I’ve recently been more active on Twitter than Substack. I need to remind myself to use this platform too, but I like the feedback I get over there. Yesterday I tweeted the following thread about the problem with “Bible-as-Law” theonomy. CS Lewis referred to this as bibliocracy (in his discussion of Richard Hooker in this book). I think the primary problem here is that it is basically a type of legalism (this is a reference to the jurisprudence doctrine, not the moral one) that Carl Schmitt opposed in his interactions with Hans Kelsen. This approach to civil law is much more modernist than its defenders think. Anyway, here is the thread, reformatted:
One of the problems that modernist Evangelicals have in dealing with political theory actually stems from something absorbed from enlightenment thinking; namely, the presumed need to have a universal model for the ideal society.
Like political rationalism which seeks to work out in detail every aspect of a social order based on reason, so certain Christians will demand of the Bible a role of determining all details of law & order. This denigrates what Schmitt refers to as the “Concept of the Political.”
Calvin noted that “nothing could be said more truly than that the law is a dumb magistrate, the magistrate a living law.” This is the rightful subordination of law under the decision-maker, the image-bearer of God as Divine Ruler. The Bible-as-law methodology denies the particularist nature of politics.
The Bible cannot identify particular political enemies or distinctively political threats to a particular social order. It cannot determine trade policy in light of the concerns of particular people. It cannot account for the continuity of custom and the ordering function of cultural norms over time for a given society.
Yes, the Bible has a role to play in informing us of various metaphysical and eternal truths, especially about the nature of man and his relation to society and heavenly things. It even has a significant role to play in acting as a teacher in connecting political concerns with ultimate moral standards.
But for thousands of years before the Bible was given to man in its completed form, it remained the duty of political leaders to seek historical continuity and social tranquility based on particular situations and in light of the priorities of the spirit of their people.
The essence of politics is always situational, it demands constant reaction to varying threats to the well-being of the realm. The Bible is not intended to blueprint solutions to these political dynamics.
The Bible gives us specifics about the true religion, but it also, in so many places echos, confirms, reinforces, and even cites (1 Cor 11:14) natural reasoning and custom as part of its authority.
The Bible is not a law book, but reinforces the right of the Political to exist within the Good Society. It displays the consequences of political folly and the fruits of political prudence. It sanctions rulers to rule with authority derived from Heaven to make decisions in light of particular situations for the good of its own people.