Reconstructionism

I fully plan on dissecting Biblical ethics and law and refuting many of the straw man arguments people use to argue against it, but first I thought I should post something that has bothered me for a long time: the charges by both Christians and the secular world that Mosaic Law is morally flawed or even severely deficient.

Many Christians resort to pathetic, inconsistent arguments in their attempt to refute reconstructionism (the position that the civil and moral laws revealed to Moses are of continuing legitimacy and authority), and often they seem to have just inherited these arguments from others without contemplating or confirming them.  This is not an abnormal thing; after all, many people simply inherit beliefs on many matters from parents, society, or friends.  I have noticed the fallacious charges many pastors and theologians bring against reconstructionism.  Some say Jesus overturned Mosaic Law or superseded it with something new and better.  Others claim Mosaic Law is comparable to Islamic Shariah Law (something I will definitely need to address in a future post) or that it is too harsh and cruel.  None of these arguments survive critical inspection, but for now I will simply focus on explaining some foundational thoughts and observations.

I'm tired of people, especially Christian teachers, misrepresenting and ignoring and opposing Mosaic Law, yet unfortunately this is common among many Christian leaders.  Some pastors who call Biblical law excessive, outdated, time and culture sensitive, or unnecessary in the modern world might say as they present the gospel that the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus deserved their sentence but Jesus didn't.  When they horribly misrepresent the obligatory nature of Mosaic Law while they declare that people can deserve a fate as sadistic and torturous as Roman crucifixion, they have no coherent grasp of logic or Biblical teachings on justice.  When people call Biblical corporal punishment cruel while tolerating a prison system that contradicts the justice of Scripture, and one that also houses rape and abuse, they are not an authorities on the issue.

Lest anyone think the Old Testament teaches evil and injustice, let us remember that the Old Testament first condemned revenge (Leviticus 19:18, Proverbs 20:22, 24:29) and commanded love of God (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and other people (Leviticus 19:18), foreigner and neighbor alike, long before the New Testament ever arrived.  Let us recall that only in the Old Testament do we find condemnation of such things as kidnapping, slave abuse, human and child sacrifice, abortion, bestiality, rape, forced prostitution, negligent homicide, and most forms of torture or inhumane/excessive punishments*.  One can scour and search the entire New Testament countless times and will find little to nothing that truly addresses those issues directly or specifically.

Also, some people mistakenly associate reconstructionism with postmillennial theology, but the connection is not a symbiotic relationship.  The validity of reconstructionism does not have anything to do with whether or not postmillennialism is true, and vice versa.

This is merely a post to prepare readers for eventual articles about the issue of Mosaic Law, its true nature and ethics, and its role in a modern society.  My next posts to immediately follow this one may not be a continuation of it, but know that further elaborations on these topics are coming.


*I have included some relevant verses so that readers can see here what verses I am basing these condemnations on for the sale of facilitating study:
1. Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16, Deuteronomy 24:7)
2. Slave abuse (I dealt with this in depth in a previous post, but some of the verses include Exodus 21:1-11, 16, 20-21, 26-27 and Deuteronomy 15:12-18, 23:15-16)
3. Human and child sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21, 20:1-5, Deuteronomy 12:31, 18:9-10)
4. Abortion (Exodus 21:22-23)
5. Bestiality (Exodus 22:19, Leviticus 18:23, 20:15-16, Deuteronomy 27:21)
6. Rape (Deuteronomy 22:25-27)
7. Forced prostitution (Leviticus 19:29)
8. Negligent homicide (Exodus 21:28-32)
9. Inhumane/excessive punishment (Deuteronomy 25:1-3, Exodus 22:3b, 21:2)

Remember that some of these topics require additional explanation in addition to this selection of the relevant verses.