by Rev. Andrew Sandlin |
Where I Agree |
Where I Disagree |
| A Christian Reconstructionist is a Calvinist. | I would consider myself a "5-point Calvinist." Many 5-point Calvinists do not believe in TOTAL Predestination like Calvin did; I do. I generally applaud Calvin's much-ignored impact on politics. | Calvin urged the persecution of the Anabaptists. I strongly disagree with this policy. |
| He holds to historic, orthodox, catholic Christianity and the great Reformed confessions. | I generally agree with the Creeds. See here, here, here, here, and here. | The Ecumenical Councils which produced the creeds did not consider all the issues that the Church must consider. New Creeds must still be written to address new conflicts. Believers have a right to question the creeds without being called "heretic." |
| He believes God, not man, is the center of the universe and beyond; God, not man, controls whatever comes to pass; God, not man, must be pleased and obeyed. He believes God saves sinners. He does not help them save themselves. | I Totally agree.
Note parallel with the 1st Step of A.A.'s "Twelve Steps." |
No need to qualify anything. |
| A Christian Reconstructionist believes the Faith should apply to all of life, not just the "spiritual" side. It applies to art, education, technology, and politics no less than to church, prayer, evangelism, and Bible Study. | I Totally agree. I see this as the real gravamen of "Theonomy," not the contemporary applicability of any particular Old Testament Law. | |
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| A Christian Reconstructionist is a Theonomist. Theonomy means "God's law." A Christian Reconstructionist believes God's law is found in the Bible. It has not been abolished as a standard of righteousness. It no longer accuses the Christian, since Christ bore its penalty on the cross for him. But the law is a description of God's righteous character. It cannot change any more than God can change. | I consider myself a Theonomist. | Nothing to qualify. |
| God's law is used for three main purposes: First, to drive the sinner to trust in Christ alone, the only perfect law-keeper. Second, to provide a standard of obedience for the Christian, by which he may judge his progress in sanctification. And third, to maintain order in society, restraining and arresting civil evil. | I agree with the first two uses of the law. | I question the real meaning of this "third use" of the law. If individuals are obeying God's Law (use #2) then what "civil evil" is there going to be? |
| A Christian Reconstructionist is a Presuppositionalist. He does not try to "prove" that God exists or that the Bible is true. He holds to the Faith because the Bible says so, not because he can "prove" it. He does not try to convince the unconverted that the gospel is true. They already know it is true when they hear it. They need repentance, not evidence. Of course, the Christian Reconstructionist believes there is evidence for the Faith, in fact, there is nothing but evidence for the Faith. The problem for the unconverted, though, is not a lack of evidence, but a lack of submission. The Christian Reconstructionist begins and ends with the Bible. He does not defend "natural theology," and other inventions designed to find some agreement with covenant-breaking apostate mankind. | ||
| A Christian Reconstructionist is a Postmillennialist. He believes Christ will return to earth only after the Holy Spirit has empowered the church to advance Christ's kingdom in time and history. He has faith that God's purposes to bring all nations, though not every individual, in subjection to Christ cannot fail. The Christian Reconstructionist is not utopian. He does not believe the kingdom will advance quickly or painlessly. He knows that we enter the kingdom through much tribulation. He knows Christians are in the fight for the "long haul." He believes the church may yet be in her infancy. But he believes the Faith will triumph. Under the power of the Spirit of God, it cannot but triumph. | ||
| A Christian Reconstructionist is a Dominionist. He takes seriously the Bible's commands to the godly to take dominion in the earth. This is the goal of the gospel and the Great Commission. The Christian Reconstructionist believes the earth and all its fullness is the Lord's: that every area dominated by sin must be "reconstructed" in terms of the Bible. This includes, first, the individual; second, the family; third, the church; and fourth, the wider society, including the state. The Christian Reconstructionist therefore believes fervently in Christian civilization. He firmly believes in the separation of church and state, but not the separation of the state or anything else from God. He is not a revolutionary; he does not believe in the militant, forced overthrow of human government. He has infinitely more powerful weapons than guns and bombs, he has the invincible Spirit of God, the infallible word of God, and the incomparable gospel of God, none of which can fail. | ||
| He presses the crown rights of the Lord Jesus Christ in every sphere, expecting eventual triumph. | ||