Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Christianity A proponent of the doctrine of antinomianism.
  • noun One who denies the fixed meaning or universal applicability of moral law.
  • adjective Christianity Of or relating to the doctrine of antinomianism.
  • adjective Opposed to or denying the fixed meaning or universal applicability of moral law.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Denying the obligatoriness of the moral law, as if emancipated from it by the gospel.
  • Of or pertaining to the antinomians.
  • noun In theology, one who maintains that Christians are freed from the moral law as set forth in the Old Testament by the new dispensation of grace as set forth in the gospel; an opponent of legalism in morals.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Antinomians; opposed to the doctrine that the moral law is obligatory.
  • noun (Eccl. Hist.) One who maintains that, under the gospel dispensation, the moral law is of no use or obligation, but that faith alone is necessary to salvation. The sect of Antinomians originated with John Agricola, in Germany, about the year 1535.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who embraces antinomianism (in Christianity: a religious movement which believes that only the spiritual 'law of Faith' (Romans 3:27) is essential for salvation; and which is 'against' all other practical 'laws' being taught as being essential for salvation; and refering to them as legalism).
  • adjective Of or pertaining to antinomianism.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a follower of the doctrine of antinomianism
  • adjective relating to or influenced by antinomianism

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Medieval Latin Antinomī, antinomians, pl. of antinomus, opposed to the moral law : Greek anti-, anti- + Greek nomos, law; see nem- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Ancient Greek ἀντί (anti, "against") + νόμος (nomos, "custom, law").

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Examples

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  • One believing that belief in Christ frees someone from normal legal and moral obligations. This sounds handy.

    May 16, 2008

  • JM wonders what it is that the antinomians among us get up to at this time of year.

    December 22, 2010