Carl Wells Books

The Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) was equally gifted in fiction and non-fiction. The book I want to discuss today is one of his non-fiction works, Between Two Millstones, Book 2: Exile in America, 1978-1994 (2020).

Kudos to the University of Notre Dame Press, for getting this book in print more than a decade after the author’s death. It was worth waiting for.

A couple years ago I spent eight segments of this blog (Mar. 5, 2020 through Apr. 23, 2020) discussing Between Two Millstones, Book 1: Exile in America, 1978-1994. (I got carried away!) This time I will try to dispose of Book 2 in one segment. That is not, however, because Book 2 is a lesser book than Book 1. It is just as wonderful. It is just that, enough is enough. I said most of what needed to be said in the first eight posts; this is only a supplement.

These are crucial books which should be read by anyone who is interested in how the world is put together. Ignore my reviews, long (eight segments) or short (one), and experiment with reading the books for yourself. I can give only a sort of flavor of what Solzhenitsyn says.

The insights crowd one another off the page, in both volumes. But here I will stick to Book 2.

When talking about all the different invitations he received while in the U.S.–“never fewer than twenty in a month” (p. 39)–Solzhenitsyn points out that if he gave himself up to many of them, his time writing would be cut into dramatically. Very understandable. But he also points out that he rarely wrote the refusals himself. Why? “If I answered myself it would dry the writing juices out of my hand” (p. 39). It is almost a throwaway line, but how much truth there was in that point! A writer–at least a writer of world historical importance–needs to protect his writing energy. If S. spent time writing polite refusals to thousands (at least 20 a month) of invitations, his “writing juices” would be dissipated on something insignificant. Usually he had his secretary write the refusals. Wise decision.

It reminds me a little bit of Nehemiah, who rejected a request to meet with Sanballat and Geshem. ‘”I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”‘ (Nehemiah 6:2-3) The circumstances are somewhat different, admittedly. Sanballat and Geshem were definitely wanting to do harm to Nehemiah, which was not true of countless of the people inviting Solzhenitsyn to things. Still, we can see the parallel. Solzhenitsyn was doing a great work–his writing–and he was wise to protect his time as well as he could.

It is fascinating to speculate why Solzhenitsyn has been so viciously and dishonestly attacked by so many of our elite leaders, intellectuals and politicians. I think part of the answer is that these people simply cannot understand that a fully honest person is possible. They resent Solzhenitsyn for that reason–they don’t think he is even possible! Their conscience is seared, but they still feel a pinprick of pain when they view a man like this. He doesn’t parrot trite cliches about democracy, therefore there must be something reprehensible about him.

I think a passage devoted to discussing the biographer of Solzhenitsyn, Michael Scammell, does much to help us understand why Solzhenitsyn has had such criticism from our “elites”. Solzhenitsyn is appalled by much of what Scammell writes. The words in brackets are Solzhenitsyn’s.

‘Yes, when you lack artistic taste and personal tact, it’s hard to plod through a writer’s life. There’s no point looking for a spiritual dimension, worldview, or outlook on history here, much less for the meaning of my books themselves. Scammell didn’t even understand the straightforward articles published in From Under the Rubble–he reduced it all to hackneyed politics. He wants to rise above his subject–but slithers ever lower, vulgarizing everything in succession. He hasn’t spent a minute in the spiritual world I have inhabited all these years. It is beyond his ken to believe it genuinely possible to have a sense of duty to the dead, of duty to Russia. Being himself a tangle of small-minded features, he has no chance of explaining my life, even if he wanted to.

‘In fact, Scammell himself writes (in an attempt to make the “authoritarian” Solzhenitsyn see sense) that freedom lies in being “trivial, sensational, irresponsible as well as [in being] serious and objective.” Exactly; it was inevitable that a quasi-literary vulgarizer would turn up to write my biography–and one most certainly did.’ (pp. 246-247)

I think that gets at the root of the contempt for Solzhenitsyn, among our elites. They, like Michael Scammell, haven’t spent a minute in the spiritual world of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It is a warning to us: cultivate our relationship with the triune God of the Bible, or risk becoming becoming like the “deeply shallow” “elites” who are currently helping Christian civilization into a quiet grave.

Solzhenitsyn writes in both volumes about how dishonorable is the West’s court system. In the following line, he speaks specifically of England, but in the two books we see that it is the West in general which is at fault, not just England.

“I cannot think of the English legal system without a sense of loathing” (p. 203).

The above passage was written as he contemplated the cover-up of English war crimes in World War II, and how the courts facilitated that cover-up. (We needn’t preen ourselves; the U.S. was involved in many of the same crimes against displaced peoples.)

Here is Solzhenitsyn on his years in Vermont. He was writing in about 1987, before those years were completed, but we know from history that he parted with Vermont just as graciously as these words indicate he would.

“Throughout all our years in Vermont, eleven now since 1976, I never ceased to feel them to be heaven-sent, a safe haven, despite the succession of external vexations and calumnies.” (p. 295)

In the same paragraph he said that during that time he was “taking a genuine step away from the blind alley of the modern age.” (p. 295) Another warning: our modern age is indeed a blind alley. We are going to have to find our way, and we will have to work to get back out into the light of Christian honesty.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a gifted writer, with a style which the ordinary person can understand and appreciate. He is also a prolific writer, which means there is lots of good work by him, out there. Both of his memoirs about his time in exile are superb.

These books are not cheap. This morning I checked out Internet prices for used copies of both Book 1 and Book 2. Book 1 is available in the low $20.00s. Book 2 is in the middle $20.00s. AbeBooks, Alibris, and Amazon seemed similar in price. Inter-library loan is an option, but makes underlining impossible.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s books and his life are a treasure, a blessing to us.

“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.” (Hebrews 11:4)

Though he is dead, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn still speaks.

Wouldn’t that explain a lot?

The behavior of the church in our day constantly seems immature, seems careless, seems unbiblical. We seem to act like irresponsible toddlers, rather than people who are “mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

Maybe that is because we are toddlers.

Jesus Christ lived and died only about 2,000 years ago. Yes, Israel was the church in embryo, for about 5,000 years before the birth and death of Jesus Christ, but we did not have the full revelation of Jesus Christ until 2,000 brief years ago.

What if Jesus Christ will not return in visible power until about 100,000 years have passed on the earth after His death? That would mean we are living in a time which is only 2% of the way toward the date when He returns.

Or, if He returns a million years from now, that would mean we are living in a time which is only .2 of 1% of the way toward the date when He returns.

Perhaps we have not understood the way God acts in world history. Perhaps we should take Him at His word. He told us that the birth of Jesus Christ was going to usher in great changes.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;/And the government will rest on His shoulders;/And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,/Eternal Father, Prince of Peace./There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,/On the throne of David and over his kingdom,/To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness/From then on and forevermore./The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Do we believe this? No, we don’t really believe it yet. No end to the increase of Christ’s government or of peace? Justice and righteousness? What has Isaiah been smoking, and how can I get some? Of course we don’t believe it. But Isaiah tells us it will be the Lord’s zeal which will see that it happens.

Or, as we learn in Daniel,

‘”the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”‘ (Daniel 2:44)

Crush other kingdoms? Endure forever?

Do we believe this? Of course not. We don’t believe it yet. Possibly we don’t believe it because we are toddlers intellectually and spiritually.

Please note that I am not claiming that I know when Jesus Christ will return. It could be tomorrow, it could be 10,000 years from now, it could be 100,000 years from now, it could be a million years from now. Or perhaps the full preterists are correct, and Jesus Christ has already returned, at 70 A.D., and is ruling on the earth right now.

But I really do not expect to see Jesus Christ coming in visible power in my lifetime, or in the lifetime of my great, great, great, great grandchildren (er, that’s if I had any, which I don’t and won’t).

The reason I don’t expect that is because God has a way of behaving which is consistent. He is always the same, as Scripture tells of often. Plus He has definite goals, which He intends fully to accomplish, by exercising His own zeal, and by putting His people to work.

Two of His goals are to show how necessary is the work of His Son Jesus Christ, and how necessary is the work of the Holy Spirit. (When their necessary work is understood and appreciated, God the Father’s wise plan from eternity will in turn be vindicated.)

God is going to show the world how much we need Jesus Christ, and how much we need to be cooperating with the Holy Spirit as He leads us into all the truth. (John 16:13)

I’ve noticed for a long time, how the potential of Christian believers is so much greater than our performance in real life. I see lots of people who could be bringing forth a lot more excellent spiritual fruit than they do. I think the reason for this is that we have not been determined to find and obey ‘”all the truth”‘ of which Jesus Christ speaks in John 16:13. We enjoy having a little bit of the truth, but we have refused to challenge ourselves with all the truth, nor have our leaders challenged us with all the truth. We are toddlers, wanting milk rather than solid food. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

But God does not shrug at our immaturity. He wants mature believers, family members and friends, people with whom He will enjoy hanging out. That means we are going to have to change, since God is already good, and we are the ones who are not where we can be and should be.

He will change us and He will change the whole earth. As we Christians grow more mature, more loving, more generous, more humble, more conscious that we are saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, more obedient to God from the heart, our behavior will change for the better.

Our family life will change for the better. Our work performance will change for the better. Our voting will change for the better. Our everything will change for the better. This in turn will have an influence on the people around us. As we become better people, the world will become a better place.

God has lots of time, and He is patient. He has 10,000 more years to work on us, or 100,000 years–or longer if He wants to use more time.

I am going to try to say this as politely as I can. Dispensationalism is an error. It is a serious error. It misunderstands the nature of God, and it misunderstands Scripture. It is not a fit theology for mature believers, and it discourages us from seeing our responsibilities and opportunities. It is a theology for toddlers, not for adults. (Amillennialism is also a serious error, and it also discourages us.)

Biblical Christianity tell us this: when we seek to obey God from the heart in all things, He will find a way to bless us.

When we stop being content to be toddlers, things will change visibly for the better in our world. Here I want to list just a few ways in which increased maturity will manifest itself in our behavior. I will be extremely brief with each one of the seven points I will list.

1/Giving to the church. We currently give 2.5% (emptytomb.org) to the church. We will move toward giving a tithe (10%), as well as being otherwise generous with our money.

2/Education. We will educate our children at our own expense, and not expect our friends and neighbors and enemies to do so.

3/Laws. We will move toward laws which respect God and man.

4/Interactions with other nations. We will begin to want to leave other people alone. If we want to help them, we will send the gospel, not preemptive war.

5/Work. We will work diligently and not expect the civil government to finance our lives.

6/Truth. We will want “all” the truth, and we will be willing to be rebuked and will repent when we need to.

7/Purity. We will defend the sexual purity of one another.

The list is simply a small beginning. Every aspect of our lives will change for the better.

The changes for the better described in the list–and many other changes for the better–are not a fantasy impossible of happening. They are going to happen. God’s zeal will see that they happen. We can help Him, but if we don’t help Him, someone else will.

These changes for the better will happen gradually. We have made some progress in 2,000 years, and we are going to make a lot more progress–gradually.

I readily admit that I am a gradualist. I think I am one partly by nature, but also partly by experience. I have seen that good things can and do happen gradually. Steady persistence over time has good results. God is going to change our world for the better, and He is going to do it gradually. Ten thousand years from now Christians will look back on us and wonder at our immaturity. They will have come a long way from where we are. Hopefully they will have the humility to realize that they and their heirs can do even better yet.

For a book length treatment of issues like this, consider my paperback book What Are God’s Goals? (2014; 216 pages). It is available at Amazon for $15.99 plus shipping. Or I will sell you a copy for $18.00, no shipping cost. The Kindle version is $2.99.

I think we are in the very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very early church. That certainly would explain a lot.

Today’s post was sparked by my reading of a recent piece by syndicated columnist Lee Pitts. It was entitled “Wheelbarrow Money,” and in it Mr. Pitts lamented how the dollar continues to lose value over the years.

Lee Pitts is a gifted writer, frequently very humorous, and often mixing humor with something serious. This particular column sort of mixes humor with a serious topic.

Mr. Pitts says that when he was young he began saving, and was paid 5.5% interest. He has been a saver all his life. Now, however, his CDs garner .3% interest. To be clear, that is three tenths of one percent, not 3 percent.

I can beat that tale of woe. I went to my checking account records, and noted that the bank is currently paying me .08% on my money. Again, to be clear, that is eight hundredths of one percent, not 8 percent.

Prices are rising at about 4.7% per year. So the minute amount of interest we receive on our savings, doesn’t even come close to matching the rise in prices. We are being ripped off by our government. The U.S. government keeps its printing presses (well, digital printing presses) rolling out dollars created out of thin air, which means each dollar we hold becomes significantly less valuable.

Using something called math, I came up with some figures which kind of put this in a perspective which we can understand.

Let’s talk groceries. (Always a fun topic for me!)

If you are, like Mr. Pitts, a saver, you might come up with, after several careful years of saving, a total of $30,000.00. At three tenths of one percent interest gained on your CD, that will earn you about $1.73 a week toward your grocery bill.

However, if you were receiving 3% interest on your savings, you would have $17.31 a week to pay for part of your groceries.

If you were receiving 5.5% interest, as Lee Pitts remembers receiving as a child, you would have $31.73 a week to pay for your groceries. Your savings would be paying off for you in a serious fashion. You would not be a sucker to be a saver, you would be someone who was appropriately rewarded for being a saver.

I checked Internet sources for what the average cost of groceries is, for one person. Of course one could find a range of answers. One price cited was about $79.00 per person per week. That seems high. (But not as high as the $89.00 per week suggested by another Internet answer.) My personal spending on groceries is currently about $30.00 a week. But I am a tighter tightwad than most people, admittedly, plus I don’t live in an expensive urban area where prices are very high, so maybe $79.00 is not as outrageous an average as I think.

Let’s not lose sight of the main point: savings can be helpful if the value of our money is not being destroyed by the government creating money out of thin air.

But the value of our money is being destroyed by our government. That is the reality we live in.

Is there any escape?

I’ll give two answers, one for the short term, and one for the long term.

In the short term, we can learn to budget very carefully. If you are averaging $79.00 a month on your grocery bill, figure out ways to bring that down. Shop at Aldi. Buy things when they are on sale. Also, own something; save and invest. Don’t spend all your income on items for immediate consumption. Buy two good used cars, rather then one expensive new car. Don’t go into huge debt for housing better than you can really afford. Buy less expensive housing, and gradually fix it up.

Short term solutions are good for, well, the short term. They help us muddle through, but they don’t really protect us for the long term. We are all the toad beneath the harrow, when it comes to our civil government. They expropriate our wealth. That is their nature. They won’t change. They are not going to suddenly get religion and stop stealing from people who work. If you think the Republicans are going to rescue us, I’ve got some swamp land in Florida I feel confident is exactly what you need. Call me up and I’ll give you a great price. (That said, on the local and state level, the Republicans are still not as horrific as the Democrats.)

But, rather than give in to despair, let’s consider that there might be a long term solution.

First of all, we need to face the fact that the theft the civil government imposes on us is a covenantal judgment given to us by God. Why would He do such a thing to us?

Christians give 2.5% of their increase to the church (emptytomb.org). That is one-quarter of the tithe which God requires (Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 23:23). So we are willing to steal from the God who sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us from eternal death. God is telling us, “Theft is a round game, and more than one can play.” We were willing to steal from God, so He has given us over to a thieving civil government willing to steal from us.

This should be painfully obvious. But clearly it is not obvious to most Christians. We are blind spiritually and intellectually. God has given us up to spiritual and intellectual blindness.

So we can intentionally drop the blindness. We can repent. We can move, gradually or quickly as our faith permits, toward giving Him the tithe He requires. We can preach the truth concerning these issues, from the pulpit. As we move toward God, He will respond and begin to give us hope for the future. Instead of covenantal judgment, God would give us covenantal blessing.

We don’t always have to be the toad beneath the harrow to a God-hating civil government. There might be a dozen, a hundred, a thousand small Christian countries on the North American continent. Such a reality would leave non-Christian countries on this continent strictly alone. This is a big continent, with room for lots of people. Let the non-Christians do what they want in their larger portions of the continent. Hey, they call the middle of the country Flyover Country for a reason–there is lots of empty space, room for both Christians and non-Christians.

Our Christian civil governments could honor God. Some of them, even perhaps all of them, could make certain that our money was real money–silver and gold. We would not be stealing from God, and our civil governments in turn would not be stealing from us. They would not be adding to the money supply by creating money out of thin air. Our savings would be real savings.

Prices, instead of going up because of funny money being added to the money supply, would begin to go in another direction: down. The free market, which we still have to an extent, causes prices to drop over time, because goods are produced less expensively over time.

So, yes, there definitely is a long term solution. When we are ready to help God build and expand His kingdom on earth (Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 2:36-45), He will see that we are blessed. His “zeal” will accomplish all this (Isaiah 9:7).

I will try to give a link to the Lee Pitts column which inspired me to write about rising prices and what we can do about them. He is a talented and entertaining writer.

Well, it looks like I have successfully incorporated a link to Mr. Pitts’ column. Who said the age of miracles was over?

Wheelbarrow Money By Lee Pitts

Russia began an invasion of Ukraine a couple weeks or so ago, and that has been the main subject of news reporting ever since. Today I want to give a few personal reflections on the topic of the war, and on the general response to the war.

I’ll begin by saying that I wish Russia had not attacked Ukraine. When you loose the dogs of war, bad things tend to happen. Soldiers get killed, and so do civilians. People get crippled. Property gets destroyed. War is a bad thing. I am disappointed in Vladimir Putin, and disappointed in Russia. I think it is a strategic error on Russia’s part to invade Ukraine.

If you sense a “but” coming, you are correct.

But I have a few questions for everyone, for our elite leaders (liberals, Republicans, Democrats, neoconservatives, members of Conservatism Inc.), and for Bible-believing Christians and Bible-ignoring Christians. Well, let’s just say a few questions for everyone in the U. S. and A.

Are you aware that the U.S. was instrumental in overthrowing the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014? This is not esoteric information. This fact is readily confirmed. Spend five minutes doing an Internet search, if you doubt me. Begin perhaps by asking about Victoria Nuland and her actions in 2014. I am sincerely curious as to how many Americans are aware of our intervention in Ukraine in 2014. If you know this fact, doesn’t it feel a little bit strange to have the U.S. helping overthrow the government of a nation which is thousands of miles away, but which is next door to Russia? How would we feel if Russia were helping overthrow the democratically elected government of Mexico?

On the other hand, if you don’t know it, why don’t you know it? It is an important fact of recent history, and very important in discussing the topic of Ukraine/Russia.

Are you aware that many years ago the U.S. promised Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev that we would not try to expand NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and that the U.S. subsequently went back on its promise?

Why are we even a part of NATO? Europe is in Europe. The last time I checked, the U.S. was somewhere in North America.

Entering into alliances with other countries is a dangerous business. We should have learned our lesson in World War I. Numerous countries were pulled into a world war, partly because they were treatied-up with supposed friends. When the dust had settled, millions were dead or crippled, and Russia had fallen to the communists in the Russian Revolution. Had all those countries not been allied with each other, the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand would not have led to a world war.

We should never have been in NATO. We should get out now.

Here is another question. If the preemptive war of Russia on Ukraine is so bad–and I think it is a foolish error–why is it that the preemptive U.S. war on Iraq in 2003 was such a good thing?

Death and crippling statistics of a large event are always hard to get exactly right. But it seems the Iraq war led to about 460,000 deaths, 180,000 of which were civilians. (I will cheerfully print exactly accurate figures, if we ever know them.)

Did I mention the destruction of property in Iraq? No? Okay, consider it mentioned now.

Libya?

Somehow we Americans always seem to think that our blank doesn’t stink. But maybe it really does. So my question is, where were all the tears for the dead and crippled in Iraq, from those Americans, most emphatically Christians included, who supported an idiotic foreign preemptive war by this country?

Sanctions? Countless people are advocating dramatic sanctions on Russia. But Peter Hitchens, by no means a supporter of the Russian invasion, makes an excellent point:

“It is genuinely tragic when sanctions are imposed which will, as usual, ruin the lives of the poor while doing little to harm powerful villains.”

Another question I have, is when did the U.S. become subject to the sole rule of the executive branch? I noticed that President Joe Biden has ended the purchase of Russian oil and gas. He just makes this decision on his own, and that is the law. Wait, wasn’t there something called Congress, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate? One would have thought that big decisions like ending the purchase of Russian gas and oil might have been discussed and voted on in Congress.

Were you aware that the U.S. has funded Ukraine to the tune of $1 billion dollars–including “lethal defensive assistance”–over the past year or so? Why? Do we really expect Ukraine to fight Russia for us, while we stay safely at home and cheer them on, “You go, guys!” (Yes, that is apparently what we expect.)

Any kind of support we give to Ukraine has the logical result of making the death toll higher. It is not going to help Ukraine win the war, but it may prolong things and cause there to be more misery than there needs to be.

The same point applies to the “aid” given by other countries. I read where the United Kingdom was sending weapons to help the Ukrainians. How noble of them! Send weapons bought by taxpayer dollars to help kill more Russians . . . and more Ukrainians.

Did you know that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has called for the assassination of Vladimir Putin? I’m trying to remember, did he call for the assassination of George W. Bush when Mr. Bush attacked Iraq? The assassination of Barack Obama when Mr. Obama attacked Libya?

If Lindsey Graham is so intent on intervening in the Russian/Ukrainian war, I will pitch in $50.00 toward his plane ticket to the Ukrainian front line. I am sure a suitable weapon can be found for him once he gets there. He will not be missed in the Senate.

How would we feel if Russia entered a huge treaty with Mexico and Canada, and wanted to put missiles in Mexico and Canada–missiles aimed at us? That is what we have been doing in Ukraine.

One reflection the current situation has pressed upon me is the profound moral corruption of Mainstream Media. They do not seek out the truth. They have an agenda, and they try to manipulate us. To give them credit where it is deserved, they seem to be succeeding. We seem unable or unwilling to try to find the truth.

One reflection pressed upon me from all this–I’ll try to keep it short–is that we Christians simply need to grow up. We need to be thinking, reading, learning some history, and trying to think God’s thoughts after Him as those thoughts are presented in the Bible. As we rubber stamped an evil preemptive war on Iraq, we are once again letting shallow people in the media tell us what to think.

It is way past time we began to want to grow up. Wanting to is the key. When we want to, God will help us.

It may seem weird to mention it, but I think Russia and the United States should be natural friends. (Not allies via treaty!) We have one very important thing in common. We are both post-Christian nations with a strong whiff of Christianity still confusing us and tempting us toward the God of the Bible.

I will close with a link to an article by Boyd D. Cathey. I suppose he is somewhere approximately in the paleoconservative camp–the only conservative camp with a clue as to how the world is put together. Anyway, his article gives further information on how debased is the current conversation on Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine and Falsehood in the Time of War

A week ago today, one of the leading Christian scholars of our era entered into the afterlife. Dr. Gary North (b. Feb. 11, 1942–d. Feb. 24, 2022) made it to a full 80 years, and finally laid down his tireless pen. He leaves his widow Sharon–to whom he gave great credit for his success–and three living children, as well as several grandchildren.

He also leaves a legacy of diligence which few people can dream of matching.

He wrote over 50 books and thousands of articles. My own shelf of his writings–by no means representing all his work–stretches about four feet in my library.

I first heard of Gary North more than five decades ago. He wrote an article–it may have been in a magazine called “The Alternative,” but I can’t be sure–which introduced me to the name R. J. Rushdoony. Rushdoony sounded like the kind of vastly needed Christian writer and thinker who should exist but didn’t. Except that he did, and Gary North let me know about him. Eventually I would read many of Rushdoony’s books, and he would have a great influence on my thinking.

Of course eventually I would ready many of Gary North’s books, and he would have a great influence on my thinking. (Is there an echo in here?)

It is fitting that Gary North married Rushdoony’s daughter Sharon. Her support of her husband was crucial to him, as Craig Bulkeley’s excellent written eulogy for Dr. North makes clear. (Please see “Gary North, RIP,” at “Gary North’s Specific Answers” for Feb. 26, 2022.)

Dr. North’s two areas of expertise were economics and history. He devoted many decades to writing an economic commentary on the Bible. (While he was doing many other things as well.) He completed the work. I suspect it will be useful to Christ’s church for many centuries to come–probably as long as the world exists.

He wrote many superb books. Why is he not better known in Christian circles? I think the answer is that most Christians are not ready to do much thinking yet. So he was writing for a tiny subset of Christians who like to deal with ideas. That may mean that the ordinary Christian never heard of Dr. North, and never read his books. But on the bright side that means that people who want to dig a bit deeper into truth, will find they have a friend in Dr. North. He has done some thinking. He has given them ideas with which to wrestle. His iron will help them sharpen their iron. A writer like Dr. North is good for the long haul.

And “the long haul” is exactly what Gary North had signed up for. Rejecting the anti-biblical eschatologies of amillennialism and dispensationalism, he knew that God will build Christ’s kingdom on earth over time, in history. That was why Dr. North was able to work so diligently for so long, and to accomplish so much. He was always writing both for the present and for the future. He didn’t need instant gratification. He was helping build something that was going to take a long time to build. He knew it would take a long time, and he was committed to doing his part.

I want to list some of his books which might interest you. You will notice that many–not all–of these books are pretty long. I’ll start with the longest, and work down.

Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church (1996) is about 1,090 pages. The title tells us what we are in for–a history of how a mainline church went liberal. The book is currently not easily obtained. All the prices here are from AbeBooks. This one will run you about $75.00 right now.

Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism (1989) is about 720 pages. This one is actually dedicated to the members of my own denomination, living and dead. Currently about $35.00. Not inexpensive, but if you haven’t thought about these issues, this one will help a lot. I see that my note at the front of the book, after I had read it, says “very important book.” I’ll stick by that evaluation.

The Dominion Covenant: Genesis (1982, revised edition 1987) adds up to about 500 pages in the revised edition. This is the beginning of his economic commentary on the Bible. Only about $17.00. I’m not sure which edition that would be.

Millennialism and Social Theory (1990) is only about 360 pages. Even if you hate postmillennialism and are absolutely committed to either amillennialism or dispensationalism, you might want to read this book just to begin to understand what is at stake when we pick our eschatological views. About $40.00.

Victim’s Rights: The Biblical View of Civil Justice (1990) is 290 pages approximately. This one is dedicated to Baby Doe and other victims of abortion. I’ll quote just part of one sentence. “At the same time, we must recognize that apart from widespread inward repentance, no social order can be preserved in the long run” (p. 183). About $43.00.

Honest Money: The Biblical Blueprint for Money and Banking (1986) is a short (150 pages) but very helpful introduction to the topic. If you are halfway tempted to try to read something by Gary North, this is the book which allows you to fall to temptation without guilt, because it is not only short, it is also inexpensive. Copies can be found for around $6.00, shipping and sales tax included, at AbeBooks.

I want to quote extensively from Craig Bulkeley’s eulogy. In a few words we get the essence of what Gary North stood for. Here goes.

‘North followed some important principles that enabled him to stick to his knitting, stay out of trouble, and be as productive as he was. At least 11 are worth mentioning. They are applicable to everyone.

‘First, a person must know his life’s calling: the most important thing he can do in which he would be most difficult to replace. North settled on his early: developing the field of biblical economics.

‘Second, remember the prophets. Isaiah’s job was to speak even when people would not listen and the work appeared fruitless. Elijah’s job was to speak even when he seemed to be the only one left. Jeremiah’s job was to speak but still conduct business (buy the land) knowing God’s plan for the future will prevail.

‘Third, forget trying to be in the “Inner Ring,” as C.S. Lewis called it. Do not yearn to be in the “in” group. There really isn’t any inner ring.

‘Fourth, stick to your knitting. Do not get sidetracked. Press on.

‘Fifth, work to serve. Meet a need. Provide or do something useful. If someone will pay you for it, better still. Provide it for free if needs be, particularly if it’s consistent with your calling.

‘Sixth, discipline your time. It is the one resource that cannot be replaced. Once it’s gone, it cannot be recovered.

‘Seventh, strive to be the best, but don’t worry if you are not No. 1. There is plenty of room at the top for success and every expectation that you will surpass your peers if you simply apply yourself wisely and stick to your knitting.

‘Eighth, understand that you can’t fight something with nothing. Christians cannot just curse the darkness. They must pursue a positive biblical understanding and plan. When the world, suffering and at its wits end, asks Christians for help, they should be able to give biblical answers of substance.

‘Ninth, don’t pay too much attention to your critics. Some of North’s critics accused him over the years of having a poison pen, of being uncharitable, sharp and harsh. North’s piercing critiques, however, were usually reserved for those who held themselves out to be experts in a field, “teachers of the law,” so to speak. As they sought to persuade and lead others, he would challenge them if he thought they were leading people into error and trouble. If their work was shoddy or suspect, North was likely to expose it and in colorful terms. Some took the lead and criticized his work first. In addition to lacking depth and rigor in general, his opponents were generally short on historical background and real world understanding. When the exchange ended they were likely to find themselves on the losing side and unable to respond; they slipped quietly away. His most disingenuous critics simply misrepresented his positions and raised straw man arguments, the most uncharitable kind of all.

‘Tenth, be confident in God’s power and his plan to change the world. God’s kingdom would not likely come in a single generation. Nor would it come from some sudden political takeover, a centralized government, or vigilante violence. It would not come from the top down. But it would come. It would come gradually, over time, from the bottom up, as God moved in people’s hearts and they embraced a biblical worldview and system of law.

‘Eleventh, pay your tithe. It reminds a person that he owes everything to God.

‘Finally, North hoped his work would help lay a solid foundation, not be the final answer. He hoped others would take up where he left off and improve on his work. As he concluded his Christian Economics: Scholar’s Edition (2020), he wrote: “Finally, count the cost. If you then decide to become a Christian economics scholar as a calling, I offer this strategy. Correct my errors, extend my breakthroughs, write several monographs, produce videos, recruit and train followers, and do not become sidetracked. It is easy to become sidetracked, especially by money. Also, if someone asks you what kind of economist you are, never say ‘Northian.’ ‘Northist’ is even worse. Say that you are a covenantalist. Now, find your calling and get to work.”’

Did you catch that last part? Dr. North told us that he wanted to help lay a solid foundation. With wisdom and humility, he knew his writings would only be part of the answer. Correct errors and keep building, he told us.

Craig Bulkeley ends his written eulogy with these words about Dr. North: “His work is done. His rest has begun.”

That is true, in the sense that Gary North will write no more books or articles, on earth, to help us. But I have my doubt that Gary North is resting much. Maybe a little bit. But my guess is that he is clamoring to be put to work in some capacity. He will want to help extend God’s kingdom, somehow or other. He was a worker, and won’t be comfortable just resting.

Thank you for all your intelligent hard work, our profoundly gifted and beloved brother Gary North. Rest in peace–at least part of the time.