You Ain't No St. Nick
No.267: August 29, 2025
Welcome to The Square Inch, a weekly newsletter on Christianity, culture, and all of the many-varied “square inches” of God’s domain. This is a paid subscription feature with a preview before the paywall, so please consider subscribing to enjoy this weekly missive along with a frequent Pipe & Dram feature of little monologues/conversations in my study, and Wednesday’s “The Quarter Inch,” a quick(er) commentary on current events.
Dear Friends,
I honestly hate to write about this again, but this time it really is important so I hope you read on.
This essay by Brian Marks resonates with me, but I do not actually agree with its conclusion. Mr. Marks suggests that it is time for theologically orthodox Christians of all stripes to “oppose” Douglas Wilson and his merry band of culture warriors in Moscow, Idaho. I happen to think that it is time for theologically orthodox Christians of all stripes to call Douglas Wilson and his merry band to humility and repentance for their sins. Sins that are pretty obvious to most people, but apparently imperceptible to them. Which is the kind of irony Jesus observed. They can spot a speck in a run-of-the-mill evangelical’s eye from a mile away while not noticing the railroad tie shoved into their own.
I know that I disappointed some folks last week when I refused to pile on and “anathematize” Wilson as some sort of dangerous heretic. Everyone is getting in on that action. I just think that’s lazy and, in the case of Russell Moore’s comments, outrageous. Moreover, much of it is based on a needlessly invented caricature. I’ve said it before and for now I stand by it; the problems are not, as I see it, the fruits of some deep theological deviancy (not to say they don’t have their quirks). “It’s the sin, stupid.” The “serrated edge” in the hands of arrogant and immature people provides ample occasion for sin. When an entire community begins to model themselves in that fashion, you get the “Moscow Mood.” They can laugh about that and shrug it off as they invariably do, and that is a feature of being in a sociological bubble. But the “mood” is real and at best it rubs ordinary people the wrong way, and at worst it is divisive and just plain ungodly.
Many want to make this a case of Paul confronting Peter over the Judaizers, as though what is at stake here is the very gospel of Jesus Christ (i.e., we must “oppose” them). I don’t see it that way. Their doctrinal standards (you can read them here) are standard Protestant Reformed confessions, and I have yet to be persuaded by any of the attempts to demonstrate some root “heresy.”
I do want to write about heresy as it relates to Moscow, however.
Gary DeMar is a writer and speaker whose main topic over the past thirty years has been eschatology. More specifically, he devoted his career to undermining Dispensationalism, with its obsessions about the “End Times” and Antichrist and Great Tribulation and Rapture. Two and half years ago a number of Gary’s friends approached him via personal letter multiple times to express grave concern that he was veering into an obsession of his own. One that would take him entirely outside of the Church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. To wit: Gary was flirting with, or at least highly ambiguous about, the Second Advent of Christ, the Final Judgment, and the Resurrection of the Body.
Gary utterly rebuffed this letter, eventually launching tirade-laden podcasts against his friends, blocking them on social media, and refusing to talk about it. Alas, his friends were right. Gary has since made abundantly clear that he does not believe in orthodox Christian eschatology. He denies the Second Coming of Christ and he denies the resurrection of the body. He is, definitionally, a heretic. Here is what the Athanasian Creed says—confessed by every branch of Christendom: East, West, Protestant, and Roman Catholic:
“Except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.” This is a Paul confronting Peter sort of matter. The gospel really is at stake.
One of the friends who confronted Gary those years ago is named Douglas Wilson.
Here are some Facebook posts from last week:
I don’t know Moscow’s intended motives, but it is clear that this undeniable heretic used his visit and podcast appearance as a very public marketing platform.
CrossPolitic, the podcast, shared multiple clips of his appearance. I suppose it was to show that they were challenging and pushing back on Gary’s heterodox views. I made it twenty seconds into one of these clips before concluding that, notwithstanding the “pushback,” this was essentially a forum for Gary to openly speak outrageous lies. Such as, “The Bible doesn’t talk about the resurrection of the body; it talks about the resurrection of the dead.” (If that confuses you, he means that the “real” you is the “spiritual” you, and resurrection means some kind of ascent to a spiritual existence without your body—Gnosticism 101). The Bible talks about the resurrection of the body all the time, and Gary DeMar is either a moron or he is a liar. He is not a moron. Ergo, he is a liar.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ form the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies — Romans 8:11
Jesus was not messing around when he said to beware of false teachers, who come as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Why in the world should we be shocked? In the second century Irenaeus began his Against Heresies with a meditation on precisely that admonition from Jesus.
Gary wants a debate (on his terms). He wants podcast appearances. He wants someone to “show him a verse.” It is not necessary to debate this because there is no debate. This is as settled a matter of Christian orthodoxy as there is. So I will not bother writing some kind of theological “response” to Gary DeMar’s folly. I can tell you that, having recently finished painstakingly reading every single word of Irenaeus’s five volumes, DeMar’s heresies are blindingly obvious and bear all the hallmarks of a new Gnosticism. He is a false teacher, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
And apparently the Moscow folks call him “Uncle Gary.” They enjoy, if photographs are to be believed, warm personal friendship and fellowship with him.
If ever there was a real-world application for Paul’s words in Titus 3, to “warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time; after that, have nothing to do with him,” this is it. Doug Wilson himself participated in the warnings. The Apostle John says it even more starkly:
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is a deceiver and the antichrist … if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
I think a podcast invitation and appearance looks a lot like welcoming. I think Toby Sumpter saying, “You are asking good questions” provides an imprimatur to the Devil’s very schemes. Allowing Gary to argue for his heresy on your platform to your audience is to share in his wicked work. That is what the Bible says. It is anything but harmless. Naïve people will be deceived by him, and Moscow has provided the opportunity.
It is the sheer irony of it all that leaves me slack-jawed. The entire “Moscow Mood,” the number one selling point, the thing that attracts so many followers, is that these are the brave, uncompromising, unflinching, “real men” warriors for Christ’s kingdom. They devote an entire month every year, “No Quarter November,” to flaming all the other wishy-washy “evanjellyfish” who lack their boldness and nerve. They are the types who every Christmas will gleefully share that meme of St. Nicholas punching Arius in the face at the Council of Nicaea.
They ain’t no “St. Nicks.” A real-life, walking, talking heretic and true enemy of Christ walks into their midst and they call him “Uncle” and assure him that he’s asking good questions. Which indicates to me that it’s all a sham. A vibe. A pose. The chest-thumping warrior is a coward when the moment of truth arrives.
If you’ve ever read a church history book and wondered, as I often have, how in the world a heretic like Arius was so popular and influential in the 3rd century, here is your answer. He had a lot of cowardly personal friends who lacked the nerve to oppose him.
So not only do I call on the Moscow church-and-media-complex to repent of their hubris and often-sinful-and-divisive rhetoric, I call on them to repent of coddling a heretic. You had an opportunity to put your money where your mouth is, to prove your true mettle, and words can hardly describe how dismaying that turned out to be.
Thanks for reading The Square Inch Newsletter. Have a wonderful weekend!
Unfortunately true.