Gary Kilgore North (1942-2022) was head of the Institute for Christian Economics, and a prominent Christian Reconstructionist, who wrote widely on many topics (including postmillennial eschatology).
He wrote in the 1987 General Introduction to this 1982 book, “[The book] is a multi-volume economic commentary on the Bible… the biblical covenant is structured into five sections. This covenant model [was proposed] … by Ray R. Sutton in his pioneering book, ‘That You May Prosper: Dominion By Covenant.’ (1987) The five points of the biblical covenant model are: 1. Transcendence/immanence 2. Authority/hierarchy 3. Ethics/dominion 4. Judgment/sanctions 5. Inheritance/continuity. The covenant establishes the judicial basis of the personal relationship between God and man… We begin and end all biblical studies with God and with the God-man relationship: Trinity and covenant. This is why Sutton’s book is the most important single theological breakthrough since the early Christian creeds that formulated the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. It will be regarded as a major turning point in the history of Christian doctrine.” (Pg. ix-x)
He continues, “the Pentateuch is itself revelatory of the structure of God’s covenant. This economic commentary on the Pentateuch is therefore a commentary on a covenant. I call it the dominion covenant, for it is the God-given, God-required assignment to mankind to exercise dominion and subdue the earth that defines mankind’s task as the only creature who images God the creator.” (Pg. xiii) Later, he adds, “I am laying the biblical-theological foundations for a restructuring of world civilization… I have confidence that I will succeed … because I am a Calvinist postmillennialist who knows that God has foreordained the worldwide triumph of His gospel.” (Pg. xvi) He asserts, “Christian Reconstruction in general is winning by default. Our critics have not done their academic homework. They are trying to beat something with nothing.” (Pg. xx) He outlines, “There are four, and ONLY four covenants in the Bible: personal, family, church, and civil.” (Pg. xxxviii)
He says, “The biblical methodology is ‘methodological covenantalism’… All social, political, and economic analyses must begin with the assumption that the basis of order in society is a personal relationship between God and individual men, and between God and responsible collective groups. Cosmic personalism is the basis of social order---the observed regularities in the affairs of men.” (Pg. 24)
He asserts, “A society which pursues equality as a goal will of necessity destroy the harmony of interests, for that harmony of interests was created within a framework of HIERARCHY. Women are designed to be FUNCTIONALLY SUBORDINATE to men in marriage. This in no way implies that women are ETHICALLY INFERIOR to men in marriage… The Bible affirms… The harmony of interests throughout human society, and even the entire creation, can be attained only within a theocentric and hierarchical framework.” (Pg. 92-93)
He states, “free market economics is biblical economics, and… all forms of socialism or collectivism are the products of anti-biblical economics… the free market is an important institutional means of reducing the disharmony of interests by encouraging people voluntarily to mesh their individual plans by means of private property, freely fluctuating process, and profit-and-loss statements.” (Pg. 99) He continues, “God’s revelation of Himself and his law-order is our primary cost-cutting device… Revelation reduces information costs, and in doing so, it thereby frees up other scarce capital assets---time, effort, money---that otherwise would have to be expended in testing.” (Pg. 106) He goes on, “The free market economy… forces each man to bear the burdens of responsibility for his own actions.” (Pg. 108)
He cautions, “When [God] brings down His wrath upon a culture, the faithful may have to make a grim and hasty retreat… mobile capital, such as gold, silver, and precious stones are sensible investments for Christians in times of social disintegration for this very reason… it is wise to take something for the future alone with us as we make our escape.” (Pg. 161) However, he later adds,
“We should not become defenders of the traditional gold standard anyway. We should instead become defenders of freedom of entry, honest weights and measures, 100% reserve banking, and no State-created money.” (Pg. 237)
He acknowledges, “you may be asking yourself: ‘Why hasn’t anyone ever tried this sort of a commentary in the past?’... I can only speculate concerning the answers. I know this much, however: the acceptance by Christian thinkers of the ‘myth of intellectual neutrality’ lies at the heart of the problem. It is the acceptance of this myth … which has kept Christian scholars from making the systematic, thoroughly biblical contributions to social science and social philosophy that have been needed for so long.” (Pg. 240)
He is critical of the work of geologist Dr. Davis Young: “Those of us who, like myself, believe in the Bible’s narrative of a six-day creation, must conclude that Dr. Young has indeed wasted his time by studying those rocks in terms of a uniformitarian presupposition. He has also used money confiscated from me (as a former resident of North Carolina, where Dr. Young taught) and other six-day creationists in order to indoctrinate students with uniformitarianism…” (Pg. 288-289) Later, he asserts, “The Book of Genesis cannot be reconciled with the books of Darwin. This is the leading presupposition of this volume.” (Pg. 323) He adds, “The heart of the Darwinian system is INDETERMINACY. The universe is a chance event. Darwin was self-conscious in his commitment to randomness.” (Pg. 405)
He begins the Bibliography with the caution, “It is difficult to recommend a list of books on Christian economics, since the thesis lying behind my writing of this book is that the Christian world has neglected the whole question for three centuries. There is nothing on a par with Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ or Ludwig von Mises’ ‘Human Action’ …” (Pg. 471)
This book will appeal to those studying Christian Reconstruction, and related areas.
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