Publisher's Synopsis
Antinomianism has taken root within Lutheran circles. This branch of Gnosticism substitutes the totality of Scripture and the accepted doctrine of norma normans with the Gospel as a selective carve-out. Consequently, the Antinomians relegate any Scripture with a supposed insufficiency of the Gospel to a lesser status, perhaps on par with the Book of Concord.
The Antinomian infection is visible in theologian Gerhard Forde's infamous aphorism, "The answer to the question why doesn't God just forgive sins is, He does!" For Forde and his acolytes, the forgiveness of sins (and everything that precedes and follows from that forgiveness) happens in the mind of God and has no material reality. This idea converts Christ's vicarious atonement into a fiction that is little more than a drama staged by God for our benefit. This idea is a startling contrast to Hebrews 9:7, which teaches that there is no forgiveness without blood - non sine sanguine.
