Sean Gerety and Co-belligerency with Van Tilians, Libertarians, Secular Humanists and Atheists

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Psalm 82:6-8 KJV)

(Note:  I don't always agree with Monty Collier.  However, the above video is apropos for the article below.  Charlie).

I recently learned that Sean Gerety of the God's Hammer blog is not really a Scripturalist after all.  In fact, he agrees with the Van Tilian theology of the Reformed Libertarian blog that we cannot legislate morality.  That is a direct contradiction of Scripturalism, which holds that political philosophy and ethics must be deduced from Scripture and Scripture alone.  I asked Gerety how he could deduce gay marriage or the porn industry from the Scriptures and got no response.  Instead he went on the tangent and asked me how I would propose enforcing the first commandment (Exodus 20:1-3) or how I would propose enforcing adultery laws, anti-gay laws, and anti-pornography laws?   (Exodus 20:14).  Would I really want the government in my bedroom?

While it is true that the Reformed Libertarian blog "claims" to adhere to Clark's Scripturalism (see Introduction), the blog editor prefers to remain anonymous.  The reasons are clearly that the blog is controversial and that the logic is not systematically in line with Scripturalism.  The Baptist premises seem to tend toward antinomianism in the realm of political philosophy and political ethics. Of course, these arguments are all identical to the arguments of the political and theological left.  Bill Clinton used to say that he was "personally" against abortion but that every woman has a right to choose whether to let her child live or die.  (Exodus 20:13).  Gerety claims the axiom of the secular humanist that it is always wrong to murder and that the government has an obligation to non-agression.  But as Albert Mohler pointed out in a video posted earlier (Libertarianism), this is the philosophy of Ayn Rand, not the philosophy deduced from the ethics of the Bible.  Furthermore, how could Gerety single out one commandment from the Decalogue and ignore the rest of the Decalogue?  (Exodus 20:1-17).  All Scripture is inspired of God and all Scripture is profitable for doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  The Westminster Confession of Faith is a system of doctrine, not a collection or aggregate of propositions that are disjointed and unconnected to one another.  Moreover, the WCF asserts that all doctrine, including political philosophy, is to be deduced from Holy Scripture:

Chapter 1.  Of the Holy Scriptures.

6.      The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men. (2 Tim. 3:15–17, Gal. 1:8–9, 2 Thess. 2:2) Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: (John 6:45, 1 Cor 2:9–12) and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed. (1 Cor. 11:13–14, 1 Cor. 14:26, 40)



Chapter 19.  Of the Law of God  

1.      God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which He bound him and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it. (Gen. 1:26–27, Gen. 2:17, Rom. 2:14–15, Rom. 10:5, Rom. 5:12, 19, Gal. 3:10,12, Eccl. 7:29, Job 28:28)  

2.      This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables: (James 1:25, James 2:8, 10–12, Rom. 13:8–9, Deut. 5:32, Deut. 10:4, Exod. 34:1) the first four commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six, our duty to man. (Matt. 22:37–40)  

3.      Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; (Heb. 9, Heb. 10:1, Gal. 4:1–3, Col. 2:17) and partly, holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. (1 Cor. 5:7, 2 Cor. 6:17, Jude 1:23) All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the new testament. (Col. 2:14, 16, 17, Dan. 9:27, Eph. 2:15–16) 

4.      To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require. (Exod. 21, Exod. 22:1–29, Gen. 49:10, 1 Pet. 2:13–14, Matt. 5:17, 38–39, 1 Cor. 9:8–10)  

5.      The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; (Rom. 13:8, 9, Eph. 6:2, 1 John 2:3–4, 7–8) and that, not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it. (James 2:10, 11) Neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation. (Matt. 5:17–19, James 2:8, Rom. 3:31)

Chapter 19, Of the Law of God. The Westminster Confession of Faith (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

The Decalogue, therefore, stands as a whole and the Scriptures cannot be broken (John 10:35).  Men who wish to appear to be Evangelical will agree with the Scriptures but depart in only one or two minor points.  But these minor points betray their irrationality and their rejection of the doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration and the absolute infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture.  Nations are still under the obligation to keep the moral law revealed to Adam in the covenant of works.  Furthermore, the Decalogue is a republication in greater detail of the covenant of works, which Dr. Gordon H. Clark contended was given to Adam as well.  [A Biblical View of Man, (Jefferson, Trinity Foundation, 1992) pp. 59-62] Clark contends that the general principles of the covenant of works are summarized in the Ten Commandments.  The clear implication of both the Westminster Confession and the Scriptures is that nations are subject to the covenant of works as well as individuals:

A victorious army can dictate the terms of peace to its defeated enemy.  A father can lay down conditions in his will that bind his son.  God laid down conditions for Adam's obedience.  Being perfectly righteous at that time Adam certainly acquiesced without hesitation.  But even though a defeated nation may hem and haw, Clemeneau commands, "Signez!" and a covenant is made.  . . . As a general principle of divine justice this covenant is still in effect.  (Clark, pp. 59-60). Presumeably God gave all the Ten Commandments to Adam, either before the fall or immediately after.   (Clark, p. 61). Morality therefore is based on God's sovereignty.  His command alone makes an action right or wrong.  (Clark, p. 62).   The Biblical Doctrine of Man, Gordon H. Clark. First edition, 1984. (Jefferson, The Trinity Foundation:  1992).  Pp. 59-62.

Considering that immoral laws cannot be defended by any Christian, it boggles the mind that Sean Gerety would find more agreement with Al Sharpton and Ron Jeremy than with biblical Christianity.  Although I am not a reconstructionist, a theonomist, a postmillennialist or any other optimistic irrationalist, I do contend that all biblical Christians and followers of Scripturalist presuppositionism have a moral obligation to uphold God's moral law as the moral standard of the United States of America and every other nation on earth.  The general principles of the Scriptures and the general equity of the moral law are to be deduced from the Ten Commandments and not from the case law or judicial laws of the Old Testament nation of Israel.  I conclude that Reformed Libertarianism is an oxymoron and a direct contradiction to both Scripture and the system of propositional revelation summarized by the Westminster Confession of Faith.

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Psalm 82:6-8 KJV)