Principlism Vindicates the Traditional Approach to Law

For Hays Christians should not use the Old Testament law in such a way as to ignore some laws while embracing others (Hays, 21); moreover, Hays thus argues against the traditional approach of dividing the law into ceremonial laws, civil laws, and moral laws as this categorization of laws does not arise from the text itself (Hays, 22). Hays further points out that the Old Testament law no longer works as a valid covenant (Hays, 28), and in this regard instead of abolishing the law (See Hays, 29) Hays promotes principlism as a method for applying the Old Testament law in today's New Testament time (Hays, 31). Overall, for Hays, principlism thus provides an alternative approach to the traditional approach, and it concentrates upon identifying what the law meant to the initial audience, determining the difference between the initial audience and today, correlating the principle with New Testament teaching, and applying the principle to day's life (Hays, 31-32).

The strength of principlism is that it provides the ability for more of the Old Testament law to be applied today in ways that work with the New Testament teachings. The weakness of principlism is that it can be used to transform Old Testament teachings into principles that do not literally match the law itself but instead only capture the principles behind the law. What Hays has contributed to my overall understanding of Old Testament law is that a approach exists for putting the Old Testament law into practice without sacrificing the New Testament mandates against legalism; moreover, principlism thus provides the power of promoting holy legal living without being bound to the letter of the law.

Eternity of Law is Reconciled with Freedom From Law

Normally the teaching that the Old Testament law is eternal and the teaching that Christians are no longer to be bound under the law are considered to be clashing statements. The truth however is that much of the Old Testament law was conditional for the time and place of ancient Israel (See Hays, 28), however a universal truth often is upheld behind the law that permeates the law and gives a underpinning to the theology of the New Testament. Developing principles out of this universal truth can be done in such a way as to be harmonious with both the New and Old Testament such that continuity is established that demonstrates the eternal nature of God's single message of salvation.

How Principlism Can Be Applied to Leviticus 11:1-41

For Leviticus 11:1-41 the message that permeated the text was to make a distinction between what was clean and what was unclean as ancient Israelites had been commanded what not to eat, what not to touch, and such. Today much has changed through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost making the unclean things clean (See Acts 10:15 in context of Acts 10:44-45); moreover, the point is that today many unclean things have been made clean just through God's choice to make them clean through his Word or through his Spirit. The universal principle to be gained from Leviticus 11:1-41 is that unclean things should not be mixed with holy things. In the New Testament Jesus applied this principle of making the unclean into something clean by driving out a hoard of unclean demons and putting them in a flock of unclean pigs (Matthew 8:28-34). Overall, the way that I could thus apply the principle of separating the clean from the unclean (like Jesus did) is through attempting to transform as many things as possible into clean things through the power of the Holy Ghost being offered as the charity or 'agape' of God through me.

Bibliography:

Hays, Daniel. "Applying the Old Testament Law Today" Bibliotheca Sacra 158, no. 629 (2001): 21-35. (accessed July 15, 2010).