douglas wilson
Douglas James Wilson (born 1953) is a conservative Reformed and
evangelical theologian, pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, faculty member at New Saint Andrews College, and author and speaker. Wilson is known for his writing on classical Christian education, Reformed theology, as well as general cultural commentary. His most controversial work is Southern Slavery, As It Was, which he coauthored with Steve Wilkins. He is also featured in the documentary film Collision documenting his debates with anti-theist Christopher Hitchens on their promotional tour for the book Is Christianity Good for the World?.
evangelical theologian, pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, faculty member at New Saint Andrews College, and author and speaker. Wilson is known for his writing on classical Christian education, Reformed theology, as well as general cultural commentary. His most controversial work is Southern Slavery, As It Was, which he coauthored with Steve Wilkins. He is also featured in the documentary film Collision documenting his debates with anti-theist Christopher Hitchens on their promotional tour for the book Is Christianity Good for the World?.
Douglas Wilson
The primacy of worship: I have already mentioned the importance of worship in our thinking. The late Andrew Breitbart used to argue that culture was upstream from politics. This is exactly correct, but we would also add that worship is upstream from culture. Henry Van Til once said that culture was religion externalized. If that is the case, as we believe it is, then America is currently worshiping some pug-ugly gods. As we work on our response to all of this, we distinguish the church from the kingdom. To use the metaphor of a medieval town, the church is at the center of the town, and the kingdom would be all the shops and homes. The church is the ministry of Word and sacrament, but the worship conducted there shapes and informs everything else. Church and kingdom are distinct, but they are all under the authority of Christ and His Word. And worship on the Lord’s Day is the most important aspect of our lives.
Biblical absolutism: We have rejected the Enlightenment project, root and branch. We do not want the Bible to occupy a position of authority that is limited to some private devotional space. We want that at a minimum, of course, but we also believe that the Word brings everything under judgment, which means that we do not subject it to our judgments. Human reason is a gift from God, but reason has to be understood as the rods and cones of the eye, and not as the source of light. Reason sees light, but does not create it. Our reason enables us to search out what God is telling us through His Word, and through the way He created the world. Eyes can see a flashlight without aspiring to become a flashlight.
Chestertonian Calvinism: Our desire is to learn how to take the truth of God seriously without taking ourselves seriously. What we are after is historic Reformed theology, but with a crisp citrus-like aftertaste.
Not wilting under criticism: It probably does not come as a shock to discover that not everyone thinks we are wonderful. Some of what we get is good faith criticism, which we always want to welcome, and want to answer in kind. But many of the incoming attacks are bizarre, outlandish, off-the-chain, and slanderous. We welcome this kind also, but mostly because Jesus requires us to (Matt. 5:11-12). And what this has actually done is create a very robust immune system for us. As mentioned earlier, many people have decided to move here, and in order to do so now they almost always have to wade through a torrent of abuse that has been directed at us. That means that those who sign up have already seen all sorts of allegations. The fact that we have weathered this kind of hostility, and the fact that it is taken in high good humor, has been particularly attractive to those Christians who discovered over the last three years that their pastors and elders had the ecclesiastical equivalent of a glass jaw.
Practical Christian living: We have sought to imitate the pattern that the apostle Paul used in his epistle to the Ephesians. There are the first three chapters that are crammed full of indicative statements, which we believe embody the fullness of Reformed theology. What we find there is credenda—things to believe. But with that foundation poured, the apostle goes on to instruct the saints on how to live. The last three chapters of Ephesians provide the agenda—things to do. Pursue unity. Love one another. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husbands. Children, obey your parents. The end result is rich doctrinal teaching that has a very practical bent.
Emphasis on thoroughgoing Christian education: From the earliest days of our ministry here, we have emphasized the importance of Christian education for our covenant children. The result of this emphasis is that virtually no children in our community are in the government school system, and approximately 30 percent of the children in our entire town are receiving a private Christian education. One goal, and it is not an outlandish goal considering, is to see government education drop below 50 percent.
Worldview thinking: Owen Barfield once said of C.S. Lewis that what he thought about everything was contained within what he said about anything. That is as succinct a definition of worldview thinking as anyone could ask for. We believe that everything is connected under the Lordship of Christ, and we seek self-consciously to make those connections in our minds as we engage with the culture around us. We want people to remember that they are Christians all the time, and there is never an appropriate time to “switch it off.” As Abraham Kuyper once claimed, there is not one square inch of the universe over which the Lord Jesus does not lay authoritative claim.
Postmillennial optimism: One unique doctrinal characteristic of our community is the eschatological optimism. Most evangelicals in North America are premillennial in their convictions, which means that it is often assumed that when the surrounding culture goes to blazes, this is only to be expected, and is yet another sign that the end is near. But our understanding of scriptural prophecy is different, in that we expect that before the Lord returns, the world will be successfully evangelized, and that includes America. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Is. 11:9; Hab. 2:14). This is the reason why clown world doesn’t have us quite as discouraged as it does some others.
A biblical aesthetic: We believe that Christians need to do better than to cultivate merely two-thirds of the triad of “truth, goodness, and beauty.” Christians historically have contributed a great deal to the treasury of the world’s aesthetic glories—from the music of Bach, to the lines of Salisbury cathedral, to the poetry of George Herbert—but we believe that for the last century or so, we have unfortunately started to mail it in. We believe that Christians need to be called back to their responsibility to see aesthetics as an essential part of our apologetic to the world. The reformation and revival we pray for will absolutely need to include a reformation of the arts. So much of the modern and postmodern world is just mud-fence ugly.
Masculine authority: Because we are not taking our cues from the world’s egalitarianism, but rather from Scripture, we believe that God’s pattern for life between the sexes is that men are to provide for and protect their wives and families. The husband is to serve as the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 5:25). And in the church, the Bible absolutely forbids women to teach or to exercise authority over men (1 Tim. 2:12). Not only do we accept all of this on Scripture’s authority, we are also resolved not to feel the least bit sheepish about it. What this has resulted in is that our men are not made to feel ashamed of their masculinity, but rather are exhorted to pursue the honor of Christ with it, and to use it as an instrument with which they love their families.
Feminine glory: Far from this resulting in downtrodden women with exasperated looks on their faces, this has had the effect of liberating our women, not from the men, but from the lies of feminism. Scripture teaches that when husbands love their wives sacrificially, the end result is that the wives flourish in loveliness. The husband is the head, but the wife is the crown. But we do not believe that feminine loveliness is of the porcelain doll variety, but rather is a Christian version of the sort that knows how to “make a dress out of a feed bag, and make a man out of you.” It turns out that women are much happier striving to be first-rate women, rather than trying to struggle along as third-rate men. And the same truth, flipped around, applies to the men also.
--Douglas Wilson; American Conservative; What’s Going On in Moscow, Idaho? 10/16/23
Biblical absolutism: We have rejected the Enlightenment project, root and branch. We do not want the Bible to occupy a position of authority that is limited to some private devotional space. We want that at a minimum, of course, but we also believe that the Word brings everything under judgment, which means that we do not subject it to our judgments. Human reason is a gift from God, but reason has to be understood as the rods and cones of the eye, and not as the source of light. Reason sees light, but does not create it. Our reason enables us to search out what God is telling us through His Word, and through the way He created the world. Eyes can see a flashlight without aspiring to become a flashlight.
Chestertonian Calvinism: Our desire is to learn how to take the truth of God seriously without taking ourselves seriously. What we are after is historic Reformed theology, but with a crisp citrus-like aftertaste.
Not wilting under criticism: It probably does not come as a shock to discover that not everyone thinks we are wonderful. Some of what we get is good faith criticism, which we always want to welcome, and want to answer in kind. But many of the incoming attacks are bizarre, outlandish, off-the-chain, and slanderous. We welcome this kind also, but mostly because Jesus requires us to (Matt. 5:11-12). And what this has actually done is create a very robust immune system for us. As mentioned earlier, many people have decided to move here, and in order to do so now they almost always have to wade through a torrent of abuse that has been directed at us. That means that those who sign up have already seen all sorts of allegations. The fact that we have weathered this kind of hostility, and the fact that it is taken in high good humor, has been particularly attractive to those Christians who discovered over the last three years that their pastors and elders had the ecclesiastical equivalent of a glass jaw.
Practical Christian living: We have sought to imitate the pattern that the apostle Paul used in his epistle to the Ephesians. There are the first three chapters that are crammed full of indicative statements, which we believe embody the fullness of Reformed theology. What we find there is credenda—things to believe. But with that foundation poured, the apostle goes on to instruct the saints on how to live. The last three chapters of Ephesians provide the agenda—things to do. Pursue unity. Love one another. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husbands. Children, obey your parents. The end result is rich doctrinal teaching that has a very practical bent.
Emphasis on thoroughgoing Christian education: From the earliest days of our ministry here, we have emphasized the importance of Christian education for our covenant children. The result of this emphasis is that virtually no children in our community are in the government school system, and approximately 30 percent of the children in our entire town are receiving a private Christian education. One goal, and it is not an outlandish goal considering, is to see government education drop below 50 percent.
Worldview thinking: Owen Barfield once said of C.S. Lewis that what he thought about everything was contained within what he said about anything. That is as succinct a definition of worldview thinking as anyone could ask for. We believe that everything is connected under the Lordship of Christ, and we seek self-consciously to make those connections in our minds as we engage with the culture around us. We want people to remember that they are Christians all the time, and there is never an appropriate time to “switch it off.” As Abraham Kuyper once claimed, there is not one square inch of the universe over which the Lord Jesus does not lay authoritative claim.
Postmillennial optimism: One unique doctrinal characteristic of our community is the eschatological optimism. Most evangelicals in North America are premillennial in their convictions, which means that it is often assumed that when the surrounding culture goes to blazes, this is only to be expected, and is yet another sign that the end is near. But our understanding of scriptural prophecy is different, in that we expect that before the Lord returns, the world will be successfully evangelized, and that includes America. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Is. 11:9; Hab. 2:14). This is the reason why clown world doesn’t have us quite as discouraged as it does some others.
A biblical aesthetic: We believe that Christians need to do better than to cultivate merely two-thirds of the triad of “truth, goodness, and beauty.” Christians historically have contributed a great deal to the treasury of the world’s aesthetic glories—from the music of Bach, to the lines of Salisbury cathedral, to the poetry of George Herbert—but we believe that for the last century or so, we have unfortunately started to mail it in. We believe that Christians need to be called back to their responsibility to see aesthetics as an essential part of our apologetic to the world. The reformation and revival we pray for will absolutely need to include a reformation of the arts. So much of the modern and postmodern world is just mud-fence ugly.
Masculine authority: Because we are not taking our cues from the world’s egalitarianism, but rather from Scripture, we believe that God’s pattern for life between the sexes is that men are to provide for and protect their wives and families. The husband is to serve as the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 5:25). And in the church, the Bible absolutely forbids women to teach or to exercise authority over men (1 Tim. 2:12). Not only do we accept all of this on Scripture’s authority, we are also resolved not to feel the least bit sheepish about it. What this has resulted in is that our men are not made to feel ashamed of their masculinity, but rather are exhorted to pursue the honor of Christ with it, and to use it as an instrument with which they love their families.
Feminine glory: Far from this resulting in downtrodden women with exasperated looks on their faces, this has had the effect of liberating our women, not from the men, but from the lies of feminism. Scripture teaches that when husbands love their wives sacrificially, the end result is that the wives flourish in loveliness. The husband is the head, but the wife is the crown. But we do not believe that feminine loveliness is of the porcelain doll variety, but rather is a Christian version of the sort that knows how to “make a dress out of a feed bag, and make a man out of you.” It turns out that women are much happier striving to be first-rate women, rather than trying to struggle along as third-rate men. And the same truth, flipped around, applies to the men also.
--Douglas Wilson; American Conservative; What’s Going On in Moscow, Idaho? 10/16/23
Douglas Wilson
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe”
Proverbs 18:10. In times of trouble, people naturally and instinctively resort to their god. If their God is the God of the Bible, they cry out to Him and are delivered. But if there is a natural disaster, say, and they cry out for FEMA to arrive, this shows that their faith is in the power of the state, in the power of government. In times of trial, people turn to their gods, and this is why times of trial are truly revelatory. Times of trial reveal the names of the gods. Only Jehovah is capable of providing the kind of protection that we most certainly need in a world like this one. As this proverb puts it, His name is strong tower. Notice that it is His name that is a strong tower. Remember that when the difficulty erupts into our lives, it is His name that we call out. His name is a strong tower." --Douglas Wilson
Proverbs 18:10. In times of trouble, people naturally and instinctively resort to their god. If their God is the God of the Bible, they cry out to Him and are delivered. But if there is a natural disaster, say, and they cry out for FEMA to arrive, this shows that their faith is in the power of the state, in the power of government. In times of trial, people turn to their gods, and this is why times of trial are truly revelatory. Times of trial reveal the names of the gods. Only Jehovah is capable of providing the kind of protection that we most certainly need in a world like this one. As this proverb puts it, His name is strong tower. Notice that it is His name that is a strong tower. Remember that when the difficulty erupts into our lives, it is His name that we call out. His name is a strong tower." --Douglas Wilson
April 28, 2023: 9 Marks: Book Review: Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America, by Crawford Gribben
Amidst growing societal pressure and a waning consensus on the best manner of Christian political engagement, American evangelicals face a torrent of suggestions for how to relate to the public square. Some opt for direct action on local, state, and national levels. Others avoid such activism. Some seek to build think tanks, schools, and other institutions in global centers of power. Others call for a strategic retreat in order to build a new society. Each movement has its arguments and growing body of literature. But it’s this last group that forms the subject of Crawford Gribben’s Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America: Christian Reconstruction in the Pacific Northwest. What’s appealed to survivalists in previous generations has now found a following among American evangelicals. In particular, hundreds of evangelicals have moved northwest in the hopes of building a better society. |
Gribben’s description focuses on a few growing communities in the Pacific Northwest. Most notably—and, in Gribben’s view, the most successful—is the one in Moscow, Idaho led by Douglas Wilson and others. Through careful research and personal interviews, Gribben describes some of the history, beliefs, and challenges facing these communities, as well as the troubling past of similar movements. |
March 8, 2023: Religion News Service: In North Idaho, religious and secular activists work to fight Christian nationalism
In Rehberg’s hometown of Moscow, Pastor Doug Wilson, a well-known purveyor of Christian nationalism who has helped found two churches in the area, as well as a K-12 school and a college, has talked about making Moscow “a Christian town.” With a public university campus and a tradition of independent thinkers, Moscow seems unlikely to fulfill Wilson’s vision. And some of the pastor’s biggest detractors are fellow Christians: Local Episcopal leaders, Rehberg said, have had “significant conversations” with other mainline Christian leaders about how to be an “alternative voice.”
In Rehberg’s hometown of Moscow, Pastor Doug Wilson, a well-known purveyor of Christian nationalism who has helped found two churches in the area, as well as a K-12 school and a college, has talked about making Moscow “a Christian town.” With a public university campus and a tradition of independent thinkers, Moscow seems unlikely to fulfill Wilson’s vision. And some of the pastor’s biggest detractors are fellow Christians: Local Episcopal leaders, Rehberg said, have had “significant conversations” with other mainline Christian leaders about how to be an “alternative voice.”
Feb 22, 2023: Religion News Service: How big Christian nationalism has come courting in North Idaho
Many churches in northern Idaho refused to close even as the pandemic peaked here. In September 2020, at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, founded by Reformed pastor Douglas Wilson, members staged a protest outside City Hall, singing Psalms maskless in defiance of local ordinances, resulting in three arrests.
National Republicans were watching this rebellion among these ardent right-wing Christians and tried to make it an election-year issue. “DEMS WANT TO SHUT YOUR CHURCHES DOWN, PERMANENTLY,” then-President Donald Trump tweeted.
Far from shutting down, Wilson’s congregation has doubled over the past four years. “A lot of the fomented discontent of the last two years, I would say, is 80% of the reason people come here,” said Wilson in a recent interview in his office. The pastor himself, while claiming his take on pandemic rules is more nuanced, has made dismissive fun of masking and argued in favor of fake vaccine cards for the unvaccinated.
Many churches in northern Idaho refused to close even as the pandemic peaked here. In September 2020, at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, founded by Reformed pastor Douglas Wilson, members staged a protest outside City Hall, singing Psalms maskless in defiance of local ordinances, resulting in three arrests.
National Republicans were watching this rebellion among these ardent right-wing Christians and tried to make it an election-year issue. “DEMS WANT TO SHUT YOUR CHURCHES DOWN, PERMANENTLY,” then-President Donald Trump tweeted.
Far from shutting down, Wilson’s congregation has doubled over the past four years. “A lot of the fomented discontent of the last two years, I would say, is 80% of the reason people come here,” said Wilson in a recent interview in his office. The pastor himself, while claiming his take on pandemic rules is more nuanced, has made dismissive fun of masking and argued in favor of fake vaccine cards for the unvaccinated.