Gary DeMar


Gary DeMar is an American writer, lecturer and former president of American Vision, an American Christian nonprofit organization.

Family life and education

DeMar resides in Marietta, Georgia with his wife Carol. They have two grown sons. DeMar is a member of Midway Presbyterian Church, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. DeMar graduated from Western Michigan University in 1973 and earned a M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. He earned his Ph.D. in Christian Intellectual History from Whitefield Theological Seminary in 2007.

Career

DeMar began working at American Vision in 1981 as a research analyst. In 1986 he became the president of the organization. DeMar stepped aside as president of American Vision in 2015, and is now Senior Fellow.
Along with his work at American Vision, Gary DeMar is a contributor to the political websites Godfather Politics and Political Outcast.

''Ruler of the Nations''

In the foreword to DeMar's book Ruler of the Nations, John W. Whitehead notes that the book "presents a clear and well-substantiated description of the three types of government established by God-the family, the church, and the civil government-each given its own specific and limited jurisdiction". In the Editor's Introduction, Gary North points out DeMar's description of "an intellectual war going on, a war between two rival views of God, man, law and society." North says that the "book has made the meaning of theocracy clear".
In the chapter titled Reconstructing Civil Government, DeMar states:
All government requires a reference point. If God is to be pleased by men, the Bible must become the foundation of all their governments, including civil government. This means that Biblical law must be made the foundation of all righteous judgment in every government: personal, ecclesiastical, familial, and civil.

Religious and political views

DeMar states in an article on the American Vision web site, "Darwinism has secularized everything in America, including our understanding of the Constitution".
American Vision promotes the idea "that the world is not ending tomorrow and that Christ’s Kingdom will be victorious on the earth". AV connects the writings of the founders of the U.S. with the organization's vision of contemporary North America: "In the New England Confederation of 1643, the Pilgrims stated: 'e all came to these parts of America, with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.'”
DeMar is a proponent of partial preterism.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has described American Vision as an extremist group and an organization advocating "a complete theocracy governed by Old Testament law." It describes DeMar as "an outspoken anti-gay activist who regularly hosts and speaks at Christian-right events."