The Institutes of Biblical Law, vol. 3: The Intent of the Law
Overview
God's law is much more than legal code. It is covenantal law. It establishes a personal relationship between God and man. The first section of this volume summarizes case laws. The author tenderly illustrates how the law is for our good, and makes clear the difference between the sacrificial laws and those that apply today. The second section vividly shows the practical implications of the law. The examples catch the reader's attention, as Rushdoony draws from his experience of practicing and discussing God's law. The third section shows that would-be challengers to God's law produce only poison and death. Only God's law can claim to express God's covenant grace in helping us.
Top Highlights
“The more the state separates itself from Christianity the more it resorts to coercion,” (Page 150)
“The words justice and righteousness are in the Bible one and the same. In practice today, there is little relationship between them. Such a separation spells the death of a culture.” (Page 1)
“Men bridle at God’s law because it legislates against sin. They prefer an order that permits sin and forbids freedom. They see God’s law as tyranny because it is a control on sin whereas they prefer controls on freedom and a license to sin.” (Page 1)
“Biblical law seems oppressive only to those who want freedom to sin. God’s laws have as their purpose our good.” (Page 1)
“One of the problems with any understanding of these laws governing sacrifices for sin is that they are usually described as ceremonial laws. Although so termed by excellent scholars, it is, I believe, a serious distortion of Scripture. The dictionary definition of ‘ceremonial’ is ‘marked by, involved in, or belonging to ceremony: stressing careful attention to form and detail.’ This is true enough, but it does not do more than describe the care which must be given to every aspect of these laws, but their meaning lies elsewhere. These are laws of sacrifice; their purpose is to restore a broken relationship to God, or, to give thanks, to seek atonement, or some like urgent aspect of our duty to God. The word ceremony trivializes atonement, and all sacrifices generally.” (Page 5)
- Title: The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. 3: The Intent of the Law
- Author: Rousas John Rushdoony
- Publisher: Ross House Books
- Publication Date: 1999
- Pages: 252
Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) was was a well-known American scholar, writer, and author of over thirty books. He earned degrees from the University of California, received theological training at the Pacific School of Religion, and received an honorary Doctorate from Valley Christian University for his book The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.
Rushdoony was an ordained minister and served as pastor at two California churches. He served for almost nine years as a missionary to the Shoshone and Paiute Indians in a remote area of Nevada. It was during this time as a missionary that Rushdoony began writing. The Institutes of Biblical Law and Commentary on the Pentateuch are just a few of the titles that Rushdoony has penned.
The Chalcedon Foundation, an educational organization devoted to research, publishing, and cogent communication of a distinctively Christian scholarship to the world at large, was founded by Rushdoony in 1965. He served as the editor of The Chalcedon Report, the monthly magazine of the Chalcedon Foundation.
Rushdoony also published the Journal of Christian Reconstruction and was an early board member of the Rutherford Institute which was founded by John W. Whitehead.