Questions
Answers to questions about Biblical law, synced from the Theonomy Wiki, grouped by topic.
Biblical justice in economics
Civil government formation, powers, and limits
- Do the gleaning laws allow civil government to coerce individuals or businesses to give up wealth or other private property?
- Does Biblical law guarantee "free speech"?
- Does Biblical law have "statutes of limitation" for prosecuting crime?
- Does Biblical law require you to get civil government permission, or a license, before getting married?
- Does the divorce of the foreign women in Ezra 9-10 show that civil government has authority to dissolve marriages or preside over "divorce trials"?
- How does Biblical law create the strongest possible "Rule of Law"?
- Isn't Biblical law anti-democratic?
- The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England
- What are some major differences between advocates of "Westminster General Equity" and "Strict General Equity"?
- What is a Biblical law jurisdiction, and how is this concept derived from scripture?
- What is Paul saying about civil government in Romans 13?
Comparing Biblical law to other legal systems
Differing scripture interpretations
General questions
Jesus' teaching on the law
- Did Jesus break Biblical law by working on the Sabbath?
- Did Jesus really support the death penalty for cursing a parent?
- Did Jesus revoke the "eye for an eye" principle of Biblical law?
- Did Jesus say that we should follow the teaching of the Pharisees?
- Didn't Jesus disregard the law of the Hebrew Scriptures when dealing with the woman taken in adultery? (John 8:3-11)
- Didn't Jesus say that only "sinless" people could judge others?
- Didn't Jesus say that the kingdom of God is only "within us"?
- How did Jesus "fulfill" the Law? (Matt. 5:17-19)
- How did Jesus "fulfill" the Law? (Matt. 5:17-19)
- In what way was Jesus' command in John 13:34 "new"?
- Is the polygyny of the Old Covenant allowed in the New Covenant age?
Judicial procedure and due process
Lawful and unlawful use of force
Marriage and family
- Are wives and daughters allowed to own property under Biblical law?
- Can a husband and wife have equal authority in a marriage?
- Didn't the law under the Sinai Covenant allow divorce for any cause?
- Do ancestors have ruling authority over their descendants?
- Does Biblical law really allow a father to sell his daughter into slavery?
- Does Biblical law require a girl to marry her rapist?
- Does Biblical law require you to get civil government permission, or a license, before getting married?
- Does Deuteronomy 22:25-29 imply that the rape of an unbetrothed girl is not a death penalty offense?
- Does Joseph's intent to divorce Mary show that the death penalty for adultery was not mandatory?
- Does the divorce of the foreign women in Ezra 9-10 show that civil government has authority to dissolve marriages or preside over "divorce trials"?
- If a husband or wife is the only one to witness their spouse's death, can they lawfully remarry?
- Is Biblical law deficient, because it does not specify a minimum age for marriage?
- Is the abandonment by a non-believer in 1 Cor. 7:15 an example of marriage covenant-breaking sin?
- Is the polygyny of the Old Covenant allowed in the New Covenant age?
- Is the premarital unchastity case of Deut. 22:13 an example of the justice system assuming guilt until a defendant proves her innocence?
- What was the purpose of the Numbers 5 dusty(or "bitter") water test?
Paul's teaching on the law
Penalties and restitution
- Did Jesus really support the death penalty for cursing one's parents?
- Does Biblical law actually require burning to death for certain crimes?
- Does Biblical law require a girl to marry her rapist?
- Does Biblical law require a literal "eye for an eye"?
- Does Deuteronomy 22:25-29 imply that the rape of an unbetrothed girl is not a death penalty offense?
- Does Joseph's intent to divorce Mary show that the death penalty for adultery was not mandatory?
- Does Numbers 35:31 imply that all crimes except murder can be ransomed?
- Does the Biblical divorce law in Deut. 24:1 show that the death penalty for adultery was not mandatory?
- Does the proverb about the jealous husband show that prostitution is legal? (Prov. 6:32-35)
- Does the restitution payment for killing a slave in Exod. 21:32 show that slaves had less protection than free persons under Biblical Law?
- Don't the actions of certain Israelite kings show that death was only a maximum civil penalty?
- How do we know whether a Biblical law death penalty is mandatory?
- What are some major differences between advocates of "Westminster General Equity" and "Strict General Equity"?
- What is the just penalty for murder?
- What is the proper restitution amount for theft?
- Why did God require the death penalty for certain crimes?
- Why is false prophecy a death penalty crime?
- Why wasn't King David executed for his adultery with Bathsheba?
Property rights and stewardship
- Are wives and daughters allowed to own property under Biblical law?
- Are you allowed to use deadly force in defense of (mere) property?
- Do the gleaning laws allow civil government to coerce individuals or businesses to give up wealth or other private property?
- Does Biblical law allow you to own a number?
- How are property rights established under Biblical law?
- How would roads and speed limits work in a jurisdiction following Biblical law?
The differences in law between the covenants
- Did YHWH give the Israelites laws that were "not good"? (Ezek. 20:25)
- Does theonomy require commitment to a particular view of eschatology (end times)?
- Is every law of God bound to a particular covenant?
- Is every law of God bound to a particular covenant?
- Is the polygyny of the Old Covenant allowed in the New Covenant age?
- Was God's law available prior to Sinai?
The differing treatment of persons in Biblical law
- Does Biblical law really allow a father to sell his daughter into slavery?
- Does Exodus 12:43-49 mean that a stranger in the land must become a covenant member before he or she can be treated equally under the law?
- Does the law in Exodus 21:22-25, where men cause an unborn child to be born prematurely, show that abortion is not murder?
- Does the restitution payment for killing a slave in Exod. 21:32 show that slaves had less protection than free persons under Biblical Law?
- Doesn't Lev. 27:6 show that God places no value on the lives of unborn children?
- Is the premarital unchastity case of Deut. 22:13 an example of the justice system assuming guilt until a defendant proves her innocence?
The general applicability or relevance of God's law
The historical application of Biblical law
- Does Joseph's intent to divorce Mary show that the death penalty for adultery was not mandatory?
- Does the divorce of the foreign women in Ezra 9-10 show that civil government has authority to dissolve marriages or preside over "divorce trials"?
- Was God's law available prior to Sinai?
- Why didn't King Solomon punish the prostitutes who came to him for justice?
- Why wasn't King David executed for his adultery with Bathsheba?
- Why wasn't Paul executed for either murder or kidnapping?
The organization and character of Biblical law
The relationship of the church (Christian assembly) and civil government
- Isn't living under a "religiously tolerant" civil government better for evangelism than living under a government which enforces God's law (e.g. against idolaters)?
- Shouldn't there be a separation of church (i.e., religion) and state?
- What did Thomas Jefferson mean by "separation of church and state"?
Various individual laws
Witnesses and evidence
- Can anything be done when there is only one witness to a crime?
- Can security camera or other video evidence count as a witness in Biblical law?
- Didn't Jesus disregard the law of the Hebrew Scriptures when dealing with the woman taken in adultery? (John 8:3-11)
- Does the stoning of the blasphemer in Leviticus 24 show that merely hearing can make someone a probative witness?
- Is the crime of rape an exception to the "two witnesses" rule?
- What if DNA or other indirect evidence point to a person being guilty, but there are no probative witnesses?
- What is the penalty for falsely confessing to a crime?
- What was the purpose of the Numbers 5 dusty(or "bitter") water test?