Theonomy Old and New: A Reformed Baptist Assessment

Theonomy or Christian Reconstructionism has seen a revival in the last decades. Theonomy Old was led by Rousas Rushdoony, Gary North, and Greg Bahnsen. It taught in the words of Bahnsen, “the abiding validity of the Mosaic law in exhaustive detail. Sam Waldron provides an eschatological and ethical critique of theonomy’s postmillennialism and ethical peculiarities and deviation from the Reformed tradition. Tom Hicks takes up the popular phrase characteristic of Theonomy New. Theonomy New speaks of itself as a “general equity theonomy” in an attempt to clothe itself in confessional language. Hicks provides a critique of this phraseology and shows that its intent is neither biblical nor confessional.

Sam Waldron, PhD, serves as professor of Systematic Theology at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Tom Hicks, PhD, is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist of Clinton, Louisiana, serves on the board of directors for Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary (CBTS), and is an adjunct professor for CBTS and International Reformed Baptist Seminary.