Letter To Paul Hill [1994 Fla. shooter of abortionist Dr. Britton] [part 2 of 13]

I say that you are headed for hell because I speak judicially. You wrote to me, presumably because I am associated with the Christian Reconstruction movement. You are well aware that we are noted for our judicial theology. You attended classes taught by Dr. Greg Bahnsen in the late 1970's at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. In one of your papers, you cite a book by R.J. Rushdoony. We do think judicially and speak judicially. Ask a judicial theologian his opinion, and you should expect a judicial answer.

The New Testament is clear: when a man is excommunicated from his church, he is to be regarded by Christians as a heathen. We are told specifically by John that we are not to wish such a person Godspeed. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (II John 1:9-11).

The New Testament is equally clear that God honors lawful excommunications. Jesus spoke to church officers: "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18). So, I take your excommunication seriously, even though you do not.

You were educated as a Calvinist in a Calvinist seminary. What did Calvin say about excommunication? He cited Matthew 16:19. "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he wrote that "the latter applies to the discipline of excommunication which is entrusted to the church. But the church binds him whom it excommunicates -- not that it casts him into everlasting ruin and despair, but because it condemns his life and morals, and already warns him of his condemnation unless he should repent. . . . Therefore, that no one may stubbornly despise the judgment of the church, or think it immaterial that he has been condemned by the vote of the believers, the Lord testifies that such judgment by believers is nothing but the proclamation of his own sentence, and that whatever they have done on earth is ratified in heaven."

When an excommunicate then goes out to create his own house church and serve himself and his family the Lord's Supper, as you did, this goes beyond mere excommunicate status; it goes to the status of outright rebellion. Here is a man who is creating his own church, his own world of supposed judicial authority. Here is a man who is bringing the sacraments of the church into his home, in the name of God, when he has been lawfully condemned by the institutional church and told to repent. That act alone judicially enables me to say that by every judicial standard the Bible offers, you are going to hell. You are in open rebellion. God does not honor those men who flagrantly rebel against His church, set up a home church, and ordain themselves to ministerial status.

You are accused of having shot to death two men and wounded a woman. You have not denied these accusations. Witnesses say you fired a shotgun several times at close range -- a weapon not noted for its ability to inflict death on a discriminating basis.

The reports say that you ran. If correct, then you did not act as a man of courage would have acted. You did not act as one who believed in some elevated principle. You shot and ran. This indicates to me that you knew in your heart that you act was, biblically speaking, an act of murder rather than the God- authorized defense of a just cause. A man defending a just cause does not run. He commits his act of civil rebellion in the name of a higher law and then submits himself to the sanctions of the state for having violated state law. This is what the people of Operation Rescue do. They stand in front of an abortion clinic, to be beaten by the police, arrested, sent to jail, fined, and suffer a loss of their income. They suffer the consequences of their actions. They are people of courage.

Dr George Tiller, the infamous Kansas late-term abortionist was shot to death this past weekend. At some point, comparisons will be made to the shooting deaths of Dr. John Britton and abortion escort/bodyguard James Barrett in the summer of 1994.

This thread series features a letter written to Britton's murderer, Paul Hill while he was awaiting trial for the killings (Hill was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed for the double-murder). The author is "Christian Reconstructionist" writer Gary North. The letter (published in book form under the title Lone Gunners for Jesus: Letters to Paul Hill) articulates a Reformed response to the question of whether the killing of an abortionist can be considered morally justified in Scripture.

Pt 1: Introduction
Pt 2: Judicial Theology
Pt 3: Murder, Defined Biblically
Pt 4: The Fundamental Issue
Pt 5: The Guilt of the Community
Pt 6: The Question of Judicial Representation
Pt 7: Community Standards
Pt 8: The Technology of Low-Cost Murder
Pt 9: Voices of Virtue
Pt 10: Perfectionism and Unlimited Guilt
Pt 11: Non-Violent Resistance
Pt 12: Caught in a Crossfire
Pt 13: Conclusion

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