Greg Bahnsen – How does the Equity of Old Testament morality apply today?
- 14 August 2017
- Does OT morality address merely ‘Church based’ activity or does it have legitimate application in say the advancement of social (political) justice?
- Of what significance is the slaughter of infants at the time of Jesus’ birth as recorded by Luke?
- What was the source of Pilate’s authority according to Jesus?
- How different/similar is the contemporary ‘evangelical church’ to the Jews of Jesus’ day who chanted, “We have no king but Caesar”?
- Did St Paul accommodate himself to statist government authority (see Acts 17)?
- How (monetarily!) were early/primitive Christian creeds an affront to the Roman authorities?
- What was the significance of the number & signature of the Beast of Revelation?
- What were the TWO characteristics of those who opposed the Beast of Revelation?
- Are WE to have ‘no king but Caesar’?
Bible Reading
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour.
[Rom 13:1-7]
- To what extent are we to exercise ‘conscience’ in our obedience to civil authority?
- Are children ALWAYS to obey their parents? (see Eph 6)
- What interesting TREND among late 20th century evangelicals does Bahnsen identify?
- Why does Bahnsen reference Isaac Watt’s hymn: ‘Joy to the world’?
- Is something of Eden’s curse evident in the political realm?
- Does God call the various kings of the earth to account for the way they governed?
- Are we (Christians) to glorify God in the way that we vote/allow statesmen to influence society?
- Where is God’s will to be found regarding ‘politics, criminality, principles of finance’, etc??
- How should we answer the common objection expressed by many contemporary Christians that, ‘we are New Testament believers, etc’?
- How should we answer the common objection expressed by many contemporary Christians that, e.g.
- we are not under Old Testament Law now!
- only the Ten Commandments are moral aren’t they?
- Why did God give so many other commandments – beyond the 10?
- Do the various OT ‘Case Laws’ contradict the Ten Commandments?
- Has God given us one version of morality in the Ten Commandments & another in the Case Laws?
- If the NT upholds the morality of the 10 Commands, what is the implication for NT endorsement of the Case Laws?
- Does the ‘definition’ of a thing add to the thing itself?
- How is the sin of ‘bestiality’ a helpful referent in assessing NT morality?
- What is the logical conclusion of saying, “We only have to keep the 10 Commandments”?
Alleged arguments against the socio-political requirements of the OT for the NT Christian
- In Gal 3-4, is Paul addressing the Ceremonial Law or the Socio-political laws?
- Which aspect of God’s Law (ceremonial or moral) teaches justification by faith?
- What aspect of God’s Law did the religious leaders of the day glory in?
- How does Walter Chantry err in expositing In Gal 3-4?
- What category of Law is the example Bahnsen references concerning ‘loose axe-heads’?
- Chantry perceives the OT judicial law as ‘harsh’. Do you agree? What was king David’s estimation of it?
- ‘The school master is harsh; the judicial law is harsh therefore the school-master is the judicial law’. What’s wrong (fallacious!) with that argument?
- Some say (e.g. Fowler), ‘the OT judicial laws applicable to just the covenant people of God.’
i.e. They were addressed to the Jews; how is the sin/crime of sodomy pertinent to this pseudo-argument?
- How are Deut 4, Prov 14, Ps 119 & Isaiah Ch 42, Ch 2, Pr 16:12, Ps 2 pertinent to this question?
- WHOSE wrath does the civil magistrate avenge? (Rom 12…..13)
- Whose Law is the civil magistrate to exercise?
- Today & in recent history, are good men consistently vindicated & evil men punished by various humanistic regimes?
- What is implied by (i) the text of 2Thess 2 ‘the man of lawlessness’ (ii) the Beast of Revelation (iii) 1Tim 1:8ff?
- Is there any substantial difference between the law revealed in Nature & the Law of Moses?
- What was the plain significance of the Reformation mural ‘Justice Lifts the Nations’ (see here) painted by Paul Robert?
- Is there something novel/peculiar about ‘Theonomic’ ethics?
