The Antioch Declaration was an attempt to synodically respond to internet beef known colloquially as Woke Wars II. In the recent past the Nashville Statement and the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel (AKA Dallas Statement) have both been signed to respond to a theological crisis in the church. However, the Antioch Declaration does not do this. Instead it takes dogmatic positions on positions irrelevant to orthodoxy and embraces the woke victim narrative of preferred groups.
Doug Wilson had an “interview” about the Antioch Declaration. But the article is a softball conversation that avoids the most controversial aspects of the Antioch Declaration. Nevertheless, it is quite revealing when Doug Wilson asked himself why the declaration is needed.
So why was this Declaration needed then?
Great question. Allow me to explain the strategic lay of the land. Kamala Harris was a terrible candidate, really terrible . . . and yet she got 74 million votes. Just imagine what might happen if the commies have four years to rummage around for a candidate who is not a charisma hole. Anybody who thinks that the Republican candidate of 2028 has the election in the bag is someone who is clearly experimenting with mushrooms. And as a corollary, anyone who thinks that neo-Nazis present any kind of real electoral threat is probably doing the same.
Already we see a focus on national politics rather then the church. Wilson is not tackling a significant theological issue; instead, he focuses on a hypothetical political scenario.
So why is this a big deal to you then?
Do not think I am putting any ideas in the heads of the leftists here, because anybody who has thought about this for more than five minutes will already have thought of it. Let me give you the most obvious example, but there will be others also. Pete Hegseth has been nominated to be the next Secretary of Defense, a wonderful pick. He is an advocate of classical Christian education, an opponent of women in combat roles, and to top it all off he is a member of one of our CREC churches. He was already going to be attacked as a white nationalist, far right extremist, a theo-fascist, and all the rest of their tired drill. That was already going to happen. He is already being attacked as being part of our circles, and as someone who has been influenced by little old me.
Doug Wilson then focuses on Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. He suggests that his nomination is in peril because of his association with CREC.
And so then, like there was a signal given or something, a bunch of guys, non-astute, let us call them—Nazis, Nazi adjacent types, and aficionados of Nazi iconography—pop up in CREC circles, and we have ourselves our controversy. This means that the commies, during Hegeth’s confirmation hearing, will attempt to slander him with this kind of stuff, AND THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE TO MAKE UP ANY OF THE RAW MATERIAL FOR THEIR SLANDER. That service has already been provided by their crowd sourcing brigade of volunteers—who in their own imaginations think they are resisting the commies. Actually they are just doing for free what FBI imposters have to be paid to do.
I wonder if any of those really dank memes—you know, the dark and zingy ones—might show up at his confirmation hearing. “And this one, Mr. Chairman, from the @LaserEyedSonofDabney, a deacon in his church, reveals for us the cesspool in which our nominee has been swimming.”
Doug Wilson presupposes that Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet will be anything other than a formality or a chance to grandstand. Whether or not Pete Hegseth will be confirmed is predetermined. And his personal drama will be a far more deciding factor than Doug Wilson’s mushroom-level hallucinations.
So what good does the Declaration do?
If this issue comes up during his confirmation hearing now, as it almost certainly will, he can just point to the Declaration. He can note that it was signed by Uri Brito, the presiding minister of our denomination. I signed it, and a number of leading men from our churches signed it. If he has his wits about him, he will have signed it also. He can also point to the proposed memorial from Hus Presbytery that the CREC has accepted as a first reading.
Pete Hegseth’s pastor has also signed the Antioch Declaration. He also implies Pete Hegseth would be stupid not to sign it.
If Hegseth is confirmed, then thank the Lord. He will have turned his head at the last minute, like Trump did at Butler. In short, he can point to all the work we have done, the kind of work which at the time was hooted at as unnecessary posturing. We saw the need for this kind of thing years ago, and it is even more necessary now. Hence the Declaration.
If Hegseth is not confirmed, and this nonsense is any part of the controversy, I would say that all the revisionist chumps should go find a mirror, and thank themselves. And then step back about five paces, and take a bow.
Doug Wilson’s delusions of grandeur continue as he assumes to have a role in Pete Hegseth’s confirmation. He then preemptively blames Hegseth being thwarted on opponents to the Antioch Declaration.
By now, Doug Wilson makes it abundantly clear that the Antioch Declaration is not theological, it’s a political fig leaf. Moreover, Wilson has given the game away which will thwart his strategy to give Hegseth cover because he has admitted its purpose.
These statements are supposed to address pressing doctrinal concerns, not provide cover for would-be cabinet nominees. But underlying Doug Wilson’s call to provide cover for Pete Hegseth is a subtext of providing cover for himself.
Doug Wilson achieved a lot of notoriety and political publicity. Speaking at NatCon and being on Tucker Carlson are big opportunities, ones that Wilson seems afraid to lose. Wilson is afraid Christians will lose opportunities if we do not preemptively go woke for Jews as he has done with the Antioch Declaration.
In short, this is a bit of a sellout move, one to be liked or approved by the world. Although the Antioch Declaration was not short on reasons to reject, Doug Wilson’s reason for its existence is a tax on our intelligence and a triviality compared to statements of the past.
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Joseph Boot and Douglas Wilson now have a one hour interview with an Ezra functionary put out by the Ezra Institute. They claim that the Antioch Declaration is so oddly worded because it is so precise. They refuse to admit the ambiguous and devious way it is written.
Also they say that Tobias is still coming out with a response to Webbon.
Webbon has to keep going to the internet to clarify the timeline because Doug and his cronies keep giving people the impression that Webbon is the reason this all blew up. Doug is simply a dishonest person. He’s not going to admit anything if he doesn’t have to, and he won’t have to. He’ll just gaslight everyone for a while and then say, “Well, good people can disagree on this issue, but Webbon is a sinner for the way he’s handled this. Hope he repents eventually. In the mean time, I’m moving on to real issues.”
As for the role of philosophy: These guys and many others have given it a role that it should not have (as I have argued in the Divided Knowledge book). But, it needs to be recognized that there are philosophical views driving these people. These are largely unacknowledged. Behind Van Til, besides Idealism, there is the theosophical tradition of Baader, Kuyper, Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven, and with Boot the connection is even more direct. These prevalent and generally unacknowledged influences need to be indentified and debunked. Just because they don’t like Aristotle does not mean that they are not tied to some other bad philosophy.
The document could have never helped Hegseth. The quote of Augustine in the intro is “antisemitic” enough to destroy Hegseth before secular congressmen. There Augustine essentially argues the only reason to not kill the Jews is so they can still exist and Christians will therefore not forget how wicked they are. Further, decrying “religious pluralism” as a lie in the document will not please the senatora, nor saying the Jews are by nature “objects of wrath” even if it adds something like “like the rest of us” which the senators would ignore. If this document is meant to appease politicians, its extremely tonedeaf. The attack on Aristotle might not sit well either with Catholic senators. And the attack on the Enlightenment, lol. The document should have just said “Hitler was bad, mmm’k.”