Unpacking the Response to the DeYoung TGC Review

A fault line in American evangelical Christianity is increasingly apparent.

As Exhibit A and B, consider two articles of the past three months: one ‘Reparations: A Critical Theological Review’ published by Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition on April 22, 2021 dealing with the book ‘Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Renewal’ by Duke Kwon and Greg Thompson; the other, ‘Sanctifying the Status Quo: A Response to Reverend Kevin DeYoung’ by the authors of that book DeYoung reviewed and critiqued, published July 19, 2021 at The Front Porch.

Wrapping up an examination of these two pieces in the last two episodes – An Interesting Back and Forth About Reparations, and Reviewing the DeYoung TGC Review of Reparations, let us in this third episode turn our attention more fully to the response of Kwon and Thompson to DeYoung and try to see it for what it is.

The Malleable Truth

While assuring us all that they do not believe DeYoung to be in any way, shape, or form a racist or White Supremacist, the authors nevertheless also insist over nearly 10,000-words that DeYoung is doing the dirty work of White Supremacy. This they do by attacking his methodology as being White-centric, excluding black voices, minimizing White Supremacy, and prioritizing White comfort.

The argumentum ad hominem is strong with this one. And it has an all-too-familiar feel to it for me which I recognize from many painful interactions with old friends and family who have embraced Woke ideology, particularly when wedded with a form of Christianity. Smiling, friendly, and complimentary, they nevertheless bury the rhetorical knife deep between the ribs repeatedly and without mercy as they carry out their revolutionary work.

In sum, Kwon and Thompson demonstrate in their response that the truth is malleable. We should all come away from their piece with a renewed appreciation for the importance of Western civilization even as they make an all-out assault on its foundations. Like sappers digging subterranean tunnels to plant petards beneath a besieged city’s walls, these two pastors need to be called out as the traitors in our midst they truly are.