The Lyceum Theonomy series focuses on the nature and validity of theonomy. It features seven essays discussing the nature and merits of contemporary theonomy from various perspectives. Each essay features the unfiltered views of each author which may or may not represent the viewpoints of the London Lyceum.
Lyceum Disputation Symposiums are essays on various theological, historical, and philosophical topics intended to provide greater understanding in a spirit that reflects charity, curiosity, critical thinking, and cheerful confessionalism. To find our other symposiums click here.
Essays and Contributors
The Underlying Problem: A Brief Analysis Of Meredith G. Kline’s Response To Theonomy by Michael Beck
Michael Beck (PhD, South African Theological Seminary) is from South Africa. In 2004, he and his wife were sent over to Wellington, New Zealand, to plant Gracenet Community Church. Mike has served as the preaching pastor at Gracenet since 2007. He also teaches Biblical Theology at Grace Theological College and co-hosts the Two Age Sojourner podcast. He has been married for 18 years and has three children.
Historic Protestant Political Theology: Theonomy And Theological Tinkering by Miles Smith IV
Miles Smith IV (PhD, Texas Christian University) is Assistant Professor of History at Hillsdale College. His research is on the U.S. South and the Atlantic world. He generally write on intellectual history—ideas, religion, slavery and freedom, etc.—but occasionally dabbles in political history, too. He is also interested in Europe and in Latin America. He edits nineteenth century works of historical theology and is revising a religious biography of Andrew Jackson. He also sometimes writes for popular outlets like Mere Orthodoxy, The Gospel Coalition, Public Discourse, The Federalist, and The University Bookman.
Theonomy: A Theological Critique by David VanDrunen
David VanDrunen (PhD, Loyola University Chicago) is Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at Westminster Seminary California and a minister of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He does much of his current research and writing at the intersection of systematic theology, biblical studies, ethics, and legal and political theory. He was the recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award for 2004, a visiting fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in 2009, and a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology for 2016-17. He is the author or editor of twelve books, most recently Politics after Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World and Aquinas Among the Protestants.
Classical Reformed Theonomy by Stephen Wolfe
Stephen Wolfe (PhD, Louisiana State University), is a 2021-2022 Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. His doctoral dissertation is on the continuity and discontinuity of American political thought between the Puritan settlements in the 17th century and the American founding in the 18th century. His primary research interest is Protestant political theory. He and his wife Megan have four children.
Are There Still Theonomists? by Glenn Moots
Glenn Moots in addition to being the author of Politics Reformed (mentioned in this essay and recently reissued in paperback by University of Missouri Press), Glenn Moots is co-editor and contributor to Justifying Revolution: Law, Virtue, and Violence in the American War of Independence (Oklahoma, 2018). He has also published a variety of essays in academic journals, edited collections, and websites.
That One Time Theonomists Didn’t Run Puritan New England by Timon Cline
Timon Cline (J.D., Rutgers Law School; M.A.R., Westminster Theological Seminary) is an attorney, a fellow at the Craig Center for the Study of the Westminster Standards at Westminster Theological Seminary, and a regular contributor at Modern Reformation. His recent scholarly work has been published by Unio Cum Christo, Appalachian Law Journal, St. Thomas Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. His popular writing can be found at places like American Reformer, Mere Orthodoxy, the American Mind, Anchoring Truths, and the American Spectator. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Rachel.
New Covenant Fulfillment And The End Of The Law: A Critique Of Theonomic Hermeneutics And Political Ethics by Ben R. Crenshaw
Ben R. Crenshaw is a PhD student in Politics at the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College. He is a graduate of Taylor University (BA, History), Denver Seminary (MA, New Testament Biblical Studies; MA, Apologetics and Ethics), and Hillsdale College (MA, Politics). He has previously written for The Public Discourse and The Federalist, as well as co-authored several chapters in works on discipleship and biblical worship. His interest is the intersection of religion and politics in the Western and American heritage.