FAQs

No. While critics often dismiss it as novel, the core principles of Lancastrian Theonomy have deep historical roots, with similar views being posited by Christian thinkers during the Reformation era. More importantly, our commitment is not to be handcuffed by the traditions of the past, but to the ongoing process of reforming and improving upon the theology of those who came before us, always striving for complete obedience to God's sufficient Law-Word.

No, this is a pervasive strawman. While both systems are anti-statist and favor limited government, their foundations and goals are fundamentally opposed. Libertarianism is a secular philosophy grounded in individual autonomy and the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP), which ignores crimes against God (like blasphemy or idolatry) unless they involve physical force or fraud. Lancastrian Theonomy, by contrast, grounds civil justice in God's perfect, revealed Law, which mandates civil sanctions (including capital punishment) for offenses against both man and God. Libertarianism exalts self-ownership; Theonomy exalts biblical justice and the sovereignty of Christ the King.

Not exactly. While we reject modern statist immigration legislation as an ineffective and unbiblical measure, we advocate for the rigorous enforcement of God’s Law-Word within the land. Enforcing biblical justice—specifically punishing theft, murder, idolatry, and other capital crimes—is the true mechanism for controlling who is welcome to remain in a nation, regardless of where they originated. The sufficiency of God's Law, not statist bureaucracy, provides the only righteous means of securing the safety and character of the nation.

We reject the need for a human legislative body because God's Law provides all the necessary statutes, crimes, and sanctions required for public justice. Scripture explicitly forbids the civil magistrate from adding to or subtracting from God's Law (Deuteronomy 12:32). A human legislature assumes a prerogative that belongs to God alone, and as "form follows function," the very establishment of such a body inevitably leads to tyranny, resulting in the creation of positive laws (man-made rules, forced taxes, and sanctions) that nullify the sufficiency of Scripture and lead to unjust systems like forced taxation, licensing, and imprisonment.

The magistrate's role, when wielding the sword (coercive power, punishment, forced taxation), is strictly one of adjudication—to judge cases brought before him—not legislation (creating new laws) or proactive enforcement. A person holding the office of magistrate can participate in community leadership and civic improvement, but they must do so purely through voluntary means, never by force of law, taxation, or compulsion. The biblical magistrate role's is reactive, as opposed to the modern statist model where government agencies initiate the prosecution and become the primary focus of the legal action.

We view Natural Law as the general revelation of God's character written on the hearts of all men, which makes them accountable. However, we insist that Natural Law is insufficient for the magistrate because it does not provide the procedures and sanctions (penalties) required for public justice. The magistrate must turn to the Special Revelation of God's Law (Scripture) for the perfect and sufficient statute book.

Biblical law definitively rejects modern imprisonment as a penal sanction. God's Law never prescribes locking individuals in a cage as a form of punishment; it mandates restitution for property crimes (the thief must pay back a multiple of what was stolen) and capital punishment for capital crimes, which must be executed speedily (Ecclesiastes 8:11). We consider the modern prison system—funded by victim taxation and focused on warehousing rather than justice—to be one of the greatest perversions of justice in human history.

No. We affirm the traditional Reformed distinction between the moral, ceremonial, and judicial aspects of the Law. The ceremonial laws (pertaining to the temple, priesthood, and sacrifices) and the dietary laws are fulfilled in Christ and are no longer binding on the Christian or the civil magistrate. We only advocate for the abiding jurisdiction of the judicial laws as the standard for public justice.

Absolutely not. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The Law is not a means of justification, but it is God's perfect standard for righteousness. While the Law cannot save us, God is fundamentally concerned with establishing justice on earth, and therefore we must apply His Law-Word as the only flawless standard for civil magistrates to administer that justice.

Christian Nationalism (CN) is primarily a political and cultural movement focused on aligning the nation's culture, laws, and policies with a generalized notion of Christian morality, often relying on Natural Law, tradition, and passing human legislation to achieve its ends. Lancastrian Theonomy, by contrast, is a specific legal and political system based on the Bible. It is non-legislative, demands complete and total sufficiency of God’s revealed Judicial Law (Scripture) as the only legal standard, and rejects any law-making by the state. CN seeks to Christianize the state; theonomy seeks to bind the magistrate exclusively to the perfect law of God.

Yes, there is a huge difference. Legislation is man’s attempt to craft new laws, which inevitably leads to the institution of injustice because it denies the sufficiency of God’s Law (Deuteronomy 4:2). Form matters greatly in the civil realm, just as it does in the home and church. Adjudication, by contrast, is the God-given system to establish justice. It requires the magistrate to judge skillfully according to God's existing, revealed standard (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). God requires justice applied to a man and his neighbor, on a case-by-case basis, not human statutes (Micah 6:8; Jeremiah 22:3).

Practical change begins with Christians rejecting man-made legislative laws—just as the Reformers rejected the man-made laws of the Papacy. This is the practical way to undermine statism by defunding and denying legitimacy to the human legislature. This rejection of legislation, which creates new crimes and taxes, is central to dismantling the modern state. This strategy is explored further in our booklet, Redeemed by Justice.