2008 Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy

Vision Forum has given us the opportunity to review a copy of the 2008 Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy through their affiliate program.

The Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy is a three day conference that Vision Forum does to teach a Christian view of law. We wanted to go last year, but Daddy was working too much. In this CD set, the speakers explain that the Bible must be the foundation for our view of law. We must have a biblical worldview. They also talk about the current status of laws and court decisions that relate to different issues such as Biblical Marriage and the 2nd Amendment. The Witherspoon School is not just for lawyers, it is helpful for all Christians in deciding who they should vote for, etc.

Here are summaries of several of the messages:

Introduction to the Christian Foundations of Western Law
by Doug Phillips

This message is really an introduction to the entire album. After going through the different speakers, he talked about how we must have a biblical worldview. We can not abandon our Biblical worldview when we relate to unbelievers, even when we are witnessing to them. Mr. Phillips said that the bible is sufficient and must be our grid to interpret everything. He spoke on what our view of Old Testament law must be, that we must realize it still applies, and that we must get principles for our law from it.


Christian Jurisprudence: Biblical Law, Natural Law, or Positive Law?
by Bill Einwechter

In this message Mr. Einwechter, one of our favorite speakers, talks about biblical law, natural law and positive law. Positive law says that all law is derived from the state, and evolves and changes as the state makes new laws. Many lawyers today hold to it, and this is why they believe that they do not have to follow the intent of the founders when they wrote the Constitution of the United States. Natural law says that there are unchanging principles of law in nature, which just laws are derived from. Natural law is not to be confused with the laws of nature. Many people, from the ancient Greeks until now, have believed this. Biblical law is much different from the others; it is getting our law from the bible. Christians should believe in biblical law.


Symposium on the Reformation and Law
by Bill Einwechter and Doug Phillips

This message is a Q&A session. In it Mr. Phillips and Mr. Einwechter answer questions about many issues, including Christians in today's military, and whether or not Christians can hire women.


Christianity and the Courts
by Hon. Roy S. Moore

This is a special message by Chief Justice Roy Moore. He spoke on how God must be over our government. There was also a Q&A time. I really enjoyed it because his speaking style is easy to follow and he includes many personal anecdotes. He is an inspiring speaker because he has been tried by the fire for what he believes, which is that we must honor God in everything we do and all the decisions we make.

A Theology of Church and State
by Doug Phillips

This message is about the biblical view of the three different jurisdictions: family, church and state, and how they relate to one another. At different times throughout history, different jurisdictions have ruled over the others. For example, in the time when Roman Catholicism was dominant, the church ruled over the family and state. In the bible, we see that they should not rule over any of the others. The three jurisdictions should be equal.

The Battle for Biblical Marriage
by Jordan Lawrence

In this message Mr. Lawrence spoke on the issue of marriage being between one man and one woman. He spoke on how the bible definitely affirms that, as well as most of the state constitutions. He spoke on many of the current events relating to this, and he finished by encouraging the Christians to keep fighting the battle for traditional marriage.


You May Not Take Our Guns
by Larry Pratt

Mr. Pratt, director of Gun Owners for America, spoke on the Second Amendment: the right to keep and bear arms. Many people think that there will be less crime if guns are outlawed, but that is not actually the case. Guns stop crimes. Gun bans will not stop criminals from having guns, but prevents law-abiding citizens from being able to defend themselves. When gun bans are passed, crimes increase. Constitutionally, there should be neither a gun ban, nor a concealed carry law. In one part of the message he mentioned that one political leader said during a speech that anyone who thought that they needed to have a gun to defend himself was paranoid. At that time, that person was surrounded by six armed bodyguards. He also talked about the current state of the gun laws in the United States.

Other Messages

What the Bible says about Female Magistrates by Bill Einwechter
Defamation in the Blogosphere by Josh Carden
Biblical Law, Ethics, & Public Policy for Lawyers by Doug Phillips
Biblical Law, Ethics, & Public Policy Recap by Doug Phillips
The Significance of the Electoral College by Howard Phillips
Genesis & Geneva: The Emergence of Liberty in the West by Doug Phillips
Spheres of Sovereignty: Church Discipline, Autonomy, and the State by Bob Renaud
The State of Parental Rights in Light of the Texas Polygamy Case by Don Hart

You can buy the CD set here, or download it from behemoth here. If you would like to receive opportunities like this, join the Vision Forum Affiliate Program.

8 New Henty Books from Vision Fourm

	A Chapter of Adventures
	The Cornet of Horse
	In Greek Waters
	The Plague Ship

With Roberts to Pretoria

Redskin and Cowboy

John Hawk's Fortune

Colonel Thorndyke's Secret

Buy the 8 new ones here.
Or the entire set here.

Vision Forum Affilate Program

Today I would like to write about Vision Forum's affilate program. What happens is you join it, and they give you links to put on your site. When someone clicks on your link, and orders something from Vision Forum, you get a 8% commission! We do not get many orders through this blog, but at least we get 8% from our orders!

So if you clicked here and bought the entire G. A. Henty collection, we would get $58! (By the way, if you actually do ever want to buy something and do not want to get your own account, why don't you click here?)

The only bad part about it is that you only get paid when you get over $50.

Become a Vision Forum Affilate

Alba Gu Bra
Joshua Horn

Why the Army of Northern Virgina Surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse

by Joshua Horn
from Lee's Lieutentants by D. S. Freeman

Buy the Books Here

On April 9^th, 1865 Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virgina to U. S. Grant near Appomattox Courthouse. This was the same army that for the past four years had defeated army after army. It was the same army that had won brilliant victories such as Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. What caused this army to be forced to surrender? Douglas S. Freeman says this in his book, Lee's Lieutenants, “Wherever the blame might be placed, it did not rest on the men in the ranks.”¹ If it was not the soldiers' fault, what was the cause of this defeat? There were three main causes: lack of troops, inadequate command, and the troop's hunger and fatigue.

As the Civil War progressed, the Confederate army began to have less and less troops. They had been outnumbered throughout the whole war, but as the war neared its close, the Confederates had the recurring problem of not being able to replace the troops that they lost. For example, at the Battle of Fredericksburg, in the middle of the war, the Union Army numbered about 114,000 while the Confederates numbered 72,500. When the siege of Petersburg was finished, just a few weeks before the end, 45,000 Confederates were opposing over 100,000 Federals. When the Army of Northern Virgina surrendered, only 27,000 troops were left.

Near the end of the war, the Union's cavalry sent raids to destroy all the railroads running to Richmond. The goal of these attacks was to cut off supplies and reinforcements to the troops defending the Confederate capital. While the infantry was trying to hold an eleven mile front of trenches against the more powerful Union infantry, it had to send out more troops to defend attacks at the railways it still had in operation. This weakened the meager forces holding the trenches, until they had only 1,000 troops per mile of trenches. Because many of the railroads were captured by the enemy, and also because of the incompetence of the Confederate quartermaster department, the soldiers were very short on food and other supplies that were necessary for the army to operate.

Much of the hard, constant fighting near the end of the war was at close quarters. Several times the troops were driven back from their positions, and the commanders had to lead their troops forward personally to retake the ground they had lost to the enemy. This created many casualties among the command. Douglas S. Freeman writes, “More frequent battles at close quarters had prompted officers to take more desperate personal risks when their men fought somewhat less well and the Federals fought better.”² As an example, there were only eighty-five colonels with Lee when he surrendered, even though 200 were required to command the regiments he had.³ Because of this killing off of the officers, fit officers of lower rank could not be found to replace those who were killed in higher positions. This resulted in men being put in positions that they were not fit for. Inexperienced or incapable generals did not lead the soldiers as well, which resulted in more defeats for the army.

On April 2, the Union army penetrated the thin Confederate line, forcing the Confederate army to abandon Richmond and retreat. They tried to reach to one of the few railroads in operation, to receive rations and travel down to North Carolina to join up with another army. They were forced to march quickly, so that they were not caught and pinned down by the powerful Union army. Because of this need for speed, the soldiers were ordered to march all day and night. Added to this hardship was the fact that they did not have any food for several days. One soldier said, “The constant marching and fighting without sleep or food are rapidly thinning the ranks of this grand old army. Men who have stood by their flags since the beginning of the war fall out of their ranks and are captured, simply because it is beyond their power of physical endurance to go any farther.”⁴ All but the most tough and loyal troops fell out of ranks from hunger and fatigue.

On the night of April 6^th, the Confederate column which was marching to the railroad was split up by Federal troops because of a misunderstanding between the tired generals. Greatly outnumbered, half the army surrendered after a short but desperate fight. The other half of the army was finally cut off and surrounded on April 8^th, and Lee realized that the tired troops were too outnumbered to be able to fight their way out. The army surrendered on April 9^th, 1865.

We see that there were several reasons why Lee was forced to surrender. His army was driven back and finally surrounded because of the lack of troops and also because they had been marching and fighting for several days without food or sleep. This situation was worsened by the fact that there were not enough good commanders to lead the troops well. These are the three main reasons why Lee's army was forced to surrender.

1Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants, a Study in Command (New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons) volume 3 Gettysburg to Appomattox, p. 189

2Ibid, p. 547

3Ibid, p. 744

4Ibid, p. 718

Buy the Books Here

Scotland CDs

Loch Levin Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots abdicated the throne as a prisoner (we went here after the Faith & Freedom tour)

Vision Forum has published the CDs of their Scotland Faith and Freedom Tour. To Buy, Click Here. These talks on the CD take you back to the early centuries studying the early church fathers from all over Scotland and how they effected America. These talks explain the history of the early church fathers, the things leading up to the Reformation, and the Reformation itself. Some have said that John Knox, one of the Scottish reformers, effected America more that anyone else. If you buy them you will certainly enjoy them. The speakers are Doug Phillips, Bill Potter, Dr. Joe Morcraft III, and last but not least the Celtic Balladeer singer Charlie Zahm. Enjoy!

Other books about Scotland:
Scotland Reading List,
Bonny Prince Charlie,
Crown and Covenant Collection,
In Freedoms Cause

Jonathan Park - New Set

Vision Forum has just produced a new Jonathan Park album, one you can take to the zoo, and learn about the animals there from a creationist worldview. You can also buy communicator watches, just like they use in the episodes!