Full disclosure, I have been a donor to Enemies Within The Church for the past two years, and am credited in the film for this effort. That being said, my ability to evaluate this long-awaited film is not impaired. Going into this film which I believed to be behind schedule, I was wondering whether the footage they had would still be relevant in 2021. And the answer to that question is still yes.
One may have gone into this documentary thinking it was going to be a Woke Preacher Clips compilation, but the story was more foundational. But the Woke Preacher clips are more sparingly used than they are in other projects. Instead, it’s a focus on how antinomianism leads to pietism which creates an environment ripe for Joseph Fletcher to drop Situational Ethics. Enemies Within The Church describes how the Moral Majority forestalled their takeover of the church forcing them to conquer more institutions which to this day very few remain uncompromised. The documentary emphasizes God’s law for its role in the gospel suggesting that the church is leaving out God’s law which furthers the moral relativism that comes with Situational Ethics.
The documentary also focuses on how ideas from Karl Marx and Communist activist have flowed into the church on numerous fronts. This support even goes all the way to the CCP and George Soros. The primary Evangelical villains named in the film are Tim Keller, Al Mohler, and Russell Moore.
By comparison, the Founders Ministry’s By What Standard which I favorably reviewed at the time does not hold a candle to Enemies Within The Church. Enemies Within The Church is more aggressive and more inspirational. The conclusion of the documentary is highly edifying and motivating to the viewer whether they are a layman or a pastor to proclaim the gospel.
The technical aspects of this are exceedingly well done, and though the runtime was long, the story told was well formatted and definitely not full of filler. The woke preacher clips were used far more sparingly than anticipated in favor of interviews with many familiar faces in this fight.
Overall, Enemies Within The Church was exceedingly well made and released within its window of usefulness because it is not as tied to specific events as much of its predecessors are. It’s a general and foundational story about the problems and solutions facing the American church. And for this reason, I recommend.
