The Institutes of Biblical Law

Rousas J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (Craig Press 1973).

In this huge work, Rushdoony, probably the most influential Christian Reconstructionist, evaluates modern cultural, social, and legal practice in light of God’s judicial, moral, and ceremonial law set out in the Old Testament and fulfilled in Christ. His approach will be radical to many, as he considers the moral and judicial Old Testament law to be binding on all nations. Nevertheless, his extensive commentary and exhaustive treatment of Old Testament legal texts will give the careful student raw material for further study and reflection.

Christian reconstructionism, flowing from the Reformed tradition, is characterized by Calvinism, Theonomy, Presuppositionalism, Postmillennialism, and Dominionism. See Andrew Sandlin, The Creed of Christian Reconstruction, The Chalcedon Report, August 1995 (Reprinted in Jeffrey A Brauch, Is Higher Law Common Law? 362-63 (1999)). Christian reconstructionism, though theologically flawed in the view of many, is one of the few modern movements that takes seriously God’s revealed law in the Old Testament.