“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15

Last week we considered two reasons why Dr. Gene Edward Veith had good cause to decline Veritas Press’ offer to co-general edit the last three volumes of the Omnibus textbook series alongside Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow:

1. Dr. Veith knew that Doug Wilson had plagiarized in the past.
2. Dr. Veith knew that Doug Wilson was irresponsible & ungodly.

Dr. Veith knew these two facts firsthand because of his position as Culture Editor at WORLD Magazine. He was an eyewitness. But Dr. Veith had a third reason to turn down the opportunity of co-editing the Omnibus textbooks with Doug Wilson: Dr. Gene Edward Veith knew Doug Wilson could not be trusted to teach history — and the Omnibus textbooks purport to teach world history. Three witnesses testified against Douglas Wilson the historian in the pages of WORLD Magazine:

1. WORLD Magazine: “shoddy history”
   On April 30, 2005, WORLD reported:

   Southern Slavery: As it Was, a booklet defending slavery as biblically viable, has roused considerable controversy since its release in 1996. Critics of co-authors Douglas Wilson and Steve Wilkins have added to their content-driven charges of racism and shoddy history one more accusation: plagiarism. . . . (Doug Wilson and slavery, emphasis added)

2. Dr. Cal Beisner: “historical trash”
   Dr. Beisner has a Ph.D. in history from St. Andrews University in Scotland and he taught historical theology at Knox Theological Seminary when he wrote the following comment in the WORLD Mag Blog “food fight”:

   Let me make my position clear: SSAIW is historical trash, as demonstrated by a number of written critiques. . . It also makes the stupid error of equating Southern black chattel slavery, which, founded on manstealing, was sinful, with the types of slavery (bonded servanthood, slavery to pay debts, slavery as punishment for crime, or slavery as alternative to death in warfare) countenanced (under carefully regulated conditions) in the Bible. But by lack of training in historical research, or by mistakes in logic, or both, one may argue in substance what Wilkins and Wilson argued while not being vulnerable to serious moral censure. (WORLD Mag Blog comment #139, April 25, 2005)

3. Dr. Robert Tracy McKenzie: “numerous logical errors, factual mistakes, misreading of evidence”
   Dr. McKenzie is a professional historian with a particular interest in the antebellum South and he taught history at the University of Washington when he wrote the following letter to the editor of WORLD Magazine:

   Far more serious
   In fairness to Doug Wilson and Steve Wilkins (“Doug Wilson and slavery,” April 30), the two dozen occurrences of plagiarism in their controversial booklet on Southern slavery were obviously unintentional — evidence of sloppiness rather than deceit. Far more serious are the booklet’s other errors. Its numerous logical errors, factual mistakes, misreading of evidence, and ad hominem attacks falsely model what it means to love God with our minds and its unsubstantiated defense of Southern slavery as a “pleasant . . . experience for the majority” will constitute a stumbling block of monumental proportions for many sincere seekers.
   — Robert Tracy McKenzie; Seattle, Wash. [May 21, 2005]

WORLD Magazine, Dr. Cal Beisner, and Dr. Robert Tracy McKenzie: Three witnesses — two of them experts — bore witness to Douglas Wilson’s general incompetence as a historian, on the pages of WORLD, where Dr. Veith worked as an editor. Therefore, few men, if any, had better academic cause to eschew the opportunity of co-editing the Omnibus textbooks with Doug Wilson than Dr. Gene Edward Veith. But he did it anyway.

EPILOGUE
Dr. Gene Edward Veith has not commented publicly about the ripped content in the Omnibus textbooks that he co-edited, which is disappointing. We hope he breaks the silence, because he knows exactly what happened; he has too much experience as a writer and an editor not to know. Messrs. Wilson, Fischer, and Detweiler hardcoded poached content into the Omnibus series on day one (and most likely caught him unawares). That’s the only rational explanation. However, in an excruciating stroke of irony, Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, squeezed a back-cover blurb out of Dr. Veith for his 2011 book Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life. Dr. Veith wrote:

“This book just nails what it takes to be a writer. And it isn’t just a matter of being a sensitive creative soul. A writer needs to live in the actual world, to ‘read the kind of stuff you wish you could write,’ and to love language. This book embodies what it preaches in its practicality, in how funny and fun to read it is, and in the way its words dance through the mind.”
— Gene Edward Veith, Provost and Professor of Literature, Patrick Henry College

Dr. Veith gave it all to Douglas Wilson; he held nothing back. And now, like so many others who went before him, the fun is gone and he has nothing to show for it. Just another sucker, chewed up and spit out, which is the cost of doing business with Doug.