Confessions Of Ralph Reed
Former Director Of The Christian Coalition

When I first opened this book I was expecting something of a conservative manifesto. As it turns out it was nothing of the kind. To be honest I was shocked by many of the statements I encountered in “Active Faith.”

It is not altogether clear what faith the title is referring to, but it is clearly not the “faith of our fathers” as revealed in the Word of God. Mr. Reed and the Christian Coalition capitulate to the world on point after point. In these pages Christian Coalition reveals itself to be in sympathy with the social gospel, neo-orthodox theology, socialism, and a host of other liberal ideas.

With this kind of leadership at the helm it is small wonder that the Christian Coalition has faded from prominence in recent years. Lest you think I am exaggerating, my approach in this review is to quote a passage from the book with page number, followed by a brief comment on the Christian Coalition position.

The Christian Coalition
And The Nature Of Government

Ralph Reed: “The real question is whether a religious tradition (in our case Christianity) attempts to impose its universalist theological claims by force of law. We do not. Ours’ is a public policy agenda informed by faith, but not dictated by any church” (p.28).

Response: It’s not the “Ten Suggestions” it’s the “Ten Commandments.” Somebody’s theology is going to be enforced by law. Law is always the practical expression of somebody's theology. That’s what law is. The question is will it be the law of God or the law of man. Christian Coalition prefers the law of man.

Ralph Reed: “There is no religion that is more thoroughly democratic than the Christian faith” (p.29).

Response: On the contrary, there is no religion that is more undemocratic than the Christian faith. Democracy means “the law of the people” (demos=people/cracy=law). The Bible insists upon “the law of God.” The basic sin of Adam and Eve was to be like God in terms of their ability to define good and evil as they saw fit.

Ralph Reed: “Even after that transition [to limited government], there should always be local government assistance for the truly disabled and for abandoned children” (p.276).

Response: On what Biblical or Constitutional authority does he make this assertion? It was by these baby steps that we got started on the road to socialism in the first place. This kind of charity is always the responsibility of the private sector (e.g. church, private individuals and foundations), never the responsibility of government.

Ralph Reed: “The best standard for government is still John Stuart Mill’s principle of allowing the greatest liberty possible until someone else’s life or liberty is jeopardized.” (p.278).

Response: Mr. Reed prefers the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill to the Word of God as “the best standard for government”

Ralph Reed: “Our critics do not believe me when I say we desire a place at the table. They assume we wish to sit at the head of the table, carving up the spoils.”

Response: Not us, but Christ insists on His rightful place at the head of the table, and we should too.

Ralph Reed: “Our political witness should reflect not only God’s judgment but also His forgiveness. For He loves everyone – including our political foes.”

Response: According to the Bible, God does not love everyone; Romans says he hated Esau. God has enemies whom David hated “with a perfect hatred.”

The Christian Coalition
And The Social Gospel

Ralph Reed: “The Social Gospel movement was a crusade for social justice within American Protestantism that merged traditional faith with radical political reform” (p.41).

Response: Mr. Reed speaks approvingly of the Social Gospel and Social Justice throughout this section of the book. “Social Justice” is a code word for Socialism within Liberation Theology. The Social Gospel was the application of liberal Christianity to the political arena, minus the gospel.

Ralph Reed: “President Roosevelt consulted him (Rauschenbusch) on social policy, promising to borrow the good from socialism while leaving out the bad. Those ideas helped propel the formation in 1908 of the Federal Council of Churches, which was the forerunner to the National Council of Churches“(p.43).

Response: He seems to approve of the liberal National Council of Churches. Socialism is the redistribution of private property by force of law. What part of that is good, Mr. Reed?

Ralph Reed: “In fact, as the Social Gospel movement demonstrated, the influence on political parties and platforms by people of faith is a common American phenomenon. It is another characteristic of an active faith” (p.44).

Response: Here again, he apparently approves the influence of the Social Gospel.

Response: Do Ralph Reed and Christian Coalition approve of this? Most of these policies are anti-biblical to the core and lie at the heart of what ails modern America. Most of these are examples of a misguided evangelicalism divorced from the law of God.

The Christian Coalition
And Civil War/Civil Rights

Ralph Reed: “The revolutionary movement left one critical issue unresolved: slavery. A fresh spiritual outpouring among the people soon forced the nation to confront that evil” (p.32).

Response: This is an incredibly simplistic view of the forces underlying the War Between the States. It ignores the oppressive economic policies of the North, the Northern Unitarian drive to thwart the Constitution and consolidate power in Washington DC, and the humane treatment of most slaves by Southern Christians. As politically incorrect as it may sound, the Bible does not describe slavery as an “evil,” such as abortion is an evil. In fact, it prescribes specific laws for the regulation of slavery. The South, of course, did not practice those laws, but Christian Coalition is simply parroting the warmed over, humanistic, textbook version of the Civil War.

Ralph Reed: “An examination of voting patterns in the 1840s reveals that support for abolitionist candidates was highest in areas with the greatest number of evangelical churches, where Finney’s revivals had worked their wonders” (p.33).

Response: This is no doubt true because many Christians were deceived by abolitionist propaganda which insisted on violence to eradicate slavery, contrary to the Biblical view of slavery.

Ralph Reed: “King, the seminarian, was thrilled to discover Walter Rauschenbusch and Reinhold Neibuhr, who articulated and provided a theological foundation and rich intellectual tradition for the social concerns he had nursed since he was a boy. Rauschenbusch’s condemnation of capitalism found fertile ground in a man like King, who was familiar with economic disadvantage…” (p.58).

Response: Here Mr. Reed writes glowingly of Martin Luther King, Jr. as socialist (condemner of capitalism) and Reinhold Neibuhr, the neo-orthodox heretic.

The Christian Coalition
And Liberalism

Ralph Reed: “The painful truth that religious conservatives must confront in their general disdain of modern liberalism is this: liberals have been correct throughout history on issues of social justice while we have been neglectful or derelict in applying the principles of our faith to establishing justice in a fallen world” (p.67).

Response: This is an incredible statement, a wholesale capitulation to Socialism. It is hard to believe that anybody who describes himself as conservative could make such a statement.

Ralph Reed: “But unlike the Republican Party of Lincoln, the GOP of the 20th Century had become a bean-counting party, talking about fiscal austerity and budget cuts instead of about strengthening the family and eliminating social injustice” (p.74).

Response: the “Radical Republican” Party of Lincoln centralized power in Washington D.C., tyrannized the defeated South, and in the process provoked racial tensions that lingered a century. Out of control government spending and confiscatory taxation are a direct attack on the stability of the family.

The Christian Coalition
And Political Polytheism

Ralph Reed: “The ‘Christian nation’ rhetoric (of Jerry Falwell) was rarely intended to imply a theocracy. Religious conservative leaders meant to celebrate a nation in which people loved their neighbors, cared for those less fortunate, honored God, took care of their families, and obeyed the law” (p.119).

Response: When you break down the word theocracy you get: Theos=God/cracy=law. Here Mr. Reed expresses his disdain for the rule of God’s law, preferring the trappings of religion, but denying the power thereof. He doesn’t want a Christian nation, he just wants a “nice” nation.

Ralph Reed: “I acknowledged in the address to the Anti-Defamation League that ‘religious conservatives have at times been insensitive,’ particularly in their call for a ‘Christian nation,’ to the ‘horrors’ experienced by the Jewish people.’ I called for an America ‘that is not officially Christian, Jewish, or Muslim,’ where ‘the separation of church and state is complete and inviolable’ (p.211).

Response: This is an incredible statement of capitulation. Is he implying that a Christian nation is going to lead to another Jewish holocaust? In many places the Bible commands that the “stranger” be given the same consideration as the widow and orphan. Ah yes, a nice neutral, lukewarm nation with no official commitment to anything is sure to please God. Never mind His command to disciple the nations.

Ralph Reed: “After centuries of distrust and theological disagreements, Catholics and Protestants are beginning to reflect on what unites them rather than what divides them. The reason is simple…where our common faith and the values associated with it are under unprecedented attack, we can no longer afford to be divided. That was demonstrated in 1994, when a group of Catholic and evangelical leaders signed a manifesto pledging to cooperate on issues of mutual concern and to focus their missionary efforts abroad on the unchurched rather than converting members of each other’s flocks” (p.217).

Response: The critical issues related to justification by faith hammered out in the Reformation are of little consequence to Mr. Reed and Christian Coalition – theological distinctives divide, so let’s just sweep them under the rug. It is in large part the Catholic/Irish immigrations and their commitment to natural law humanism that have undermined America’s commitment to her original covenant with God. Certainly we can cooperate with Roman Catholics at some level, but let’s not jettison the distinctives of Biblical Christianity in the process. The fact remains that the Catholic Church is preaching what the Apostle Paul calls a ‘different gospel’ because it denies justification by faith in Christ alone. Moreover, it practices a form of idolatry in its worship of Mary. Christians do not share a common faith with Roman Catholics, contrary to Ralph.

Ralph Reed: “and no nation has been more amenable to the growth of Christianity and the acceptance of Judaism than the United States“ (p.29)

Response: Is that Judaism as in Pharisees? If so, it is condemned by the Bible. According to Paul in Gal. 1:13, Judaism and Christianity are opposites and bitter enemies: “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my own people…But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son through me…

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