Posted on 07/08/2020 8:01:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s one thing when the leftwing media bashes Donald Trump, seeing him as a menace. But how should we respond when 30 evangelicals write a book titled, The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelical Christians on Justice, Truth, and Moral Integrity?
While working on my new book Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?, I familiarized myself with some of the most important, bestselling, anti-Trump books, including:
There was even The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, yet another New York Times Bestseller.
I also devoted a chapter to Christianity Today’s call for Trump to be removed from office, written by senior editor Mark Galli, as well as chapters to two other major, Christian calls for Trump’s removal, including one from the Bonhoeffer society.
So, I am quite familiar with the arguments against Trump’s fitness for office, including concerns raised by evangelical Christians.
For the first time, though, a whole book has been compiled by evangelical Christians raising grave concerns about Trump.
The authors include respected professors, psychologists, psychiatrists, philosophers, historians, songwriters, lawyers, theologians, missions’ leaders, and pastors, many of them highly respected in their fields. And while some of the authors are known for their left-leaning positions, it would be an error to dismiss them all out of hand.
The book is divided into three parts: 1) On Trump; 2) On Evangelical Support of Trump; and 3) On Theological, Historical, and Constitutional Issues Regarding Trump.
Authors like Prof. Stephen Haynes, a Bonhoeffer expert, argue that the evangelical embrace of Trump is similar to the Nazi embrace of Hitler.
Prof. George Yancey makes clear that he understands evangelical concerns about Trump fighting for our religious freedoms. But he writes, “Trump cannot fix what troubles Christians because at best, even if he is competent, he can only offer a political solution. The issue is the culture. What Trump can do is make the situation worse by turning the culture against us further.”
Psychologist Chris Thurman argues that Trump is a pathological liar (and more).
Napp Nazzworth, former editor with the Christian Post who holds a Ph.D. in political science, penned a chapter titled, “Race-Baiter, Misogynist, and Fool.” He argued, “What makes Trump particularly dangerous for evangelicals was the manner in which he campaigned for our vote. He promised to be our protector and to make us successful by filling our pews. Trump’s promises to evangelicals was similar to Satan’s offer to Jesus.”
Ronald Sider, an influential evangelical author who edited the collection, contributed an article critical of the president’s handling of COVID-19, while other authors critiqued Trump’s pride, the reproach he has brought to Christianity, and his immigration policies as compared to Scripture, just to give a sampling.
All of which leads us back to a simple question: Is Donald Trump a spiritual danger?
The simple answer is: 1) only if we put our trust in him rather than in the Lord (see my recent article, “Christ, Not Trump, is the Solid Rock on Which We Stand”); 2) only if we defend him when he is indefensible; 3) and only if we are known more as Trump supporters than as followers of Jesus.
Otherwise, I do not believe he is a spiritual danger, either to the nation or to the Church.
After all, with the constant concerns we have heard about his alleged instability for the last four years, has he provoked an international war? Did his relocation of our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem spark a massive response in the Muslim world? Did he start a nuclear battle with North Korea?
As for him keeping his promises to evangelicals, has any president in recent history been as loyal to this constituency? Has any president stood up more for our freedoms? Has any president kept the door open to us the way Trump has? Has any president dared to take the public, pro-life stands he has taken, including speaking at the annual March for Life in DC? Has any president appointed as many quality judges to the federal courts?
As for the predicted mental breakdowns, they have not happened yet. (If you want to brand him “crazy,” then he’s as “crazy” today as the day he was elected.)
As for him asserting dictatorial powers over the nation, he has done no such thing, even during the current pandemic.
To be sure, to the extent we have looked to Trump as some kind of savior or defended him at every turn, we have tarnished our witness. That, to me, is undeniable and something we must correct.
On other hand, evangelical leaders have not sided with Trump in a cult-like, blindly loyal manner. Just think of the backlash he received from leaders like Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham when he pulled our troops out of Syria, thereby endangering our Kurdish allies. The warning from some of these evangelical leaders was quite intense.
That’s why I am fully convinced that, should Trump abandon the values of his evangelical base, we would not stand with him. We are not part of his cult.
To be sure, some of the authors in the Spiritual Danger book are more nuanced in their critiques of Trump, and I do believe there’s much we can learn from some of their writings. It would be a mistake to write all of them off or dismiss them entirely. Evangelical support for Trump is a complicated issue, which is the whole reason I wrote Evangelicals at the Crossroads.
But in the end, as long as we keep the cross before the flag and are even-handed in our evaluation of the president, showing our support when deserved and making known our displeasure when merited, he will not be a spiritual danger to us.
Trump certainly could be a spiritual danger, so I suggest we take these warnings seriously. But Trump need not be a spiritual danger at all. To the contrary, he could continue to prove a strong ally, though a totally unlikely one.
And come November, should the choice be between a vote for Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or an unelectable third-party candidate, for many of us, that will be an easy choice to make.
Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?
So you claim QAnon folks worship Trump, not God?
Can you prove that, because all I see them doing is praying to Jesus and digging through all the lies like yours, to find some truth to share.
(They seem to think Our President might be Saved, as well.)
As a seeming agent of division and hate and lies, in lock step with CNN on this issue, would you care to tell us more?
~Easy
From a false Christian magazine....for false Christians.
“You think I am a liar, and a CNN parrot?
Look at my other posts.
You will see differently.”
I said...
“As a seeming agent of division and hate and lies, in lock step with CNN on this issue”
On this issue. QAnon.
I expect we’ll learn more about what Sessions DID and didn’t
do while he was there.
He did put Durham in place, at the very same time Q started
posting, so perhaps you want to make the case that Q and
all your neighborhood QAnons trying to dig for truth is
Session’s fault?
Q cryptically thanked him for his service to the Nation
later. Which nation? China, or Russia, or Iran, in your view?
The Fact is, we QAnons don’t really know what happened
there.
But we aim to find out, rather than stomping off in a huff
and complaining about everyone still working at eternal
vigilance together with the largest available united team.
A global team that, at this point, neither CNN, you,
nor EVEN Q could hope to stop now.
The President could stop Q with a single Tweet,
but even that would no longer roll back the legion
of truth seekers that have gotten so comfy working
together with each other, and POTUS, in Eternal Vigilance.
War plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, unaltered.
A back channel communication Psyop, as authorized by COVFEFE
(Look it up) is not going to be as pretty as you might wish.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2884
Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically For
Engagement Act of 2017 or the COVFEFE Act of 2017.
Aren’t you excited that we are likely to soon learn some more real truth?
Or is still trying to stomp us down more productive for you?
~Easy
Let me ask you this...
Who, in your view, today, has been the largest, most
connected, most global, most obviously concerned
international group, who, by the way, has been making
the most noise (And the most Meme-Unition) about modern
slavery?
(Modern Slavery = Human Trafficking, among other things,
if anyone isn’t sure.)
Just WHO are the Abolitionists TODAY?
(Reviled much like they were, back then.)
And for bonus points, just WHO is THEIR Lincoln?
Take your time...
~Easy
You, and many others, either didn’t read the article or didn’t understand the article. Michael Brown is not a never Trumper! He voted for Trump and has defended him many times in the past. He has written several articles, many posted on Freerepublic, defending Trump against his critics, particularly those critics who claim to be Christians. He is simply offering a critique of a book critical of Trump. He even refutes the premise of the book by stating that “I do not believe he is a spiritual danger, either to the nation or to the Church.” In the last sentence of the article “And come November, should the choice be between a vote for Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or an unelectable third-party candidate, for many of us, that will be an easy choice to make” Brown makes clear his intention to vote for Trump.
I do not think that even the President’s most ardent supporters would agree that Trump’s is qualified for sainthood. Yet the Lord can work his will through the most wretched of sinners.
Indeed. The Lord often uses flawed people, sinners, to serve His purpose. King David had Uriah killed so he could grab his wife Bathsheba. When Moses was young he killed an Egyptian overseer, buried his body in the sand, and he ran away. Paul persecuted and condemned Christians, some to their deaths. And yet God raised them up to become great and faithful servant-leaders.
Compared to their sins Trump is a piker.
No self-respecting Evangelical could EVER vote for the alternative this election! Do they seriously think Joe Biden would be the better, more moral choice??? It must be Trump in 2020 or this country is done for! And we will deserve all the judgement that will rain down should the Dems win.
Your are correct. I only skimmed the article, noted the sources in the body that it linked to, and the fact that it was from the Christian Post, which has often been needlessly pejorative to the President. I should have been more careful, and think I was reacting more to the Post’s previous articles than this one. Thanks for the chance to engage in appropriate hindsight.
A lot of evangelicals have sold their soul for 30 shekels of silver. The refugee business is big business.
And the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention is a SJW.
And like our RCC bretheren, the evangelicals and Baptists have had a fair amount of perverts harming the faith.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.