Dominion & Common Grace

An Economic Commentary on the Bible

by Gary North

If the millennium is followed by great rebellion (Rev. 20:9-10), how can these rebels have been Christians? If they are not Christians, how can the millennium itself be Christian? What is the relationship in history between saving grace and common grace? North deals especially with the hard question of the weakness of the Church in history, and the power of the God-haters in history. How is it that those who hate Christ seem to prosper, while Christians seem to be powerless?

Genres: Theology, Cultural, Economics, Christianity, Christian, Politics, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

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

[Scott Guillory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot to chew on in this one.

[Jesus Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by North, though I read him online occasionally. He makes a convincing case for postmillenialism in this book, though that's an indirect purpose. His focus is on common grace and its role in the dominion given to Christians.

He argues mostly with and against Van Til in showing how he was right, but inconsistent in his epistemology and eschatology. North has a very interesting, and straight forward approach to interpreting scripture that I found very refreshing.

There may be better books out there on the topic, but I really liked this one and was really helped by it.

[Joshua Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is red meat. Even if you do not agree with North’s view of the covenants or specific application of civil law, as I, you can still appreciate and glean from the principles he lays out and his work on the purpose of common grace.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[Michael Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book has some good concepts relating to the Old Testament in helping you to frame your thinking on the idea that God gives gifts to men whether they acknowledge Him or not.

[Jason Garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good.

[Rory Fry · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Dr North’s best books.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reconstructionist movement failed to get off the ground for many reasons, but one reason was the constant internal bickering on peripheral matters. North begins his writing by pointing out what a big phony Van til was and how he regurgitates the same writing in all of his books without any new original thoughts. North has equal if not more problems with Rushdoony, claiming apostasy and a dereliction of the Gospel in his work "baptized patriarchalism". Even Bahnsen felt the sharpness of North's words, which were all directed back to North from the aforementioned three men. Despite this, the Recon movement was able to pump out quality writings throughout the years, and this one addressed the common misconceptions surrounding common grace.

Mostly a rebuttal of Van til's work on common grace, north makes the point that there is nothing common about grace. It always is used in salvific context throughout scripture. Grace is only applied to Christians and not to the unbeliever. Providence is given to the unbeliever, but this is entirely different than grace according to North. North does an above average job of substantiating his claims and for the most part, I agree with Him. Further, North gives a treatise on postmillenialism throughout the book, but this is not the focus by any means; it is just a necessary tangent one has to address when dealing with the unbeliever and the believer juxtaposed throughout redemptive history.

[Bryan Kuranaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way that Christians are to advance the kingdom of God is through common grace, eschatology, and biblical law. In finishing this book, I would agree with others that this book is Gary North at his best. He lays out a solid argument for how God operates within history and how He uses common grace to advance Jesus' kingdom. The non-elect will experience favors from God, but not His favor. All they gain in this world will eventually be given to the Christians. All the common grace that the non-elect receive is burning coals on their head, preparing them for the wrath to come. It is God's common grace that restrains the non-elect from living consistently within their worldview and eventually committing suicide (Prov. 8:36).

[Aurora Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first major statement of another big theme for North - that he believes he has unlocked the "secret" of the covenant - what he calls 5-point covenantalism. In essence, this book argues that the eternal war (antithesis) between God and Satan as embodied in Christians and non-christians in human life results in the non-Christians increasing their depravity as God curses them for their unbelief, and Christians advancing in what he views as righteousness.

[Binoy Chacko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazed at the intellectual rigor of Gary's arguments.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love reading Gary North. Got a little board of this one. Can't remember if I actually finished thus one.

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of what I've read from Gary North touches on his theories regarding biblically based economics. This is the first purely religious work of his that I've read. I admit not being able to internalize all of his arguments ... what I'm doing reading Christian eschatology is yet another question! But he does present his arguments in a clear and logical fashion, recognizes that Communism, for example, has utilized religious concepts and ideas as a means of control. He differentiates between "common grace," available to all people, including non-believers, and "special grace," reserved for the committed Christian, specifically a Christian who follows the precepts of Reformed Christianity. He sees ahead to current times (this book was published in 1987) to expressions of more liberal theologies.

[Chris Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christian economist Gary North explores the concept of Common Grace and takes on the likes of Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, and an African Tribe call Ik. There is much good here but equally there is stuff that is strange and unhelpful. The appendix on the history of the Reformed concept of Common Grace in the U.S. is worth the price of the book.

[Courtney Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

North does a good job of showing how common grace bolsters the case for postmillennialism. But, his interpretation of Revelation 20 (though the prevailing view in post-mil/preterist circles)comes like a bucket of cold water on the whole project. The book (and the case for postmillennialism) would be stronger if he would at least explore Warfield's "eschatological universalism"....

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good overview of the doctrine of common grace from the perspective of theonomic postmillenialism. It was insightful, detailed, and well-written, and gave me loads to think about.