The Institutes of Biblical Law
R.J. Rushdoony
To attempt to study Scripture without studying its law is to deny it. To attempt to understand Western civilization apart from the impact of Biblical law within it and upon it is to seek a fictitious history and to reject twenty centuries and their progress.
The Institutes of Biblical Law has as its purpose a reversal of the present trend. it is called “Institutes” in the older meaning of the that word, i.e., fundamental principles, here of law, because it is intended as a beginning, as an instituting consideration of that law which must govern society, and which shall govern society under God.
To understand Biblical law, it is necessary to understand also certain basic characteristics of that law. In it, certain broad premises or principles are declared. These are declarations of basic law. The Ten Commandments give us such declarations.
A second characteristics of Biblical law, is that the major portion of the law is case law, i.e., the illustration of the basic principle in terms of specific cases. These specific cases are often illustrations of the extent of the application of the law; that is, by citing a minimal type of case, the necessary jurisdictions of the law are revealed.
The law, then, asserts principles and cites cases to develop the implications of those principles, with is purpose and direction the restitution of God’s order.
Institutes of Biblical Law 146 Lectures Series – Index
Rousas John Rushdoony
IBL00: Introduction to IBL
IBL01: First Commandment
3. Laws of Covenant Membership
5. Law as Power and Discrimination
IBL02: Second Commandment
3. The Altar and Capital Punishment
4. Sacrifice and Responsibility
IBL03: Third Commandment
IBL04: Fourth Commandment
IBL05: Fifth Commandment
IBL06: Sixth Commandment
3. Origins of the State: Its Prophetic Office
8. Restitution and Restoration
20. The Social Inheritance of Land Marks
IBL07: Seventh Commandment
16. Mediatorial Work of the Law
IBL08: Eighth Commandment
3. Restitution and Forgiveness
4. Liability and the Bystander
10. The Virgin Birth and Property
IBL09: Ninth Commandment
4. Jesus Christ as the Witness
5. Witness of the False Prophet
17. The Responsibility of Judges
IBL10: Tenth Commandment
IBL11: Promises of the Law
4. The Unlimited Liability Universe
IBL12: Law in the Old Testament
3. Natural and Supernatural Law
IBL13: The Law and the New Testament
IBL14: Church Law
2. Office of Elder in the Church
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Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.
Learn more about R.J. Rushdoony by visiting: https://chalcedon.edu/founder