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antinomianism
antinomianism The belief that one's religious commitments or faith exempt one from the legal or moral codes of the wider society (hence ‘anti-norms’). Antinomianism has been a characteristic of particular sects throughout the history of Christianity. Most notably, certain radical Protestant sectarians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries extended the Calvinist doctrine of predestination in this way, arguing that those who possessed an inner certainty of their own election were no longer capable of sin and therefore freed from the restrictions of conventional conduct. More recent examples include the Oneida Community, in the nineteenth century, and the Children of God in the present day. Antinomianism is usually associated with unorthodox sexual or marital practices, such as plural marriage (the Oneida Community) or sexual activity outside marriage (the Children of God), the latter being justified on the grounds that it brings others to salvation.
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GORDON MARSHALL. "antinomianism." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. GORDON MARSHALL. "antinomianism." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-antinomianism.html GORDON MARSHALL. "antinomianism." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-antinomianism.html |
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Antinomianism
Antinomianism, any theory that holds that moral law as such, or the Old Testament legal system specifically, is not binding upon Christians. In America the Antinomian controversy was precipitated by Anne Hutchinson, who was supported, in her protest against the legal system of the Massachusetts Puritans, by her brother‐in‐law John Wheelwright, Governor Vane, and other Bostonians. She was opposed by John Winthrop and by the people and clergy of the rural districts. The theological dispute became a political one, and, in 1637, when Winthrop was elected governor, Vane returned to England, and the Hutchinsons were banished to Rhode Island. Although the extreme emphasis upon the belief that Christians, saved by the sacrifice of Jesus and justified by their faith, have no obligation to regard moral law, often tends toward fanaticism, the New England Antinomians seem to compare favorably with their neighbors both in practical morality and in devotion.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Antinomianism." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Antinomianism." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Antinomianism.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Antinomianism." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Antinomianism.html |
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antinomianism
antinomianism The doctrine held by a group of Christians taught by Paul that Christ has freed us from slavery under the Law, indeed a freedom from any restraints at all. This travesty of his view is repudiated by Paul in Rom. 6; and Matt. 5: 17–18 also asserts the principle that laws and customs have a continuing validity in regulating private and public existence.
Antinomianism was not an intellectual justification of human frailty but a serious claim that the Christian life was a life of the spirit, not of the body; the Christian was above ancient Mosaic scruples. It has frequently reappeared in the Church and as frequently been repudiated (as by John Wesley in 1740) as heretical, even by those who have been most clear that the gospel is not compatible with a legalistic ethic. |
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "antinomianism." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "antinomianism." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-antinomianism.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "antinomianism." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-antinomianism.html |
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antinomianism
antinomianism (‘against the law’) held that the moral law was not a rule of life for believers, the opposition of matter and spirit implying the indifference of bodily functions. It was an occupational hazard of Lutheranism and Calvinism alike, lurking in the doctrine of justification by faith alone and the righteousness implied by such faith. Propounded during the Reformation by the Lutheran John Agricola, it was taken up by some anabaptists, and championed in England by Tobias Crisp (1600–43), flourishing in the 1650s. Its most egregious 18th-cent. representative was William Huntington, Sinner Saved (1745–1813), and its most telling refutation was Fletcher of Madeley's Checks to Antinomianism (1771).
Clyde Binfield |
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JOHN CANNON. "antinomianism." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "antinomianism." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-antinomianism.html JOHN CANNON. "antinomianism." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-antinomianism.html |
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antinomianism
antinomianism [Gr.,=against the law], the belief that Christians are not bound by the moral law, particularly that of the Old Testament. The idea was strong among the Gnostics, especially Marcion . Certain heretical sects in the Middle Ages practiced sexual license as an expression of Christian freedom. In the Protestant Reformation theoretical antinomian views were maintained by the Anabaptists and Johann Agricola, and in the 17th cent. Anne Hutchinson was persecuted for supposed antinomianism. Rom. 6 is the usual refutation for antinomianism. |
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"antinomianism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "antinomianism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-antinomi.html "antinomianism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-antinomi.html |
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Antinomianism
Antinomianism (Gk., anti, ‘against’, + nomos, law) A tendency in all religions, for some among those who believe to regard themselves as so possessed of grace/salvation/enlightenment, etc., that existing laws are no longer applicable. It may also apply to an attitude which regards the keeping of rules and laws as an impediment on the way to freedom/release/salvation, etc., because it produces a legalistic understanding of actions and rewards.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Antinomianism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Antinomianism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Antinomianism.html JOHN BOWKER. "Antinomianism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Antinomianism.html |
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antinomianism
antinomianism. A general name for the view that Christians are by grace set free from the need to observe any moral law. Various Gnostic sects held that, as matter was sharply opposed to spirit, bodily actions were indifferent and therefore licentiousness was admissible. At the Reformation antinomian teaching was revived, e.g. by the Anabaptists, as following from the Lutheran doctrine of justification by faith.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "antinomianism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "antinomianism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-antinomianism.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "antinomianism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-antinomianism.html |
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