under biblical law, freedom is an aspect of life. While a rehabilitaional form of servitude would exist, the type of chattel (ownership) slavery practiced in the American South would never have existed. Kidnapping, human trafficking, and slave trading all would be punishable by death (Ex. 21:16; Deut. 24:7). Likewise, terrorists, hijackers, all hostage-takers, and carjackers who hold people against their will. The slave traders of the Old South (and other places) would have been executed for their crimes. Likewise, the Fugitive Slave Act would never have been allowed. Slaves escaped from unbiblical jurisdictions would never be returned to their enslavers, but given refuge, freedom, and protection of law, and treated like every other citizen (Deut. 23:15–16). Refugees of war or tyranny would receive similar protections.

By these same life-freedom laws, citizens and families would be protected from the state itself. Government agents who seize children from parents, or who otherwise make false arrests or false imprisonments, could be held liable under laws against kidnapping. Police abuse would disappear as such accountability increased. The privacy of the home would be inviolate (Deut. 24:10–11). A man’s home is his castle, and the castle doctrine would return to its earlier strength, uncompromised by loopholes created by the Supreme Court.

Further, life is protected against malicious witness and fraudulent prosecution. Corrupt individuals who wish to harm others under the color of law will nevertheless meet several hindrances. Two or three witness are required to bring any conviction (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). Upon any conviction, the accusers themselves must be the first among parties to an execution (Deut. 13:9; 17:7). Malicious witnesses, however, when discovered, will receive for themselves whatever penalty they wished to execute upon the falsely accused, up to the death penalty (Deut. 19:16–21). This would create a powerful deterrent, which is non-existent today, against false accusations and false prosecutions. Government officials will be held to the same standards as everyone else. Prosecutorial and police immunities would be greatly curtailed if not eliminated.

The laws of warfare maximize the protection of life even during the tragic event of war. Standing armies and military drafts are outlawed. Militias could only be mustered in response to an imminent threat or attack from an enemy. The law provides several exceptions to militia service, including an exception for those who are merely fearful. Anyone perceiving any particular cause to be unjust, and thus anticipating God’s judgment, could decline to serve. This and all other exceptions would not only save conscientious and innocent lives, but would discourage unjust wars. Such conscientious objection would also be considered socially acceptable and even laudable. Only after briefing and allowance for these exceptions would officers be appointed. War proceeds first with attempts at negotiation for peace. If the aggressor refuses peace, war may ensue, but only against military targets. Militias may not target innocents or food or water sources. Upon victory, the nation may extract the costs of warfare from the defeated aggressor (Deut. 20). This means no more lasting debts due to wars, and no more tax increases or inflation to pay for them.

In short, all attempts are made to spare innocent or conscientious life, and warfare is only conducted to repel invaders or attacks. Such laws also entail a foreign policy of non-intervention in general. A theonomic state does not police the world looking for monsters to destroy.

https://americanvision.org/14057/wha...-table-vision/

[Amanah]

Marriage

The government would have little to do with sex or marriage. The state would no longer issue marriage licenses. Marriages would be treated as private contracts. Divorces would be handled through private or church courts. Civil government would only enter the picture if necessary to enforce terms of divorce. The integrity of the marriage bed is protected against all forms of incest (Lev. 18:1–18, 20, 22–24). Homosexual marriage would not be a civil right (Lev. 20:13). Businesses could not be required to cater to homosexual celebrations, pretend weddings. Sexual acts with animals could be grounds for punishment (Ex. 22:19; Lev. 18:23; 20:15–16). Transvestitism, pornography, public nudity or indecency, and prostitution would all be shunned (Lev. 19:29; Deut. 22:5; 23:17). Certainly no government could require businesses or individuals to treat transgenders according to their chosen non-gender upon pain of fines or imprisonment. No-fault divorce and easy divorce would be abolished.

Overall, biblical law aims to uphold the biblical family unit—one man, one woman—and to abhor those forms of perversion that threaten its integrity or stability. There are a significant number of moral laws pertaining to sex and marriage, but few remain with civil government sanction.

https://americanvision.org/14057/wha...-table-vision/

[Amanah]

Property

Some of the most profound improvements would be seen in the areas of property and contracts. First, private property would be a sacred right which would remain inviolate from neighbor, state, and enemy alike.

Punishments for theft would be far more just than our prison system today. In general, the penalty for a convicted thief is restitution. A prison sentence in this light must be considered wholly pagan, unbiblical, and cruel. There is only a slight shade of comparison to what could occur under biblical law, and we’ll cover that in a minute.

More specifically, the standard punishment for theft is double restitution (Ex. 22:4) if the property is recovered. This involves one times the value for replacement of the stolen property, and a second times value as a punitive measure (thus the thief loses exactly what he sought to gain from his victim). If the property is not recovered, the restitution will include any lost production value—four or five times, or possibly more (Ex. 22:1; Prov. 6:30–31). In the rare case a thief comes to his senses and returns the property before he is caught, he is liable only for full restitution plus twenty percent (Lev. 6:1–5).

Thieves who break in during the night or whose actions are otherwise perceived to be life-threatening may be killed in self-defense or home-defense without guilt (Ex. 22:2), but even the lives of thieves are protected when it is clear they are not a threat to life (Ex. 22:3).

What happens if a thief steals only because he is poor and needs only to eat? Even then, Solomon says, restitution must be paid (Prov. 6:30–31). But what if he has no money to pay what is required? This is where the nearest thing to prison—and I hesitate even to place it in the same sentence as that word—appears. It is indentured servitude, often simply translated “slavery” in the Old Testament. The laws for restitution for theft clearly say that if he cannot pay, “he shall be sold for his theft” (Ex. 22:3).

Before we recoil at the thought of modern-day “slavery,” let us stop and consider a couple things. Biblical “slavery” is not slavery in any sense we have understood the word in American history. It is not ownership of a person, has nothing to do with race, protects the rights of the servant, and imposes specific checks and duties upon the custodian. The modern prison system is far closer to American slavery than anything discussed in the Bible. It is this to which we should direct our revulsion.

Modern prisons involve mass incarceration with chains, cages, mass strip searches, mass nudity, gang violence, fights, apathy, haplessness, loneliness, depression, mental illness, waste, sodomy, rampant masturbation, corrupt guards, drug trades (yes, even inside the prisons!), and much more. When a prisoner leaves, he is often a far more hardened criminal, and with more criminal gang connections, than before.

The biblical system, on the other hand, places applicable convicts in truly correctional or rehabilitation programs under custodians (“masters”). They are designed for training in work, discipline, skill, self-confidence, morality, productivity, and community. Private programs similar to this description (though they are few) have far greater success rates than prisons, and prevent recidivism at much higher rates as well.

Under biblical servitude, custodians do have a right to corporal punishment (just as civil governments in general do—Deut. 25:1–3—and parents as well), but are held to strict standards of liability. If a scourging leads to an injury, medical care is the master’s duty and the convict’s right. Any permanent injury, even as slight as a tooth, results in the servant’s freedom from their bonds. When a term of servitude is over, the custodian is required to supply the servant with capital for his future (Deut. 15:12–18).

Biblical penal servitude is similar to modern probation in some ways. Probation involves the loss of certain rights, including the right to bear arms, the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, freedom to travel, the right to serve on a jury, and even the right to vote. The biblical model may or may not include some such things, but it would focus on the more beneficial aspects of training for work, social skills, etc., not provided under standard probation.

Governments must enforce just weights and measures. Cheaters, whether individual, corporate, or governmental, must be convicted as thieves and pay restitution. Governments and banks, especially, may not inflate currency (Deut. 25:13–16). This standard forbids all forms of bribery and lobbying government officials. It also outlaws all forms of government-funded welfare, including corporate welfare. Government confiscation schemes based in “asset forfeiture” laws would be abolished.

All government taxation is theft, and thus, all government-backed redistributions of wealth based in taxation are outlawed. This includes property tax (real and personal), sales tax, income tax, payroll taxes (social security and Medicare), import and export tariffs, transportation and gas tax, all excise taxes, so-called “sin taxes” on tobacco and alcohol, poll taxes, luxury taxes, ad valorem taxes, all license fees and other fees, and value-added tax schemes. And all others. All of them. Gone.

All public services would be privatized and be better off for it. Police, fire, EMT, 9–11 services, roads, bridges, libraries, civic centers, and even hospitals would be either privately funded services, or else donor-based charitable services.

Immigration would be no problem in such a society because all property would be private. There would be no government-owned property, roads, or borders in need of government agents to patrol or build a wall. Private property owners would be in full charge of whom they let on their property, or not, with the right of home defense against intruders. Further, there would be no welfare benefits to incentivize or reward interlopers who wish to seize amnesty even if they would be unwelcomed. In light of this, the immigrant population would be made of only welcomed and/or hardworking guests.

https://americanvision.org/14057/wha...-table-vision/

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Amanah

All government taxation is theft, and thus, all government-backed redistributions of wealth based in taxation are outlawed. This includes property tax (real and personal), sales tax, income tax, payroll taxes (social security and Medicare), import and export tariffs, transportation and gas tax, all excise taxes, so-called “sin taxes” on tobacco and alcohol, poll taxes, luxury taxes, ad valorem taxes, all license fees and other fees, and value-added tax schemes. And all others. All of them. Gone.

All public services would be privatized and be better off for it. Police, fire, EMT, 9–11 services, roads, bridges, libraries, civic centers, and even hospitals would be either privately funded services, or else donor-based charitable services.

Immigration would be no problem in such a society because all property would be private. There would be no government-owned property, roads, or borders in need of government agents to patrol or build a wall. Private property owners would be in full charge of whom they let on their property, or not, with the right of home defense against intruders. Further, there would be no welfare benefits to incentivize or reward interlopers who wish to seize amnesty even if they would be unwelcomed. In light of this, the immigrant population would be made of only welcomed and/or hardworking guests.

https://americanvision.org/14057/wha...-table-vision/

I think the author has not really thought through some of these issues. The absolute abolition of all taxation whatsoever, "privatised roads", and no "borders to be patrolled" seem not only irrational and unworkable, but unscriptural as well.

American Vision, while adhering to basic theonomic ideals, is not quite what I would consider representative of theonomy.

[Esaias]

So, how does all this work out, in the real world?

1. Christians must be conformed to the Word. They must structure, "reconstruct" if you will, their lives to be in accordance with and harmonise with the Word of God, in all areas. They must not only make the Bible the rule for their lifestyle and living, but must also teach their children to do so as well. The goal is to produce a godly family, a family that lives out the Bible. The family "rule book" is the Bible, and Lord willing and the parent's do their job, the children when grown will likewise instruct their families similarly.

2. Churches must be conformed to the Word. They must promote and support families in their endeavors to submit to and be guided by the Word. They must teach it and preach it, and model it in their own sphere. The church must determine things by the Word, rather than by committee vote or popularity contests or one individual's opinion of things. Pastors must determine that THEY aren't in charge, rather God's Word is in charge. And this theonomic worldview must be taught to all the members of the Body, especially new converts. The church has to enjoin Biblical church discipline, handling things the way the Bible lays it out. Preach the Bible, live the Bible, teach the Bible.

3. Christians must understand there is a conflict between God's Kingdom and the secular world. And that God's Kingdom is advancing and is destined for victory. Victory is inevitable. Theonomy is inevitable. That's the attitude we must take when confronted with the world's nonsense. The Kingdom is advanced primarily through spiritual warfare, which as other threads have shown involves the teaching of the WORD. So then Christians individually, and as families, and as communities (churches) must TEACH THE WORLD AROUND THEM what God's Word says about any and all topics. And must demonstrate that they themselves are living the Word, so the world will see that it is not only possible, but actually happening. We must stand for God's Word. A perfect example is the issue of gay marriage. Too often we take the approach that "gay marriage is bad for society" and then give a bunch of reasons. But how many take the bold public position that neither the Supreme Court, nor Congress, nor any state has any LAWFUL AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER to legalise what GOD ALMIGHTY HAS OUTLAWED? We should oppose gay marriage not because of any humanistic or popular "conservative" reasons, but because God has already legislated on the subject! Taking this approach will guarantee that the battle lines are CLEARLY and unmistakably drawn right where they actually are. It will help everyone, on all sides of the issue, to clear the air and get down to brass tacks about what's actually going on in this world.

4. Christians need to understand how demographics actually work. To put it bluntly, you need big families that are thoroughly indoctrinated in the Word of God. Practically ALL of satan's minions currently flushing society down the drain simply do not reproduce. Gays and lesbians? They don't produce children. Liberals? Most "conservatives"? They don't either. They are all below replacement rates. Meaning they are all literally breeding themselves out of existence. Hence, the incessant push for more and more and unlimited immigration. But if Christian families expand, and each pair of parents has at least four children, then by sheer demographics victory is ultimately assured:

Psalms 127:3-5 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. (4) As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. (5) Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Here it is in three simple verses, a Divine program for victory. Have lots of children, they are like weapons that advance the cause of victory, those who have lots of children will contend with the enemies in the gates (the halls of power).

A theonomic reconstruction of the family requires abandoning the unscriptural and self-defeating, nihilistic individualism that has plagued most of society (including the church) for practically a century. It means thinking in terms of not yourself, but your entire family, as a unit.

Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

We should not be spending our life's efforts on getting that RV so we can tour the country in our old age, we should be laying up an inheritance for not only our children but our GRANDCHILDREN. Build your family's power, both spiritually and materially (financially). Your family should become, in time, something to be reckoned with, something that is not at the mercy of the winds of change agents, but something that gets stuff done for God:

Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

God not only makes his covenant available to us, but He wants to "establish" that covenant, and part of how He does that is by granting to His people whatever is needed to enable them to literally replace whatever is opposed to His Kingdom and covenant.

[Amanah]

Originally Posted by Esaias

I think the author has not really thought through some of these issues. The absolute abolition of all taxation whatsoever, "privatised roads", and no "borders to be patrolled" seem not only irrational and unworkable, but unscriptural as well.

American Vision, while adhering to basic theonomic ideals, is not quite what I would consider representative of theonomy.

I agree, I have been pondering American Vision's application and thought it would put our nation at a severe disadvantage in being able to function in regards to trade, defense, and mail delivery.

[Amanah]

Originally Posted by Esaias

So, how does all this work out, in the real world?

1. Christians must be conformed to the Word. They must structure, "reconstruct" if you will, their lives to be in accordance with and harmonise with the Word of God, in all areas. They must not only make the Bible the rule for their lifestyle and living, but must also teach their children to do so as well. The goal is to produce a godly family, a family that lives out the Bible. The family "rule book" is the Bible, and Lord willing and the parent's do their job, the children when grown will likewise instruct their families similarly.

2. Churches must be conformed to the Word. They must promote and support families in their endeavors to submit to and be guided by the Word. They must teach it and preach it, and model it in their own sphere. The church must determine things by the Word, rather than by committee vote or popularity contests or one individual's opinion of things. Pastors must determine that THEY aren't in charge, rather God's Word is in charge. And this theonomic worldview must be taught to all the members of the Body, especially new converts. The church has to enjoin Biblical church discipline, handling things the way the Bible lays it out. Preach the Bible, live the Bible, teach the Bible.

3. Christians must understand there is a conflict between God's Kingdom and the secular world. And that God's Kingdom is advancing and is destined for victory. Victory is inevitable. Theonomy is inevitable. That's the attitude we must take when confronted with the world's nonsense. The Kingdom is advanced primarily through spiritual warfare, which as other threads have shown involves the teaching of the WORD. So then Christians individually, and as families, and as communities (churches) must TEACH THE WORLD AROUND THEM what God's Word says about any and all topics. And must demonstrate that they themselves are living the Word, so the world will see that it is not only possible, but actually happening. We must stand for God's Word. A perfect example is the issue of gay marriage. Too often we take the approach that "gay marriage is bad for society" and then give a bunch of reasons. But how many take the bold public position that neither the Supreme Court, nor Congress, nor any state has any LAWFUL AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER to legalise what GOD ALMIGHTY HAS OUTLAWED? We should oppose gay marriage not because of any humanistic or popular "conservative" reasons, but because God has already legislated on the subject! Taking this approach will guarantee that the battle lines are CLEARLY and unmistakably drawn right where they actually are. It will help everyone, on all sides of the issue, to clear the air and get down to brass tacks about what's actually going on in this world.

[Aquila]

Inner peace is more precious than gold.

[Aquila]

Just live for God in the midst of a fallen world. Seek to keep the church in the truth. We will never be in control of this world until Christ returns. There will be times when this world will seek to get us to compromise or reject what we know to be the truth. In those moments, stand firm in the truth, come what may.

It really isn't rocket science.