Antinomian heresy

In Christianity, an antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the logical endpoint by asserting that the "saved" are not bound to follow the Law of Moses.

The distinction between antinomian and other Christian views on moral law is that antinomians believe that obedience to the law is motivated by an internal principle flowing from belief rather than from any external compulsion.

The term antinomianism emerged soon after the Protestant Reformation (c.1517) and has been used as a pejorative against Christian thinkers and sects who carried their belief in justification by faith further than was customary. Theologically, antinomianism is the belief that there are no moral laws God expects Christians to obey. This makes antinomianism an exaggeration of justification by faith alone.

Examples of antinomians being confronted by the religious establishment include Martin Luther's critique of antinomianism and the Antinomian Controversy of the 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony. The term originated in the 16th century, but the topic has its roots in Christian views on the old covenant extending back to the 1st century. It can also be extended to any individual who rejects a socially established morality. Few groups explicitly call themselves antinomian, other than Christian anarchists.

The term antinomianism is derived from the Greek ἀντί (anti "against") + νόμος (nomos "law").

Antinomianism has been a point of doctrinal contention in the history of Christianity, especially in Protestantism, given the Protestant belief in justification through faith alone versus justification on the basis of merit or good works or works of mercy. Most Protestants consider themselves saved without having to keep the commandments of the Mosaic Law as a whole; that is, their salvation does not depend upon keeping the Mosaic Law. However, faith is generally seen as one that produces obedience, consistent with the Reformed formula, "We are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone," in contrast to rejecting moral constraint.

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