Who decides proper doctrine now? The creedally commited Reformed church does. Theonomy, contrary to the Reformers and Puritans, does not allow the State to decide proper doctrine or punish those without it. Only the church has the keys to the Kingdom.<br><br>william.......according to whose creed tho? Not all reformed churches agree on every single aspect as this subject shows. So which ones specifically?<br><br>While the reformation did permit a little too much power to the magistrate, it was due to a very slow process of reform. But the more Theonomic the Puritans got (e.g. Lex Rex by Samuel Rutherford and the Scottish Covenanters), the less power the magistrate was given. This is because God's law puts a restraint on all forms of Tyranny, since all tyranny is based on man-made law.<br><br>william.......but isn't that the crux of the problem with all man-run governmental systems? Aren't even Christians apt to abuse power?<br><br>Yes, but Christians under the NT now have the power of the Holy Spirit, with the law of God written upon our redeemed hearts in addition to the law written down in Scripture (which is the same law).<br><br>That's the same claim that created 20,000 American denominations. While I agree that true believers fall into this category, I do not believe one specific church is made up only of true believers, excepting the invisible church. So this claim has it's problems as well, because I am not a theonomist, and accordingly must not have all truth or am simply uninformed as of yet.<br><br>Pleas explain the Galatians passage to me? Thanks friend. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/thinks.gif" alt="thinks" title="thinks[/img]<br><br><br>God bless,<br><br>william
