The hardcore theonomy movement morphed into a broad theonomy-lite school of thought, and from there began to settle into particular communities, with a specific cultural embodiment. Douglas Wilson

Four days ago Pastor Doug Wilson of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, officially divorced himself from the name Federal Vision (FV), which is the doctrinal faction he established in 2002. He did not separate himself from any specific tenet of the Federal Vision, only from the name:

I have decided, after mulling over it for some years now, to discontinue identifying myself with what has come to be called the federal vision.

That Mr. Wilson split with the name alone suggests he may be positioning himself for another move.

Federal Vision Defined

The Federal Vision does not have an exact definition because, as the name says, it encompasses a vision. Further, those who see it have never unanimously agreed on what they actually perceive. In “AD 2007” the chief visionaries issued A Joint Federal Vision Profession; the introduction made clear their intent to obfuscate:

We have no desire to present a “moving target,” but we do want to be teachable, willing to stand corrected, or to refine our formulations as critics point out ambiguities, confusions, or errors. We therefore ask others to accept that the following represents our honest convictions at this stage of the conversation. This statement is therefore not an attempt at evasion or trickery, but simply represents a desire to be as clear as we can be, given our circumstances. (A Joint Federal Vision Profession, page 1)

The Federal Vision is a “moving target” because its advocates redefine their terms (they move definitions), sometimes in mid-sentence. They do this because they refuse to admit in plain English what they actually believe: The Federal Vision affirms baptismal union with Christ, including baptismal regeneration, while simultaneously affirming salvation by works, or “keeping covenant.” Get in by baptism, stay in through works. Federal Visionists will not admit this because it puts them outside confessional Reformed Protestantism (if not Christianity). Hence they resort to “evasion or trickery,” denials notwithstanding.

A Short History of the Federal Vision

Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Monroe, Louisiana (Steve Wilkins, pastor), hosts an annual pastor’s conference every January. In 2002, they scheduled Steve Schlissel, Norman Shepherd, Steve Wilkins, and Douglas Wilson to speak. Norman Shepherd’s wife passed away before the conference, so John Barach filled his slot.¹ We do not know the original name of the conference (they retroactively changed it), though the names of the lectures suggest the theme embraced hyper-covenantalism. Five months later the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (RPCUS) issued a resolution that unanimously declared the teachers at the conference as well as the doctrines they taught heretical:

Covenant Presbytery of the RPCUS declares that teaching presented in the 2002 Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Pastors Conference, involves a fundamental denial of the essence of the Christian Gospel in the denial of justification by faith alone.

That the teaching of the various speakers: Douglas Wilson, Steve Schlissel, John Barach, and J. Steven Wilkins, has the effect of destroying the Reformed Faith. . . . We therefore resolve that these teachings are heretical. We call these men to repentance. We call upon the church of Jesus Christ to hold these teachings in contempt. . . . (RPCUS, A Call to Repentance, June 22, 2002)

And a heresy was born. It immediately became known as “Auburn Avenue Theology” (AAT) and its instigators — John Barach, Steve Schlissel, Steve Wilkins, and Douglas Wilson — were dubbed “the Monroe Four.” Doug Wilson renamed the AAT, calling it the Federal Vision, and he launched an aggressive PR campaign against anyone who criticized it. This campaign demonstrated Mr. Wilson’s commitment to honesty.

Federal Misrepresentation
Douglas Wilson did not answer the RPCUS resolution. To be sure, if you relied only on Mr. Wilson’s representations, you would not know the RPCUS issued a resolution. Instead he framed a false narrative around a “heresy trial.” Here is one example:

This is because this was a heresy trial on the cheap — it was a veritable broadside of charges with no apparent need to contact us to get any clarification, no need to document the charges with quotations, no need to distinguish four men with different emphases, and so forth. Simple issues when collectively heaped can still make a big mess.²

However, contra Mr. Wilson’s representation, the RPCUS did not try the Monroe Four because the RPCUS had no denominational jurisdiction over the Monroe Four. The RPCUS arrived at its conclusion based upon the what the Monroe Four taught at the Auburn Avenue conference, which is the right and responsibility of all Christians. The RPCUS then urged the appropriate jurisdictional authorities to initiate process against those in error:

We call upon the courts of the churches that are responsible for these men to institute judicial process against them and to vindicate the honor of Christ and the truth of the Christian Gospel by bringing judgment upon them, suspending them from office, and removing them from the communion of the church should they not repent. (A Call to Repentance)

There was no “heresy trial”; Doug Wilson misrepresented the truth.³

Federal Scapegoat
Doug Wilson then resorted to textbook scapegoating. He removed the RPCUS and their resolution from the historical event and he blamed Dr. Joe Morecraft,⁴ a member of the RPCUS, for conducting the so-called “heresy trial.” Here is one example:

Born again or not, they are making a travesty of the worship of God, just as Joe Morecraft made a travesty of biblical justice and judicial procedures. But at the same time, when the person in question is in the position that Joe Morecraft was in, such a response should not be done lightly at all. So when we were condemned as heretics, without evidence cited, without anyone talking to us, and without clear understanding what our actual positions were, the first thing we did was attempt to communicate with Joe privately before our church issued a public response of any kind. Joe flatly refused to work with us on it. Consequently, the only reasonable thing that was left for us to do was to explore the matrix between modern Southern Presbyterianism insta-mix heresy trials and Kraft mac in a box. (Blog & Mablog)

Please note that Dr. Joe Morecraft’s name does not appear on the RPCUS resolution. Doug Wilson inserted it. Also notice that in this excerpt (above) Douglas Wilson convicted Dr. Morecraft of making “a travesty of biblical justice and judicial procedures” without affording him a church trial. Presumably Mr. Wilson’s love of “biblical justice and judicial procedures” compelled him to reach this verdict ex cathedra. Regardless, he fabricated a tale that scapegoated Dr. Joe Morecraft for orchestrating a trial that never took place. This is how Doug Wilson deals with all of his scandals; he constructs a fable that bears some semblance to the truth and he always blames someone else (“It’s all in Girard, man!”). He lacks the moral capacity to own responsibility for his sins.

Federal Abuse
False narrative and scapegoat in hand, Doug Wilson then published a mock advertisement in Credenda/Agenda that ridiculed Dr. Joe Morecraft for this “heresy trial.” He called it “Craft Morecaroni and Cheese” and he repeated the deception that one man committed this injustice against the Monroe Four. Mr. Wilson distributed this fiction to Credenda‘s subscribers and in the next issue he did it again. (Click the image to enlarge.) This set the standard for Doug Wilson’s response to those who would identify the Federal Vision as false teaching. He would lambast them with false accusations and subject them to public ridicule, using every means at his disposal to harass them.

Mr. Wilson’s bullying did not move the RPCUS. They did not retract the resolution and within the next few years the Reformed church at large echoed the RPCUS’s conclusion: The Federal Vision is another gospel.

Federal Tantrum
From this time forward Doug Wilson’s modus operandi became clear. He turned the Federal Vision into a “did to” “did not” child’s game, insisting that no one quoted him accurately, if the quotation put him in a bad light. He then demanded that everyone must contact him first, before they quoted him, to ensure they had all the proper context for the quote. If they refused, he declared them guilty of misrepresenting him and he sullied their reputations with his well-greased libel machine. He deployed Blog & Mablog against those who criticized the Federal Vision and against those he claimed misrepresented and/or misunderstood him. Tragically, the whole world misunderstood Doug Wilson and the Federal Vision, including some very well-trained academics (please read the category “Auburn Avenue Stuff” on Mablog). And soon Doug Wilson waxed wroth, yelling at his windshield. We do not know if his windshield yelled back:

• Yelling At My Windshield
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Two
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Three
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Four
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Five
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Six
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Seven
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Eight
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Nine
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part Ten
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part 11
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part 12
• Yelling At My Windshield, Part 13
• Yelling At My Windshield, Finis
• Yelling At My Windshield, Post Script
• Yelling At My Copy of Modern Reformation
• Talking Reasonably to My Windshield
• Raising Eyebrows At My Windshield
• A “Yelling At My Windshield” Reprise

Douglas Wilson raised the volume of theological discourse to yelling while concurrently reducing its substance to abusive ad homs. The message was apparent: Unless you agreed with Mr. Wilson, he would throw a temper tantrum on his website.

Conclusion

This is a rebrand. Douglas Wilson split from the words “Federal Vision” and nothing else. He still holds its errors and he has not apologized for the sins he committed in its defense. He remains a heretick.

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¹ Other websites state that the original lineup included John Barach, but my memory recalls he was a substitute.
² Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” Is Not Enough: Recovering the Objectivity of the Covenant (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2002) 8.
³ And to be clear, no one then or now has jurisdiction over Douglas Wilson — not even his own denomination, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. He could commit a felony at high noon in the town square and the CREC would have no authority to discipline him. The worst they could do is vote the Kirk out of their club, which will never happen.
⁴ Dr. Morecraft was instrumental in pulling the trigger on Doug Phillips of Vision Forum.