But Wolfe ties himself in knots when he tries to find ways for the Christian Prince to order civil affairs so that his subjects will – trigger warning – gain eternal life. For instance, he writes, “Christ’s mediatorial reign does extend to all things in a way, in that all things ought to be ordered to the spiritual kingdom.” He adds that the civil kingdom, “by its nature, is obligated to order the people to the things of eternal life” and those things are only found in “Christ’s spiritual kingdom.” For this reason, Christ’s “spiritual reign extends to the civil kingdom.” “Christ as spiritual Head of his church has instituted what the civil kingdom ought to order itself to.” [306]
At that point, Wolfe takes away the 2k that he had previously offered by way of Calvin and Rutherford. Instead of keeping the distinctions between creation and redemption intact, Wolfe collapses them. Read more»
D. G. Hart | “The Twists and Turns Of Doing The Reading (Part Two)” | August 24, 2026
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Stephen Wolfe started losing the thread as early as the speculation that ethnic distinctions would have happened even if the Fall never occurred. If Genesis tells us that the scattering of nations happened after Noah came out of the ark then a whole sequence of generations from Adam to Noah came and went about which Scripture has nothing to say about nations. Wolfe has to believe that God providentially and sovereignly scattering the nations after judging the Tower of Babel project entails the idea that “nations” are inherently good AND that they would have naturally come into existence in a prelapsarian humanity?
I haven’t even managed to get past all of chapter two. Wolfe’s book has been “just” talked about enough I’ve dipped me toes in it but the howlers come so fast and so hard it’s hard to take seriously but for the fact that there are, alas, people who think the book has some coherent and competent arguments.