“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…
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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 25 November 2024.]
