Pagans, Gnostics, and Christians—Oh My?

Two books, You Shall Be as Gods: Pagans, Progressives, and the Rise of the Woke Gnostic Left by talk-radio host Erick Erickson and Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come by The Federalist senior editor John Daniel Davidson, do more than dwell on the Garden as the origin of man’s discontent. They also confront two pressing, related problems: the weakening of Christianity in America and the rise of a competing belief system. The authors themselves, though both on the right, differ on much (having recently disagreed on, for example, the viability of Reaganite conservatism). But their books are strikingly similar in diagnosis. There is much wisdom, both in their agreements and in their disagreements. And there is further truth to be gleaned by discerning what they overlook and where they err, if the problem they describe is genuine and requires addressing.