Christian Reconstruction: What It Is, What It Isn't

by Gary North, Gary DeMar

inst for Christian economics

Genres: Theology, Audiobook, Christian

Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

About the author

Gary North received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. He served on the Senior Staff of the Foundation for Economic Education, in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, and was the president of the Institute for Christian Economics. Dr. North’s essays and reviews have appeared in three dozen magazines and journals, including The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The American Spectator, and others.

Reviews

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

North and DeMar are fed up with those who attack the Christian Reconstruction (CR) movement who cannot accurately differentiate between what CR holds and what it denies. This phenomenon is not allocated to to CR alone, though you may feel like it is by the end of this book, but it is a real problem for really any issue that doesn't have a mass consensus, which means everything.

The CR movement is pretty quick at releasing rebuttals to any who attack their position, as well as asking for debates and lectures from the opposition. In order to assist them, the CR folk have released this particular book, outlining the main tenets of the CR belief as well as the common, and sometimes not so common, misconceptions of the CR movement. Some of these misconceptions have still carried over since the release of this book, but there are new misconceptions in our age today that need answered, especially with the new reconstructionists that have boarded the train since, and have brought new and/or altered beliefs with them concerning things like general equity, cherem principle, and so forth. So perhaps we will see a new edition of this work. In any event, people are going to misconstrue your position and you have to be ready to respond and clear it up when it inevitably happens.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A christian answer and solution to the secular “social justice” movement. Based on presuppositionalism, Calvinism and a love for God’s law. This book answers the common misunderstandings and slanders commonly found on the internet.

[Scott Guillory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid primer to Christian Reconstruction. The movement received so many falsely guided accusations that a book like this needed to be written. It is sad to see that 30 years later, people are still misrepresenting this view of God’s comprehensive and redemptive out working plan for His world. The end of the book provides a compendium of books addressing each of the topics that were presented throughout the book. I commend it.

[Steven H · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE RESPONSE OF CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTIONISTS TO CRITICISMS

Gary Kilgore North (born 1942) is head of the Institute for Christian Economics, and a prominent Christian Reconstructionist, who has written widely on many topics (including postmillennial eschatology). Gary DeMar is the president of American Vision, and a popular writer on eschatology, Christian Reconstruction, and Americanism. This 1991 book is the authors' response to various criticisms of the Christian Reconstructionist movement.

They assert, "(Premillennialism) means that nothing positive that Christians do today will survive the Great Tribulation. All our good works will inevitably be destroyed, either pre-tribulationally... or post-tribulationally... There will be no institutional continuity between today's church with the church of the future millennium. This is a denial of history... Everything Christians leave behind will be swallowed up." (Pg. 67)

They clarify, "Reconstructionists believe in a 'minimal state.' The purpose of getting involved in politics... is to REDUCE the power of the State. Reconstructionists are not calling on the State to mandate prayer and Bible reading in the public (governmental) schools, as most fundamentalists advocate. Neither do we advocate teaching 'Creation Science.' It is the non-Reconstructionists who petition the State for greater influence of the Christian worldview areas over which the Bible gives the state no jurisdiction." (Pg. 92)

They argue, "Our critics so far have been utterly incompetent. How do I know this? Because I know the 'soft underbelly' of the Christian Reconstructionist position. Every insider knows where the weak chinks are in his movement's armor. The best test of a critic's mastery of his opponent's system is his ability to go straight for his opponent's weakest spots. He will not be sidetracked. If he can do this, he will draw blood. He will create consternation and confusion within his opponent's camp. This has not happened so far... If the critics had answers, we would have heard by now." (Pg. 175)

This is obviously a contentious book, but it will be essential reading for anyone interested in the modern Christian Reconstruction movement.

[Ned Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the free podcast audio recording of this book. I was continually blown away that this book was written in 1991. The concepts in here would have all been foreign to me until about a year ago. It’s crazy to me that this great defense of Christian Reconstruction/Theonomy/Post Millennialism existed when I was a kid. I really didn’t know that any of this kind of teaching existed, and also did not know that Post Millenialism was a common historic Christian view.
One of the sections I found most enlightening was where North/DeMar show where secular humanism and pietism are aligned against this line of reasoning:

“The humanists want Christians to stay out of politics as Christians. The pietists agree. The humanists deny that there are valid biblical blueprints that apply to this world. The pietists agree. The humanists argue that Old Testament laws, if applied today, would produce tyranny. The pietists agree. The human- ists say that the civil government should be run in terms of religiously neutral laws. The pietists agree. The humanists deny that the God of the Bible brings predictable sanctions in history against societies that do not obey His law. The pietists agree. The humanists deny that the preaching of the gospel will ever fundamentally change the way the world operates. The pietists agree. The humanists say that Christians should sit in the back of cultural bus. The pietists agree. This is why both sides hate the message of Christian Reconstruction.”

[William Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the topic. As is guessable, half of the book is a brief outline of the main tenants and the other is responding to common critiques and rebuttals. The biographical information of the early proponents of the movement was particularly interesting.

[Aurora Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

A decent summary book of what Christian Reconstruction is (aka, theonomy, which is a subset of dominionist theology, which is a subset of Christian nationalism).

[Rusten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the basic tenets of what has come to be known as "Christian Reconstruction". Much of the book addresses fallacious accusations against CR.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a solid explanation and defense of the position.

[Christopher Hachet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I find this authors world view toxic.

[Derek Herrema · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent 👍👍

[Jesus Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don’t understand what a Christian Reconstructionist is, this is the book for you! This is a handy book for dealing with common misconceptions, objections, and bad assertions about the CR movement. Will plan to keep the book close to my hand as I use it for future references!

[Rory Fry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knocks down many of the arguments against Theonomy. Their Postmill descriptions are great in this title.