Here is the book I have longed for—the book I myself long yearned to compile. Martin Foulner provides for us a remarkable compendium of statements from the Westminster divines (and others) showing without doubt that they were theonomic in their political and social ethic. Page after page, quote after quote, the evidence mounts: Like it or not, the theologians who wrote the Westminster Standards—including WCF 19:4—held strong convictions about the continuing applicability of Mosaic Law in the modern world. This book single-handedly stops the debate over the historical and confessional nature of theonomy. Thank you, Mr. Foulner.

"Theonomy and the Westminster Confession" grew out of a 1996 overture to the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. That overture called upon the church to declare theonomy a heresy. The charges against theonomy were paraded in Scottish newspapers with such outrageous headlines as: "In Scotland a deacon wants to stone ‘bad’ kids to death" (Sunday Mail, November 17, 1996, p. 15). Below the title was a picture of the late Greg Bahnsen (though it never mentioned he had never stoned one child!). The overture passed, despite the refusal to interact with theonomists within the denomination. After the resolution passed another newspaper, The Scotsman (May 12, 1997) published the following headline: "Warning on Religious Extremists: Fundamentalists have infiltrated Scotland, says report to Free Church." The fears about theonomy were typical: emotional frenzy parading as dispassionate contemplation (quite a task!).

Foulner notes in his Preface: "I have made no attempt to argue for the theonomic position on theological or Scriptural grounds. It is the sole purpose of this work to show that the teachings of this movement are not new, but were widely held among Reformed theologians; particularly the Puritans at the Westminster Assembly." Consequently, the reader interested in the history of this debate will find Foulner’s work an extremely helpful contribution. Unfortunately, for those who detest theonomy, theonomists wrote the Confession! And as Meredith Kline noted twenty years ago: The American revisions of the Confession did not remove what he called "the Chalcedon error" from the Standards.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the anti-theonomy crusade in American Presbyterian circles (particularly within my own PCA) is the schizophrenic nature of the attack. Almost invariably the opponents of theonomy are "loose subscriptionists" regarding the Confession. This allows them to be charismatic, function as if congregationalists, deny six-day creation, and so forth while they pretend they are faithful to Presbyterian principles. Yet when it comes to criticism of theonomy, they switch principles and become "strict subscriptionists." They then argue that the WCF 19:4 clearly disallows theonomy. The transformation is a sight to behold. It is as remarkable as it is complete. Unfortunately, it is only temporary: as soon as the theonomy debate is over, "loose subscription" becomes the name of the game. They experience deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

This famous section of the Confession reads: "To them [Israel] also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require." Not realizing that this is the theonomic principle, anti-theonomists rejoice over this statement. But what theonomist would say we literally have to build a parapet around the roof our house? Or are obliged to stone to death convicted capital criminals? Yet we hold that the underlying principle—the equity within—still prevails. But back to Foulner’s remarkable work.

Foulner preserves all the original spellings, punctuation, and emphases as found in his sources. This makes for difficult reading, but it provides us with the unadulterated source material we need. Theonomic statements are published from such Westminster signatories as George Gillespie (who sounds like Greg Bahnsen on Matthew 5:17), Samuel Rutherford (whose name adorns John Whitehead’s anti-theonomic Christian civil advocacy group), Jeremiah Burroughs, Herbert Palmer, William Reyner, Richard Vines, Thomas Hodges, and Philip Nye. Over 25% of the quotations are taken from Gillespie and Rutherford. Foulner called me not long after I ordered the book. He told me he had many more quotations to add to the next edition. I can’t wait.

Many other theologians from the Puritan era are brought forward showing they hold theonomic sympathies. Men such as David Dickson, James Fergusson, James Durham, George Hutcheson, John Brown of Wamphray, Nathaniel Hardy, Thomas Gilbert, Alexander Shields, and many more. Even the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Parliament are shown to be theonomic (1640s)! Of course, many outside of the Presbyterian debate have long recognized that Reformed theology has long had theonomic tendencies. For example, Michael Dennis Gabbert’s doctoral dissertation in church history from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ably shows that Calvin, Cromwell, and the Massachusetts Civil Bay Colony were theonomic: "An Historical Evaluation of Christian Reconstructionism Based on the Inherent Inviability of Selected Theocratic Models" (1991). The title clearly indicates his lack of sympathy for the Christian Reconstructionist model: his is not a sympathetic defense of theonomy!

I especially enjoyed the various discussions by the divines on the "equity" of God’s Law. These are tremendously important for fleshing out their theonomic commitments in light of WCF 19:4 (see pages 21, 25n, 29, 40-41, 45, 54, 57, 59). Also helpful are the clarifications of the judicial, moral, and ceremonial distinctions within the law. The divisions are not what so many think. But you will have to contact Chalcedon and order Foulner’s book to see what I mean! In addition, the several statements arguing for a New Testament confirmation of the Law are real eye-openers.

Be aware, however, that modern theonomic sympathies themselves will recoil at some of the positions of the Westminster divines: they "out-theonomize" us! Perhaps we are too Americanized.

This book is a real "must have" for theonomists. It ought to be owned, read, and used by all those who love God’s Law, the Reformed Faith, and the ministry of the Word.