12/11/03
A QUESTION FOR THOSE SEEKING CHRISTIAN GOVERNMENT
By J. Parnell McCarter
Here is a central question those
of us who believe in explicitly Christian civil government should consider:
should we insist on explicitly **Protestant** Christian govt, or simply
explicitly Christian civil government?
It appears to me that Gerald Tritle, like many other American Reconstructionists,
felt that we should work for simply explicitly Christian civil govt. That means he entertained forming an
alliance with Romanists in order to effect "Christian" government.
But meaningful Christian
civil government is necessarily explicitly Protestant, and it should be so
insisted from the outset. This is
because the foundation of sound civil government is sound religion. Romanism, however, is a false form of
Christianity. It denies the true
Biblical gospel of grace and it rejects true worship (eg, by its idolatrous
Mass).
In reality, the Vatican is
little better than the Mafia, manifesting a history of criminality. (Puritan News Weekly has multiple
articles on this topic. Consider one
more recent incident of criminality: VATICAN INSISTED ON SECRECY IN SEX ABUSE
CASES - at http://www.puritans.net/news/vatican080703.htm
.) Romans chapter 1 tells us why the Romish Church keeps falling into these
abuses: God gives men up to these sins for their false religion and
worship.
Back in America's colonial
era, we had explicitly Protestant Christian government. For all of its warts, so did the Great
Britain from which Americans rebelled, to form a secular humanist federal US
government.
Ex-Dominican RC Priest (now
Calvinist) Richard Bennett has made the following insight:
"Major Evangelical
leaders ecumenize with Rome
More and more so-called Evangelicals have accepted Roman
Catholicism and its Pope through the Papacy’s plan of dialogue spelled out in
1964” The success of compromise is
described by Catholic Keith Fournier in his book Evangelical Catholics. He says, “In our meeting room were major
Evangelical leaders I’ve admired for years Dr. Charles Stanley, Dr. Jerry
Falwell, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Pat Robertson, and many others. I found not only a tremendous openness to my
presence, but also a growing respect for my church and a thawing in what had
been hard ice in the past.” Some of
the compromisers have been J.I. Packer, Charles Colson, Robert Schuller, John
R. W. Stott, Os Guinness, Richard Land, Timothy George, T.M. Moore, John
Woodbridge, Tony Campolo, James Dobson, Luis Palau, Franklin Graham, Carl
Henry, Bill Hybels, Jack Van Impe to name but a few. And such self-styled Evangelical institutions as Christianity
Today, Christian Research Institute, Fuller Seminary, Inter-Varsity Christian
Fellowship, Thomas Nelson Publishers, United Bible Societies, Campus Crusade,
Wheaton College, World Magazine, World Vision, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and
Youth for Christ have also aligned themselves with the Roman Catholic
Church. Pope John Paul II has worked
successfully to implement and promote the re-entry of Protestants back into the
Roman Catholic Church."
What should be noted is how
many professed Protestants are forming alliance with Rome in order to try to
effect certain political goals. That
includes Dr. Jerry Falwell, Dr. D. James Kennedy, and Pat Robertson. And it includes many Reconstructionists and
Theonomists as well. But it is a
trap. Protestants, who have been
marginalized in American politics, are promised a seat at the table if they
will form an alliance with Romanists.
See the article at http://www.puritans.net/news/conservatism102203.htm
. Here is a quote from that article:
"What is most
significant in this extract is Judge Dooling's finding that the anti-abortion
movement's main source of energy, organization, and direction has been the
[Roman] Catholic Church. The bishops' Pastoral Plan prompted the creation of
the Moral Majority. Richard A.
Viguerie, a Catholic, is the man most responsible for the development and
success of the New Right, and he will be the first to claim that honor. He was
also involved in the original discussions that led to the creation of the Moral
Majority and, as its fundraiser, can be credited with its financial success.
Paul Weyrich, a [Roman] Catholic, claims credit for originating the idea for
the group and the name itself. In their search for an attractive front man for
the organization, they chose Jerry Falwell, who, according to intimates, has an
insatiable lust for power - and, thus, Moral Majority, Inc., was
born."
It is very tempting for
Reconstructionists as well to form such alliances. But the end result is increasing ecumenism with Rome and
increasing doctrinal compromise. This
seems to have beset Gerald Tritle, and I would submit that it is besetting
other American Reconstructionists and theonomists as well (http://www.puritans.net/news/aapc011303.htm
).
But we should remain faithful to the methods and goals of the Protestant Reformation, which God will restore in His time and His Providence!