Paul Michael Raymond:
Theonomy & Cultural Transformation

His website at http://www.hisglory.us/ is a treasure trove of information on Theonomy, the application of the Bible to the culture. He even maintains a daily news log from a Biblical perspective.

Rev. Raymond is firmly committed to Theonomy, or the application of Biblical law to all of life and culture. He believes that obedience to God in every realm of life, including the political, is essential for man’s earthly blessing.

He took time out to share his understanding of Theonomy and theonomic reformation in a recent interview with “America Betrayed.”

1. We are very interested in your thoughts on Theonomy, Rev. Raymond, on the application of the Bible to culture. What exactly is the mission of the ITR?

The mission of the Institute for Theonomic Reformation is what every individual Christian and local Church's mission should be; that is, to reconstruct every area, institution and sphere of life so as to conform it to the Word of God by declaring and teaching the Law of God. This is the heart of Theonomy.

What our postmodern professors of Christianity fail to understand is that for more than 400 years, since the end of the era of the Colonial Puritans and the dawn of the French and Scottish Enlightenment, the secularists and anti Christian philosophers have been reconstructing our Western Civilization away from the foundation of Orthodox Christianity. As a result we have a well ordered vehement and vicious movement of secular reconstructionists, who have been successfully infiltrating and reconstructing Christian Western Civilization with a God-hating theology while the church has been asleep.

The church and its members have now become an isolated community without any real power or influence in the community let alone the nation. That's what happens when we abandon Theonomy.

With the focus upon personal evangelism and individual piety her members have forgotten that Christianity is called to take dominion over all areas of life including economics, philosophy, mathematics, science, history, education, psychology, the arts, music, jurisprudence, government, and any and all other aspects of the social order of which Christ is King over. Since the church has all but lost the meaning behind Christ's Sovereignty in heaven AND in earth (Matthew 28) she has relinquished her honored place in the cultural order as the stewards of righteousness and traded it for a pot of pottage.

2. What motivated you to start the ITR? How does your ministry relate to that of the Chalcedon Foundation? Is there overlap or is your work on Theonomy an extension?

The ITR was structured to be a resource hub for the serious Christian; a kind of switchboard for Christian resources and scholarship. Since the Christian community seemed to me at that time to be very feeble in the events of the day, in political and the social order, we added a News Page which is updated daily so as to keep the saints informed. The ITR Mission Statement pretty much says it all: "The ITR is a Christ-centered, non-profit organization, which seeks to empower the Christian, and the church, so as to fulfill God’s cultural commission of Christian responsibility and is dedicated to the restoration and application of Biblical Law and Biblical Ethics so as to faithfully encourage an explicitly Biblical Christian rule for both a national and global Theonomic culture..." You can read the entire statement here.

As far as Chalcedon is concerned there is no formal relationship except that they too are seeking the same end as we.

3. We’d better define the term Theonomy starting out. What exactly is Theonomy, or dominion theology?

Theonomy comes from the Greek compound word 'theos' and 'nomos' which is translated as 'God's Law'. It is God's Law that must govern the affairs of men. As lawgiver , everything God says IS LAW and we are commanded to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth. This is not rocket science, but rather a clear declaration of Truth.

It is the didactic expression of how the law should be handled by the saints and the church leadership. What this rejection of God's Word tells us is that the church leadership and many of its members are willfully ignorant of the Scriptures since they refuse to bow to its comprehensive commands upon them to be responsibility in the Commission of teaching all nations whatsoever He has commanded them.

I am amazed that so many Christians don't understand the use of God's law as the Scriptures set it forth. Many evangelicals believe that the law was abrogated with the coming of Christ and that the moral law is no longer in force. I would only ask, 'then what law should we live by?' Their answer is usually "the law of love" OR sometimes some may say that they now walk by the Spirit.

But what does that mean? How did Christ define the action of Love? "If you love me, keep my commandments". What does He say about the Spirit. "My WORDS are spirit and they are life". Christ continually points to the Law Word of God as the Standard of Truth and the direction of all our actions. This seems clear enough but obviously not to many.

So many Christians are taught that the moral law is as the ceremonial law and now no longer in effect. I would ask then, 'should we not eliminate Psalm 19 and 119?' What amazes me even more so is that many believe that the Old Testament is no longer for us today. To my question of elimination of certain OT passages they would answer in the affirmative.

This only shows the degenerate nature of the church's teaching in both theology and history since theologically Christ Himself stated that He has NOT come to abolish the law but to establish it - and historically the canon of Scripture was not completed until 369 AD. The early church had ONLY the Old Testament to go by along with some letters of the apostles.

Even among those of the Reformed faith we find this degenerated view. I often ask them, "What would you replace God's law with if His Law is not the law of the land?" I rarely get a coherent answer. All in all the church has lost its moorings. Sovereignty has now shifted away from God to man once again and it has shifted among the people that are called by His Name.

4. Do you believe in a direct application of Old Testament law to modern society?

The application of God's law needs to be carefully set forth with both the Old and New Testaments clearly in view to our modern social order. This however, requires a balance between justice and equity, mercy and punishment. When the question of penology arises one of the first questions is "Would you encourage the killing of all homosexuals?" This of course is a loaded disingenuous question since no one in their right mind wishes for the extermination of any group of people.

The answer however is simple, while not very easy n its application. The maximum penalty for these capital type crimes is death as the Scriptures clearly point out yet that sentence is not ALWAYS mandated. If it were then Paul could not refer to some of the Corinthians as having been liberated from the sin of sodomy. 1Co 6:9-11 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

The question of penology is one of great importance and urgency which the Christian community needs to work on very seriously as to the many nuances within the application of the Law of God. But to reject the Law's validity altogether is outright rebellious stupidity, one which will get us into a world of hurt which we, by the way are in at this very moment in history as a result.

5. When we speak of Theonomy, are we talking only about the 10-commandments from Exodus 20 or are you also referring to the ordinances of Exodus 21-23? Or did those pass away with ancient Israel?

All of the Moral law is in force today. Those in the Old Testament and those in the New.

6. But doesn’t the New Testament say we are under grace, not law in this new dispensation?

We are not under the condemning power of the law, which is Paul's intent here, nor are we under the obligation to keep the ceremonial law. This passage of Romans 6 is so often taken out of context and so thoroughly misunderstood that the conclusion is absurd when it is carefully brought to its logical conclusion.

7. What about the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. Do they still apply in the doctrine of Theonomy?

Not as far as we must keep them since Christ is now the substance of those laws which were shadows. He is our passover. A careful reading of the Epistle to the Hebrews should clear this up.

8. When you speak of reformation do you mean the imposition of God’s law on an unwilling society? Aren’t we going to have to overturn the existing order before we can rebuild? How does Theonomy work?

God is King. He will overturn all things eventually. Your question however is interesting since many of our laws today are still based upon God's Laws. Interesting enough God has placed in the conscience of man the need for at least a certain legal order to be governed by (see Rom 2). And thus, the second table of the Decalogue is followed to some degree. The only laws which will bring order, liberty and prosperity are God's laws.

The existing order does not have to be overturned. It simply needs re-education. Teaching, teaching, teaching is the key. That is how we have been taken away from the Law of God - through sinful heretical teaching, and that is how we will be victorious once again. Our weapons are the Word of God.

9. What’s your game plan? What are the specifics of Theonomy and Theonomic Reformation?

Therefore the game plan of Theonomy is to teach. We have already been teaching elementary, Jr and high School home educated students for more than 10 years and now have recently established the College level New Geneva Christian Leadership Academy which will continue to address every aspect of our situation and train Godly and proactive leaders to do what we should have been doing all along at a higher level.

10. How could our readers get involved in your ministry and make life easier for you?

We need a number of things. Firstly, we need your prayers and your words of encouragement. Tell others of what we are doing. Get the word out. We will send you our business cards - hand them out with the ITR and New Geneva web addresses on them. Make up your own cards and hand them out. Use the internet and the freedom of the press before it is taken from us as a chastisement for our sloth.

We need more students who are committed and willing to learn with us and then apply what they have learned. There will be no theological head scratching here. Every doctrine is taken out of the Theological vacuum and put to the use that it was intended for. Everyone must take the Scriptures and the Law of God to the Street. That means into the courtrooms and the legislative building, and everywhere we are afforded opportunity. We need to be out among the people not hiding in the four walled ghetto church.

We also need a team of well trained theologians who know how to write and set forth a educational policy paper. We are building a team and we need men (and women) who can write bold policy reports from the perspective of Theonomy.

And finally, we need money. We are building a small extension to our very small building to house more classrooms and can use some financial help. The pagans of the world who hate, with violent hatred, our Lord and Christ have given incredible sums of money to dethrone Him, while those called by His Name continue to build their own private barns in their vain quest for worldly luxury. If this continues nothing will ever happen - at least not in our time. We must take a bold stand for the Faith of the Gospel and that always requires sacrificing of all kinds.

Thank you Dennis for seeking me out for this discussion on Theonomy. I sincerely appreciate your questions and the help you have provided through this interview. We are headed for some difficult times and we need to be prepared. I am available to answer any questions or to address any group as to a plan of action in any of your reader's communities. It would give me no greater pleasure than to be able to set up teams in various parts of the nation to do what we are so desperately trying to do here in Virginia.

For Christ's Crown and Covenant I remain His servant and yours,Paul Michael Raymond

Thank you, Rev. Raymond.