Rest in Peace

February 26, 2022

This week, a dedicated but controversial servant of God went to be with Jesus.

https://www.garynorth.com/public/23334.cfm

When I was in my early twenties and an indie Pentecostal with Arminian tendencies, I became aware of Christian Reconstructionism through friends, and for a while I read Gary North (and other authors he published) ravenously. Over a period of a couple years, I probably read most of his then-completed books, including one session where I read his massive Tools of Dominion (nearly 1300 pages) in about three days.

While I ultimately exited the Reconstructionist orbit, largely because I couldn’t make sense of it when I read “with the grain” of numerous biblical texts (not least Galatians), the influence did lead me squarely into a Reformed direction — especially the recurring use of Cornelius Van Til and his emphasis on Romans 1. In particular, I became convinced that the natural man suppresses the truth of God. If that is so, how does he stop? Inexorably, I had to come to the conclusion that such suppression is ultimately only overcome by the sovereign working of God’s Holy Spirit. That is, what the Reformed call “irresistible grace.”

North was controversial not only for his theonomic/Reconstructionist perspective, but also due to his heavy investment (literally and figuratively) in the fiasco of Y2K alarmism, an investment that unquestionably harmed his credibility for some time.

Nonetheless, I thank God for his work, and for the peculiar way God used his influence in my own life.

See you in the resurrection, Gary.