Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

PUBLISHER’S PREFACE
(1981), 10 is the most important single document in this
theological confrontation. But from the confused
middle, there have been no clear-cut Biblical answers
to either of these two positions.
The future of pessimillennialism is being eroded. As the
world’s social crises intensify, and as it becomes
apparent that traditional conservative Protestantism
still has no effective, specific, workable answers to the
crises of our day, a drastic and presently unanticipated
shift of Christian opinion probably will take place – an
event analogous to the collapse of a dam. There will be
a revolution in the way millions of conservative Christians
think. Then there will be a revolution in what
they do.
The liberation theologians will not win this battle for
the minds of Christians. There will be a religious
backlash against the Left on a scale not seen in the
West since the Bolshevik Revolution, and perhaps not
since the French Revolution. At that point, only one
group will possess in ready reserve a body of intellectual
resources adequate for stemming the tide of humanism:
the Christian Reconstructionists, meaning those who
preach dominion, and even more specifically, those
who preach dominion by covenant. With this
intellectual foundation, given the existence of
catastrophic cultural, economic, and political
conditions, they will take over leadership of
conservative Protestantism. The existing Protestant
leaders suspect this, and they do not like its
implications. Nevertheless, they are unwilling or
unable to do what is necessary to counter this
development. Specifically, they are not producing the
intellectual resources to counter what the Christian
Reconstructionists are producing.
Instead, they murmur. This tactic will fail.
Silencing the Critics
For over two decades, critics chided the Christian
Reconstructionists with this refrain: “You people just
haven’t produced any Biblical exegesis to prove your
case for eschatological optimism.” Then came Paradise
Restored in 1985. A deathly silence engulfed the
formerly vociferous critics. Now comes The Days of
Vengeance. The silence will now become deafening.
Few critics will reply in print, I suspect, though if they
refuse to reply, they have thereby accepted the validity
of the coroner’s report: death by strangulation
(footnotes caught in the throat).
Oh, there may be a few hastily written book reviews in
un-read Christian scholarly journals. Dallas Seminary’s
Prof. Lightner may write one, like the one-page bit of
fluff he wrote on Paradise Restored, in which he said, in
effect, “See here, this man is a postmillennialist, and
you need to understand that we here at Dallas
Seminary aren’t!” 11 There may be a few brief
disparaging remarks in popular paperback books about
the insignificant and temporary revival of full-scale
dominion theology. But there will be no successful
attempt by scholarly leaders of the various
pessimillennial camps to respond to Chilton. There is a
reason for this: They cannot effectively respond. As we
say in Tyler, they just don’t have the horses. If I am
incorrect about their theological inability, then we will
see lengthy, detailed articles showing why Chilton’s
book is utterly wrong. If we don’t see them, you can
safely conclude that our opponents are in deep trouble.
To cover their naked flanks, they will be tempted to
offer the familiar refrain: “We will not dignify such
preposterous arguments with a public response.” That is
to say, they will run up the intellectual white flag.
Chilton’s critics will have a problem with this silent
approach, however. The problem is Professor Gordon
Wenham, who wrote the Foreword. There is probably
no more respected Bible-beIieving Old Testament
commentator in the English-speaking world. His
commentary on Leviticus sets a high intellectual
standard. If Gordon Wenham says that The Days of
Vengeance is worth considering, then to fail to consider
it would be a major tactical error on the part of the
pessimillennialists.
I will go farther than Wenham does. This book is a
landmark effort, the finest commentary on Revelation
in the history of the Church. It has set the standard for:
(1) its level of scholarship, (2) its innovative insights
per page, and (3) its readability. This unique
combination – almost unheard of in academic circles –
leaves the intellectual opposition nearly defenseless.
There may be a few academic specialists who will
respond competently to this or that point in The Days
of Vengeance, but their technical essays will not be read
widely, especially by the average pastor or layman.
There may also be one or two theologians who attempt
to respond comprehensively (though I doubt it), but
their muddled expositions will win few new followers.
(I have in mind a particular amillennial scholar who is
known for his unique insights into Biblical symbolism,
but whose writings communicate his ideas with the
clarity of Zen Buddhist thought-teasers or Alexander
Haig’s press conferences.)
Mainly, they face the tactical problem of calling
attention to this book within their hermetically sealed
followings. If their followers ever sit down and read The
Days of Vengeance, Christian Reconstructionism will
pick off the best and the brightest of them. Why?
Because earthly hope is easier to sell than earthly
defeat, at least to people who are not happy to accept
their condition as historical losers. A lot of Christians
today are tired of losing. Even if it means starting to
take responsibility – and that is precisely what
dominion theology means – a growing number of
bright, young Christians are ready to pay this price in
order to stop losing. Thus, any extended discussion of
10. David Chilton, Productive Christians in an Age of GuiIt-Matupulators: A
Biblical Response to Ronald J. Sider (4th ed.; Tyler, Texas: Institute for
Christian Economics, 1986).
11. Bibliotheca Sacra (April-June 1986).
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