I recently was going over the Ligionere Devotional, "Our ethical Basis." I found it to be a quite informative introduction to the issue of moral relativism VS God's Word. It also helped explain something I was finding quite confusing. The fact that people like Paul Tillech and Van Til apparently used the term theonomic ethics while being steadfastly against the Theonomy movement.
I also found out that R.C. Sproul used the term theonomic while distancing himself from Theonomy. The definition of what the term actually means clears up my confusion. It also as it appears was the original definition prior to the advent of Christian Reconstructionist Theology.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/our-ethical-basis/
"Dr. R.C. Sproul notes that Christian ethics are theonomic, that is, governed by God’s law. This does not mean the church is called to institute a theocracy in the civil realm. It does mean that no correct ethical decision can be made apart from reflection on God’s law. Many Christians neglect the study of the law of the Lord, but if we do not seek to understand His commandments, we will lack the wisdom needed to discern between right and wrong in our decisions."
I decided to look up more on the matter only to find revealing information on an article talking talking about a middle way between Theonomy and Two Kingdoms Theology.
https://feedingonchrist.org/theonomy-two-kingdom-and-a-middle-road/
"Theonomy was an attempt, albeit inaccurate, to apply Van Tillianism to the political sphere. Cornelius Van Til, the great Reformed apologist from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, boldly asserted that there was no such thing as “natural law,” rather there is only God’s law. He even went so far as to say “you are either autonomous or theonomist.”
He did not mean what the movement says he meant. Van Til was simply asserting that God’s word is authoritative for every sphere of life. What the theonomists miss in Van Til’s theology is the role of common grace in regard to the moral law and politics.
Van Til constantly pointed out the fact that the law of God, the Ten Commandments, were written on the heart of all men by nature. While men hate the fact that they are the Imago Dei, they can never escape the implications of the fact that they descended from Adam and had a conscience that bore witness to the law of God (Romans 2:15).
How could ungodly governements enacted righteous laws throughout the centuries? This is where Van Til’s empahsis on common grace comes in. Paul could say of Nero that he was God’s minister to punish evil and reward good–not because he was reading the Bible and implementing the Old Covenant civil law, but because he was made int he image of God and by common grace acknowledged to some extent right and wrong in God’s world.
What Van Til had in mind when he said there was no such thing as natural law was the theology of “natural law” developed by the Roman Catholic church. The Church of Rome has for centuries asserted that there is authoritative natural law that men can ascertain by their reason. This, in fact, denies the noetic effects of sin, and gives man an element of autonomy that the Bible emphatically denies."
This is the definition given by R.C Sproul prior to going to be with The Lord and is still affirmed by Ligionere Ministries in their devotional about the ethical Basis of the Christian life.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/basics-ethics/
"According to Scripture, ethics are theonomic — determined not by the self but by the Lord. God’s standard alone provides the absolutes for our conduct.
This standard exists outside of us and is binding upon all, regardless of whether or not one believes Scripture.
All men, because they are in Adam (Rom. 5:12), are bound by the covenant of works and will be judged according to their obedience. We may choose to disregard this relationship’s obligations, but we cannot destroy them.
Scripture reveals to us a transcendent law that remains binding upon all and is based on our Creator’s holy character. These stipulations do not exist outside of Himself; they are part of His eternal nature.
This law, often known as the moral law in the Reformed tradition, is the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2) and can be found in the Ten Commandments and in the ethical imperatives of the apostles.
Finally, when we say all Christians are theonomic, we are not endorsing theonomy, a movement that says the old covenant’s civil penalties remain in force. Believers may legitimately debate this issue, but all must be “theonomists” in the sense of affirming the permanent validity of God’s moral standards (1 Cor. 6:9–10)."
Notice that Ligionere makes sure people realize they are not Christian Reconstructionist nor endorsing Theonomy by using the term "theonomic ethics."
Similarly the difference is also pointed out in this anti-Theonomy article between theonomic ethics and Theonomy. https://www.firstthings.com/article/1990/05/why-wait-for-the-kingdomthe-theonomist-temptation
I agree that God's Law and God's Word is authoritative over every sphere of one's life. If that is the definition you mean than I am ethically "theonomic."
However, that does not equal Theonomy which endorses enforcing the OT Isreal civil law punishments over all the land. https://heidelblog.net/2018/05/the-usa-is-not-old-testament-israel-1/
