Sunday, January 5, 2014

By This Standard - Dr. Greg Bahnsen's Foreword

Several chapters in Dr. Greg Bahnsen's book, By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today first appeared as short articles in his newsletter, Biblical Ethics written from 1978 to 1982. The book is not an in-depth treatment of arguments, but a summary of biblical law. Dr. Bahnsen has other books for that purpose.

The question that Dr. Bahnsen wants to stimulate in writing the book is "whether the Old Testament law is still binding as a moral standard today" or not (p. xxvii). Most Christians assume that their ethical behavior is only limited to the teachings of the New Testament. This is a mistake on the basis of Reformed principle of Tota Scriptura, Sola Scriptura. Dr. Bahnsen challenges his readers to verify the answers given in the book on the bar of the written word. His prayer is that after reading the book Christians will be convinced about the wisdom and authority of biblical law, and learn to love it. Dr. Bahnsen thanked critics for they helped him see the common misconceptions about biblical law. 

Source: Bahnsen, G. L. (1985). By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today. Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics. 

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