Online Journal Article: "Relation Of The Tripartite Division Of The Law And The Public/ Private Distinction: Examining The Streams Of Thought Behind Them" Jets 61.4 (2018): 805–23

https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/61/61-4/JETS_61.4_805-823_Rothenberg.pdf

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https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/61/61-4/JETS_61.4_805-823_Rothenberg.pdf

From the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS)

JETS 61.4 (2018): 805–23
"RELATION OF THE TRIPARTITE DIVISION OF THE LAW
AND THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE DISTINCTION: EXAMINING
THE STREAMS OF THOUGHT BEHIND THEM"
by RONALD M. ROTHENBERG
Abstract: Whether one endorses or dismisses the biblical consistency of the tripartite division
of the law, this long held tradition has been interconnected with the public/private distinction
in both secular and Christian streams of thought. The historical evidence indicates that the
tripartite division of the law has been constructed in such a manner as to reflect or perhaps even
presuppose the public/private distinction. Consequently, the histories of the tripartite division of
the law and the public/private distinction are intertwined. Furthermore, the evidence in this
study suggests several aspects of research into the tripartite division which may need to be
expanded or in some cases perhaps reconsidered. Since the tripartite division has been a long and
widely held construction in the Christian tradition and it implies the public/private distinction,
then despite the current trend to dismiss the distinction, evangelicals have good cause to retain
this heuristic and hermeneutic device that is necessary for biblical interpretation
and unavoidable in ethical reflection.
Key words: theology, Reformed theology, ethics, applied ethics, tripartite division of the law,
public/private distinction, contemporary issues, hermeneutics