A Nation Reconstructed

TimeWatch Editorial
June 14, 2016

There is an agenda that is not well known. An agenda that is relevant to events that occur completely under the radar, and yet of such weighty significance that if we continue to be unaware, will profoundly impact our lives. This agenda that is being driven by something called, Christian Reconstructionism.

“Reconstructionism is a theology that arose out of conservative Presbyterianism (Reformed and Orthodox), which proposes that contemporary application of the laws of Old Testament Israel, or "Biblical Law," is the basis for reconstructing society toward the Kingdom of God on earth. Reconstructionism argues that the Bible is to be the governing text for all areas of life--such as government, education, law, and the arts, not merely "social" or "moral" issues like pornography, homosexuality, and abortion. Reconstructionists have formulated a "Biblical world view" and "Biblical principles" by which to examine contemporary matters. Reconstructionist theologian David Chilton succinctly describes this view: "The Christian goal for the world is the universal development of Biblical theocratic republics, in which every area of life is redeemed and placed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the rule of God's law." Political Research Associates,Christian Reconstructionism, March/June 1994

Rousas John Rushdoony, the author of the book, The Institutes of Biblical Law, creates the basis for this philosophical approach. He assaults the concept of a democracy this way. "The heresy of democracy has since the days of colonial New England worked havoc in church and state." Pushing the envelope even further he continues, “Christianity and democracy are inevitably enemies. " and as if that were not enough the states "Christianity is completely and radically anti-democratic; as far as he is concerned, Christianity is rather a commitment to spiritual aristocracy. Rushdoony, when his book was published in 1973 had apparently hoped for a gradual reformation. His intellectualism, I would imagine did not seem to allow him to dream of a violent revolution. But others who hold his convictions are not as gentle.

“Epitomizing the Reconstructionist idea of Biblical "warfare" is the centrality of capital punishment under Biblical Law. Doctrinal leaders (notably Rushdoony, Gary North, and Bahnsen) call for the death penalty for a wide range of crimes in addition to such contemporary capital crimes as rape, kidnapping, and murder. Death is also the punishment for apostasy (abandonment of the faith), heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, "sodomy or homosexuality," incest, striking a parent, incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and, in the case of women, "unchastity before marriage."Political Research Associates,Christian Reconstructionism, March/June 1994

Often one hears of an assault upon an individual because of their lifestyle choices and even those who do not approve of those choices are stunned by the event. But lurking not too far beneath the surface, there is a silent assent that is not a yet revealed.

“According to Gary North, women who have abortions should be publicly executed, "along with those who advised them to abort their children." Rushdoony concludes: "God's government prevails, and His alternatives are clear-cut: either men and nations obey His laws, or God invokes the death penalty against them." The potential for bloodthirsty episodes on the order of the Salem witchcraft trials or the Spanish Inquisition is inadvertently revealed by Reconstructionist theologian Rev. Ray Sutton, who claims that the Reconstructed Biblical theocracies would be "happy" places, to which people would flock because "capital punishment is one of the best evangelistic tools of a society."Political Research Associates,Christian Reconstructionism, March/June 1994

Imagine a crowd of people flocking to the execution of those who failed to comply with the regulations of the theocratic authority. Imagine this event being described as the “best evangelistic tool of society!” Gary North in his book, “Political Polytheism, The Myth of Pluralism (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989), p. 87 says:

“The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church's public marks of the covenant - baptism. and holy communion - must be denied citizenship, just as they were in ancient Israel. The way to achieve this political goal is through successful mass evangelism followed by constitutional revision.”Political Polytheism,The Myth of Pluralism (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989), p. 87

This mass evangelism referred to may not include the power of choice that we have become accustomed to. Perhaps the choice will be simply to live or die.

Cameron A. Bowen