LEGALISM

Legalism

Legalism, in Christian theology, is a usually pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law at the expense of the spirit. Legalism is alleged against any view that obedience to law, not faith in God's grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption.

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legalism

Noun

  1. A philosophy of focusing on the text of written law to the exclusion of the intent of law, elevating strict adherence to law over justice, mercy, grace and common sense.
  2. A legal axiom; a statement couched as a proverb expressing a rule of law.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: legalism
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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