The Aim of Antioch

I am not in the theonomist circles, but I know folks who are. The proximity of Moscow, Idaho to Alberta, and the influence in Canada of Joe Boot’s work with his Ezra Institute, mean that their Antioch Declaration is relevant for me and some in my church. At the same time, my thoughts are only marginal, but they may offer some points of reflection for others.

1. The aim of the Antioch Declaration targets antisemitism. The Reformed tradition has a high Jewish interest. Whether classic postmillennialism (Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope), or the views of Puritans, the Free Church of Scotland, Spurgeon and more. Historic Premillennialist, Robert Murray M’Cheyne lead a Mission of Inquiry to travel Europe and the Middle East in the 19^th century to see the state of the Jews and to evangelize them.

2.  Holocaust denialism has existed in Christian Reconstruction circles. Specifically the writings of Rushdoony can be examined.  On Holocaust Denialism viewed according to historical method, see Trueman, Historical Fallacies. (The Antioch Declaration would seem to vindicate Trueman’s exhortations here).

3. The Antioch Declaration attempts to be a broad corrective to a movement with a few specific actors and a range of sentiment, even a ‘mood’. Is this what Kevin DeYoung was getting at when he claimed there was a ‘Moscow Mood’? If the Antioch Declaration is legitimate, is it the vindication of Kevin DeYoung’s concern, and the Moscow brothers’ admission that a course correction needed to be made, or at least a new trail to be blazed?

4. Admittedly the Kinist and ethno-nationalist sentiments have been around Moscow ID for a while, as documented by historian Crawford Gribben. Places like Northern Idaho, Whitefish, Montana have long been known to be centers for Aryan Nations, paramilitaries and White Pride groups. CrossPolitic’s Gabe Rench admitted as much.

5. Wilson and Moscow circles have always been adjacent, but not in agreement with the kinists in the area. Wilson had support for his well-known exposition of black Confederates, the nature of slavery in the South, and other questions that essentially blazed the trail for other men to explore those forbidden topics. What Wilson did in opening up the issue of slavery to a critical re-evaluation,  other men are doing in asking about Germany in WWII.

6. Can Christian men explore the themes of books like The Camp of the Saints? Is there wisdom to be had from Christians in other parts of the world when they have encountered mass immigration of other ethnicities or tribes into their countries? What do Han Chinese Christians or South Sudanese Christians or Tamil Christians say about these issues?

7. In the document, there are various claims about motives, assessments about degrees of maturity, and other spiritually subjective issues, that are being discerned based on outward works. The New Testament authorizes the assessment of works which indicate the heart, but the context of accountability in the local church is presupposed. When making assessments, it is always difficult to do when there is no context of accountability.

8. The style of the document lends itself to blogs or podcasts rather than an ecumenical statement. The rhetorical style lacks precision, making unsupported but assumed claims. The writing style is often ‘purple prose’ which undermines a confessional statement by unnecessary verbiage. The best ecumenical statements have a laconic style.

9. Into a podcasting genre, the Antioch Declaration may be the kind of statement that fits the new medium. Possibly the framers knew that a concise and precise statement would not rise to the rhetorical challenge presented in the debate. Or maybe a podcast-accent to a statement is the product of the now accepted rhetorical framing, or meme-ing of everything. If that’s the case, the statement may be in that rhetorical genre on purpose, not by chance.

10. The major issues it seems are the division between young men and older men. The hushing of younger men by older men is common throughout history. More recently older Evangelicals have hushed younger male Evangelicals often in the cause of NeverTrumpism. So these same young men who looked to the Christian Reconstruction/Theonomy leaders for permission to question Evangelical promotion of Never Trumpism, they are now disillusioned that they are getting scolded by the same men who ‘liberated’ them. At the same time, there the problem of ‘young men’ comes from a lack of accountable discipleship in local churches. Are the poasters and memers accountable members of local churches, or are they mercenary anons?

11. The threat of Jewish “Judaising” as in Galatia, is matched by the incipient demands of Hellenizing.  Hellenistic Judaism saw Jewish males attempt to reverse their circumcision and participate in the gymnasia of Jerusalem with its typically Greek naked exercise regimen. Jews were under intense pressure to assimilate to these cultural norms. Alternatively, the Judaisers wanted Gentile Christians to adopt the marks of Judaism, namely to get circumcised. But Paul said there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision but a new creation. (6.2).

12. Questions about affinity, whether marital, tribal or ethnic can lack the priority of the New Testament which is, according to John 3, “you must be born again”, in other words, “born from above”. There remain “household codes” and the distinctions between the ethne but their unity is in Christ, and so, having another layer of cross-national bond, a bond in the Spirit. The Spirit creates bonds between people that otherwise did not exist. To the person who has been alienated from their family, tribe, or nation due to the fallen corruption of the age, those alienated people are never alone. They have another family of “the brethren” which is spiritual and true.

13. The freedom to ask questions ought to continue. Asking questions about the complexities of WWII, asking questions about the ethical decisions of the Allies, etc. However, the freedom to ask questions must be accompanied by the discipline to speak the truth, to refuse exaggeration, and to welcome sharpening in order to clarify what can and can’t be proven. This is the Western way, if one is to be sought. It is the Christian way, which capably hammered out boundary markers for insiders and outsiders in confessional statements that reflected all of Scriptures’ teaching, without being verbose or imprecise.