Our pal Jon left a comment on Friday’s post "RIDE THAT DINOSAUR, ARYAN JESUS!" in which he used the word “antinomians.” I had no idea what that meant and checked with Wikipedia.
“Antinomianism or lawlessness in theology, is the idea that members of a particular religious group are under no obligation to obey the laws of ethics or morality, and that salvation is by predestination only. Antinomianism is the polar opposite of legalism, the notion that obedience to a code of religious law earns salvation. The term has become a point of contention among those opposed to religious authorities. Few groups or sects, outside of Christian Anarchism or Jewish anarchism, explicitly call themselves "antinomian", but the charge is often leveled by some Christian denominations against competing denominations, and for example, by the Jewish Encyclopedia against Paul of Tarsus. The Latin term Sola fide ("[by] faith alone") refers to the foundational Protestant belief in salvation through faith alone, a concept preached intensely by Martin Luther, but who was also an outspoken critic of antinomianism, for example his Against the Antinomians.”
In more modern times…
"George Orwell was a frequent user of “antinomian” in a secular (and always approving) sense. In his 1940 essay on Henry Miller, “Inside the Whale”, the word appears several times, including one in which he calls A.E. Housman a writer in “a blasphemous, antinomian, ‘cynical’ strain”, meaning defiant of arbitrary societal rules." (Click here for the whole thing.)
Aren’t you glad we got that settled?
The secret word is Learnin’
“Antinomianism or lawlessness in theology, is the idea that members of a particular religious group are under no obligation to obey the laws of ethics or morality, and that salvation is by predestination only. Antinomianism is the polar opposite of legalism, the notion that obedience to a code of religious law earns salvation. The term has become a point of contention among those opposed to religious authorities. Few groups or sects, outside of Christian Anarchism or Jewish anarchism, explicitly call themselves "antinomian", but the charge is often leveled by some Christian denominations against competing denominations, and for example, by the Jewish Encyclopedia against Paul of Tarsus. The Latin term Sola fide ("[by] faith alone") refers to the foundational Protestant belief in salvation through faith alone, a concept preached intensely by Martin Luther, but who was also an outspoken critic of antinomianism, for example his Against the Antinomians.”
In more modern times…
"George Orwell was a frequent user of “antinomian” in a secular (and always approving) sense. In his 1940 essay on Henry Miller, “Inside the Whale”, the word appears several times, including one in which he calls A.E. Housman a writer in “a blasphemous, antinomian, ‘cynical’ strain”, meaning defiant of arbitrary societal rules." (Click here for the whole thing.)
Aren’t you glad we got that settled?
The secret word is Learnin’
It's been a favorite word for many years.
ReplyDeleteyou gotta save yourself
ReplyDeletethere`s something about this i find attractive,it`ll take a day or two to sink in & i may find i`m wrong. i love the chaos -as mr brown once wrote.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just the retro grrl with the Tommy gun.
ReplyDeleteI had to look that up a couple of months ago whilst reading a book about John Bunyan. They were all accusing each other of antinomianism in seventeenth century England: Quakers, Shakers, Wobblers, Wibblers, Diggers, etc.
ReplyDelete