Return of the Black Robe Regiment - Download

Dr. Bruce K. Waltke — approaching his 96th birthday — is one of the foremost living authorities on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. The noted Hebrew scholar, with doctorates from Dallas Theological Seminary and Harvard University, has spent a lifetime examining God's moral order and the consequences of wisdom, character, and obedience in both personal and public life.Commenting on Proverbs 22:29 — “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men” — Waltke observes that Proverbs presupposes engagement in the political arena. Biblical wisdom was never meant to remain safely confined within the sanctuary walls. It prepares men of character and competence to step into the public square and, as Proverbs 8 declares, “cry out by the gates, at the entrance of the city” — precisely where the affairs of the community were debated, judged, and decided.

Which brings us to Os Guinness.

A few weeks ago, Os invited me to dinner with him and his wife, Jenny. He told me about a piece he was writing titled "Return of the Black Robe Regiment" — and asked whether American Renewal Project would distribute it to pastors across America.

I told him we would.

Os is one of the most important Christian thinkers of our generation. Born in China to medical missionary parents, he witnessed the Communist takeover before his family was expelled in 1951. He later earned his D.Phil from Oxford and has authored or edited more than thirty books examining faith, freedom, culture, and the foundations a free society needs to survive.

His message could hardly be more timely.

There was a time in America when pastors did not retreat from the great questions confronting the nation. They preached Biblical truth into the public square and helped form the convictions upon which liberty depended. They became known as the Black Robe Regiment.

Os raises two questions: Where are they now? And, more importantly — what would happen to America if they returned?

This is not merely an essay about history. It is a challenge to the American pulpit at a defining moment.

Os has graciously allowed for a free download  "Special Edition for Pastors and Preachers" Available here.

Please download, read it carefully. Send it to another pastor. Discuss it with your church leadership. Consider what God may be requiring of those entrusted with the pulpit in our generation.

The question is no longer what the Black Robe Regiment did two centuries ago. The question is whether a new generation of pastors will stand in their place.

David Lane

American Renewal Project