Call Them Heretics So You Don’t Have to Dialogue

Too often the heretical label is used as a huge wrecking ball cascading down upon all who dare stand in its path. We act as though the non-essentials of the faith such as eschatological positions can damn us to hell. With brothers fighting brothers who needs a devil? I truly never dreamed of the day when the greatest persecution of believers would come from within the church. To be constantly crammed into the same theological den as the JW’s is rather disconcerting and completely unjustified.

As many of you know, the late David Chilton, a rather prolific author and brilliant Christian scholar, converted from postmillennialism to preterism near the end of his abbreviated life. He’d had a massive heart attack prior to his commitment to preterism, and many of his detractors attributed a loss of mental clarity with his departure from “orthodoxy”—therefore rather unabashedly crowning him as a de facto heretic. Gary North, writing about his former friend David Chilton’s “conversion” to preterism, made the following comments. (For those that make a living taking every line out of context, by Chilton’s “conversion” it is presupposed that his faith-initiated “conversion to Christ” [that came many years earlier] is the one and only “conversion” of eternal significance) You be the judge as to the appropriateness of North’s tenor.

GARY NORTH: “As the publisher of Days of Vengeance and Paradise Restored, let me say, without hesitation, that the post-1994 David Chilton is indeed a heretic who has denied the Church’s historic creeds and confessions on the question of the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment. [CWC note: Sounds like hyper-credalism to me. Since when were the creeds canonized?]

It is always sad when a defender of the faith abandons orthodoxy on any point. When he abandons it on the very point on which he had made his intellectual reputation, it is double sad. In Chilton’s case, it is pathetic, for no matter what he writes on this topic from now on, his critics will be able to say, justifiably: “His heart attack disrupted his ability to think clearly. It distorted his judgment.”

NORTH continues: “We can and should pray for the restoration of his mind, but to debate with him publicly will almost certainly drive him deeper into this heresy. He will feel compelled to defend himself in public. Let him go in peace. It is not our God-given task to confront him at this point. That is for his local church to do. It is not as though he were some unknown church member who has stumbled into this heresy unknowingly. He is self-conscious, to the extent of a victim of a massive, brain-affecting heart attack can be self-conscious. He is not the man we used to know, as he has admitted here. That man died in 1994, he says. I agree. So, let us say now, David Chilton, RIP.”

Shortly after North’s public flogging, Chilton finally did rest in peace and by faith I’m certain he found himself in the arms of Christ. How sad is it that he went to his grave disfellowshipped by those he faithfully stood by for so many years. Eschatological Phariseeism at it’s best!

I struggled with this for many years and only recently came to realize that no theological camp had a monopoly on being bigoted, narrow-minded and nasty. What’s so sad is these vitriolic types truly think they are doing God’s work—but then again so did Paul when he was persecuting and killing Christians.

I have no problem with those that want to engage in theological debate—matter of fact that’s what we should be doing. Tim Martin kindly sent me his latest co-authored book, “Beyond Creation Science”. Very cool cover I might add! Jim Kessler ought to be proud. There has been quite a bit of acrimony surrounding the underlying views of this book but in my opinion none of the nastiness was necessary. I trust the future will be bright in that regard.

I will review this book to the best of my ability while attempting to read it with as open a mind as I can muster. Granted, I do have a paradigm that does not at this point fit well with what I’ve “heard” to be the book’s conclusions, nonetheless I realize that at one time neither did my preteristic conclusions fit well within my then current futurist presuppositions. Times can change and we all need to be given space to be effective Bereans.

At any rate, this is what it should be all about. Engaging one another in dialogue and when not coming to a meeting of the minds on non-essential doctrinal issues, agreeing to continue to love one another in the bond of peace. Some have snarled at this notion as though I am suggesting that we engage in a sort of doctrinally deprived lovefest. Hogwash! I think we should be forever mindful that the greatest theologian of all times was also the author of the “love chapter”. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 to the most morally decrepit church in existence. He chided them to attain to sound doctrine and righteous living but not in the absence of brotherly love.

There are foundational principles regarding Christ that set all Christians apart from the cults and they are the unifying positions that should be the basis for our love one to another. But the cowardice of name calling and audacity of deliberate doctrinal distortions should be put away as we mature in Christ. I think some of the most aggressive “heretic-hunters” are those who hail under the reformed label. “Reformed and always reforming?” Great motto but rarely employed.

I will say that we have good reason to adhere to the doctrines of our forefathers and only through painful toil, careful exegetical study and much prayer, should we ever consider departing from them. I’m not bound by creeds but I am guided by them.

It’s sheer folly that preterism is blamed for lascivious living and a disdain for orthodoxy. That’s utter nonsense and what I find rather curious is those making these outrageous claims, although avowedly committed to preterism for many years, did not lapse into this supposedly guaranteed formula for antinomianism. The free exercise of sin is not a respecter of eschatological positions. Show me an adulterous preterist and I’ll show you 10 adulterous futurists (simply because there are more futurists).

The largest churches in my home town have endured a number of cataclysmic events over the past 3-5 years. Each has lost its pastor due to adultery and each of the pastors shared the typical premillennial dispensational paradigm. Should I come to the silly conclusion that eschatology was at the root of their spiritual failing? Of course not. It was merely a matter of James’ warnings coming to fruition. They didn’t guard themselves from themselves. The devil didn’t make them do it. They were carried away by their own lusts and none of us are immune from the worst kinds of unrighteous behavior. Surely we aren’t naive enough to believe that eschatological positions automatically placed them in moral jeopardy.

• Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:13-15 (ESV)

I’m sick and tired of this nonsense of being told that preterism generates antinomianism. Some have even gone so far as trying to create some sort of a deprogramming for those who are “snared by preterism”. If they lapsed into willful sin then they need look no further than their walk with God. It is only a moment by moment faith walk with Christ that shields any of us from the snare of sin.

I am a bondservant of Christ Jesus and it is unadulterated rubbish to believe that preterism will automatically yield lives of lawlessness. I am committed to the law of Christ which supersedes all other laws last I checked. If some still want to live in the bondage of the Old Covenant, avoiding picking up sticks on the Sabbath, believing that this is somehow going to win them favor with God, then that’s their prerogative.

• Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 1 Peter 2:16-18 (ESV)

Freedom is never a license to live lives of debauchery. How dare those tell me that preterism will force me down that road. Shame on them! They ought to speak for themselves and stop transferring their own sinful leanings to all preterists. No one should be ignorant enough to think that believing that the Lord is faithful to do exactly as He planned in the time that it was prophesied, is obligated to deviate from the spiritual path that leads to maturity in Christ. Believing that our Lord faithfully returned in 70 AD does not give anyone the freedom to live a life contrary to His teaching any more than it does those who choose not to take Jesus at His word. No one who calls themselves a Christian is given the moral license to willfully violate the teachings and commands of Christ. Those who fully recognize His miraculous coming in real time should be ones dedicated to walking that very narrow road.

• I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Galatians 5:12-15 (ESV)

Very powerful language indeed! No one can doubt the Apostle Paul’s clarity. No one should trifle with our freedom in Christ but no one should use their freedom to abuse the grace of God. We live lives pleasing to God out of gratitude not from compulsion.

Some want to continue “to bite and devour one another” over doctrines that are not foundational. I’m quite frankly sick of it. Thanks Paul for that admonition!