Theonomic Baptists?
As a preacher of the gospel, I make many comments about the blessed privilege of having God’s word as the instruction manual for our lives. Though many dispute the value of the Bible for the modern world, few want to dispense with it entirely especially considering the teachings of Jesus. No one legitimately finds fault in Him. At least this view of scripture has been the case for American history for over four hundred years going back to the establishment of the first permanent colony in this country.
Despite revisionist history, the purpose of the first settlers was to make a place where they could worship God according to their conscience. Lest we are historically inaccurate, theirs was not an open religious system but kept the goal of making their views of scripture the only view. Thankfully, they were mostly right, but were not interested in diversity of opinion. You may ask, “What were the main tenets of their religion?” They were theonomists meaning it was proper to establish a government that made laws according to scripture and enforced their obedience to righteous living. This tied to their practice of infant baptism and their misinformed interpretation of the church. They were unlike Roman Catholics who believe baptism regenerates by washing away original sin. Rather, this baptism is an expression of God’s covenant with His people. The inclusion of infants in the church thereby also seals them as citizens of the state. I will not take you into the long history of what this did to other societies in Europe that interpreted the same. Suffice it to say the ultimate result is governmental persecution.
The practice of church/state relationships was present in all the colonies (with exceptions such as Rhode Island founded by Baptists) until and for a brief time after America won its independence from Britain. There is no denying the Christian religious part in the establishment of this country even though they wrongly enforced a church/state government. Those who lobbied intensely for a change to religious freedom were the Baptists who were the objects of much persecution. Our objection to infant baptism and belief in soul liberty was incompatible with church/state combination. In other words, to reject infant baptism was to be an anarchist.
If you read Christian news, you are aware the issue of theonomy experiences a revival in current Christian thought. It is beyond the Christian right as it would make it our duty to elect officials who are only Christian and will make laws only as they are consistent with scripture. This may sound good, but giving more thought, you should quickly see a problem as the next consideration is the character of the enforcers and the interpretation of what they enforce. This is a return to the principles our Baptist forefathers fought against. We uphold the right to interpret scripture by our conscience, understanding that conscience is right only when directed by the Holy Spirit.
Baptists cannot be theonomists and remain consistently Baptist in conviction. There is value in the debates and conclusions of our forefathers in adding the first amendment to the Constitution. We should recognize and appreciate the underpinnings of Christian influence in the establishment of our government. Do not reject it or the Bible. The outstanding issue today is the resulting licentiousness of rejecting our foundation. The lack of respect for Jesus’ teachings plagues our society. The answer is not theonomy. It is conversion. Theonomy will return in the righteous Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Until we have a perfect Ruler and Judge, the gospel sufficiently sustains us. Rely on the gospel for conversion of those who disagree with Christ and His word.
Pastor V. Mark Smith