Antinomianism

Historical Context Essay

Susannah Jane Lee (Independent Scholar - Australia)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
  • The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

“Antinomianism” (from “

anti-

”, “against” and “

nomos

”, “law”) is the name given in Christian theology to the heresy countered by Paul in the sixth chapter of his letter to the Romans. In its strongest form, antinomianism affirms that because Christ has died for the sins of believers, they are no longer obliged to keep the moral law. In practice, those who have been designated “antinomians” did not generally hold the doctrine in this extreme form, whatever their detractors may have said about the corollaries of their teaching. Rather, they were taking to an extreme a reformed theology which emphasised the impossibility of salvation by keeping the law, or they saw themselves as countering tendencies to burdensome legalism. Johann Agricola in reformation Germany, Anne…

1393 words

Citation: Lee, Susannah Jane. "Antinomianism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 August 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5541, accessed 29 March 2024.]

5541 Antinomianism 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.