In the introduction of Gary DeMar and Peter Leithart’s book the Reduction of Christianity, Gary North referred to premillennial dispensationalist that pursued activism in the political realm as “practical postmillennialists.” By this he meant Christians that were influenced by the Reconstructionists ideology but disagreed with their eschatology. Such a thing as practical postmillennialism is obviously an inconsistent and illogical premises based on a synthesis of contradicting thoughts. Sadly, this inconsistency is extremely prevalent within Christianity. One example is Thomas Ice who wrote:
From 1974 until 1986 I was a Christian Reconstructionist. I was attracted to the movement because it boasted of a consistent biblical worldview. Since I was and still am a premillennialist, I tried for many years to create a blend of Reconstuctionism with premillennialism…. However, I finally realized that one cannot be a Reconstructionist and a premillenialist….
At one point I decided that I wanted to become a postmillennialist, thereby becoming a true and consistent Reconstructionist. However, I could not find a scriptural basis for postmillennialism. So I went to Tyler, Texas, to meet with some Reconstructionist leaders, thinking they would be able to give me the scriptural basis I had yet to discover for myself. I was ready and wanted to be convinced from the Bible that postmillennialism was the eschatology of Holy Writ…
They had not come close to offering anything convincing….
Because I kept insisting on exegetical proof, not just theological explanations of how postmillennialism would work if it were true, Gary North later accused me of being a nuisance to them in Tyler.1)H. Wayne House/Thomas Ice, Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?, Multnomah Press, 1988, p. 7-8
Thomas Ice concluded his preface by stating that practical postmillennialism was the method utilized by the Reconstructionist as an entry to manipulating premillennial dispensationalist. “Most are attracted to dominion theology through the back door, rather than through the front door of biblical study. They are arriving at these views not from the study of Scripture but by the romantic attraction of changing the world.”2)H. Wayne House/Thomas Ice, Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?, Multnomah Press, 1988, p. 10 Thus was the preface of Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?, written in 1988 as the first critique of Reconstructionism. Norman Geisler endorsement of this book declared, “This is one of the most crucial books to appear in the last ten years. It is a thorough, biblical, and timely critique of a growing movement that threatens both our spiritual and civil liberties.”
Another influential practical postmillennialist who had recently recanted of his inconsistency is Brannon Howse. In his recent book Religious Trojan Horse (2012), Howse relates,
Although David Barton spoke for our Worldview Weekend conferences for many years, I stopped inviting him…
I bring this up as an example of how Christians should respond to aberrant teachers. Worldview Weekend discontinued carrying Barton’s radio program on our website, offering his books and DVDs, and featuring him at our conferences. And it was a very hard thing to do. David Barton had been a close friend for many years, but my ultimate commitment must be to the Word of God. It is really difficult to see people you have admired taking part in activities that are clearly a violation of biblical theology and doctrine….
Barton appears to have identified himself with the dominion theology crowd by promoting what he called the seven pillars on his radio program.3)Brannon Howse, Religious Trojan Horse, Worldview Weekend Publishing, 2012, p 370-371
It is commendable for the humble spirit expressed by Howse in correcting his own errors for being influenced by David Barton. In another portion of his book Howse writes,
If Barton cannot read the Scripture in context and exegete an accurate meaning of the text, and if he cannot see from the doctrinal fruit of Glenn Beck that he is not a born-again Christian, we can hardly rely on Barton to accurately interpret the worldview of America’s founding fathers.
In 2010, I too began to question many of David Barton’s claims about America’s founding fathers. After extensive research, I pulled all of Barton’s books and DVDs from our website because I believe he is in error not only theologically but also historically. I work hard to educate my radio, television, and conference audiences about America’s founders and will not see them misled. I plan to address this more fully in my next book. Meanwhile, you will find in our bookstore at worldview weekend.com a nearly four-hour DVD in which Chris Pinto and I set the record straight with historical, verifiable facts about American history.4)Brannon Howse, Religious Trojan Horse, Worldview Weekend Publishing, 2012, p 117
I am not personally familiar with the DVD mentioned by Brannon Howse, but I am aquatinted with Chris Pinto’s work with Ed Decker in the DVD The Hidden Faith of Our Founding Fathers (2005), which thoroughly documents the fact that America’s founding fathers were not Christians.
This bring reason to recognize one major element of America’s history which was neglected by James R. Beller in The coming Destruction of the Baptist People. Though his excellent documentation of the Baptist beliefs bearing on the establishment of religious liberty, he avoided mentioning the factor of our founding fathers were pagan Freemasons persuaded by enlightenment philosophies. Why were they receptive to the Baptist’s biblical belief of religious liberty and opposed to the theocratic theology of the Catholic/Reformed expressed in persecution of the Baptists? The answer is because the Reformed theology demand persecution not only to Baptists, but also all religious perspectives, especially targeting witches who had recently suffered a wave of persecution at the hands of the Catholic/Reformed oppressive theocratic ideology. The witch hunt was also directed at Freemasonry.
A witch, in late medieval and early modern Europe, was not merely someone who allegedly caused death, disease and harm by evil magic. He, or more often she, was believed to be a member of a gigantic conspiracy, organized and led by the Devil, who’s aim was to destroy Christianity, degrade all decent values, overturn the established order, set the poor against the rich and young against the old, and bring society down in ruins….
At the heat of the witch mania lies the organized conspiracy. This is based on the belief that the evil which currently afflicts the world in the ordinary course of events, but are caused by a subversive group, responsible for all seriously damaging occurrences…
The myth of the organized conspiracy did not die when witch-hunting ended. In the 18th century secret societies, especially the Freemasons, were accused of conspiring against the society.5)An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Crescent Books, 1984, p. 168-169
Even the contemporary Wicca movement as founded by Gerald Gardener, recognizes that they are indebted to the Masonic Lodge as reported by High Priestess Lady Sabrina. “Gerald Gardner’s religion was based on pre-existing spiritual concepts, which he combined in a new way to form a new system. His mixing of ceremonial magic with hereditary Witchcraft and Masonic rituals was nothing but genius.”6)Lady Sabrina, Exploring Wicca: The Beliefs, Rites, and Rituals of the Wiccan Religion, New Page Books a division of The Career Press, Inc., 2000, p. 14 For James R. Beller to neglect this acknowledgement from America’s history makes him every bit as guilty of the Catholic/Reformed historical revisionists that he charges with erasing the influence of the Baptist people. It is curious why James R. Beller’s book favorably presents Washington and especially Jefferson,7)James R. Beller, The Coming Destruction of the Baptists People, Prairie Fire Press, 2005, p. 40, 53, 55, 62, 105, 114 who took a pruning shears to the Gospels cutting out every miracle, the virgin birth, Christ claims of Divinity and anything else which did not fit the deist interpretation of Scriptures, and published his blasphemous The Jefferson Bible. Beller commends “the immortal words of Jefferson”8)James R. Beller, The Coming Destruction of the Baptists People, Prairie Fire Press, 2005, p. 53 in The Declaration of Independence, which revealed his enlightenment views as it states, “whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it…,” but Beller condemns Gary North’s parallel words, “The Bible authorizes resistance against an unlawful self-deifying state when that state transgresses biblical law.”9)James R. Beller, The Coming Destruction of the Baptists People, Prairie Fire Press, 2005, p. 80;quoting Gary North Conspiracy, A Biblical View, Dominoion Press, 1986,p. 41 Both statements demand people to revolt and rebel against God’s ordained “powers” and ultimately against God Himself (Rom. 13:1-2). Remember Paul penned his words under the tyrannical reign of Nero.
In conclusion, Christianity is established on Truth and true Christians must represent the truth without slanting it by presenting selective evidence or omissions of such. When one recognize they were in error or misled by the deceptive Reconstructionist’s historical revisionism, one should humbly admit it, repent, recant, and reveal the truth. One last example of this is the Thomas Nelson publishers company which published David Barton’s last book The Jefferson Lie: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed about Thomas Jefferson, which was pulled out of print because they determined it was full of “embarrassing factual errors, suspiciously selective quotes, and highly misleading claims.”10)Thomas Kidd, “The David Barton Controversy,” World, August 7, 2012, posted at: http://www.worldmag.com/webextra.19820 Barton’s name sells books but the publishers took the financial lost to remove the title from print. The integrity of our witness for the Lord Jesus Christ depends on our honesty being transparent and irreproachable in word and deed before a lost world that needs the Truth. A growing number of people are beginning to see through the lies of the Reconstructionists and are disenchanted by their movement. We must not allow people to be led away from the truth because errors on our behalf.
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