Christian theologian dismantles evangelicals’ key argument for supporting Trump
On Monday, President Donald Trump addressed 100 of his most fervent Evangelical supporters, warning them that if Democrats sweep the midterms they "will overturn everything we've done."
Trump also conflated Democrats with antifa militants.
Roger E. Olson, a professor of Christian Theology of Ethics, warned Christians not to view Trump as an ally, the Christian Post first reported.
Writing on the blog Patheos, Olson wondered why Christians banded behind President Trump.
"Over the past year many researchers have asked evangelical Christians who voted for Donald Trump for president why they did it—given his somewhat unsavory past in terms of morality (as understood from a traditional Christian perspective)," he wrote.
He pointed out that not only do Evangelicals support him, they seem to revere him despite his flaws. "As more of that has come to light, evangelical Christians who support Trump as more than 'just another president' but as something of a messianic figure have been pressed to explain why."
He noted that Evangelicals view Trump as a Cyrus figure. Cyrus was the emperor of Persia before his death in 530 BC. According to the Hebrew Bible, Cyrus liberated the Jews from the Babylonians and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem.
They hope Trump is a modern day Cyrus.
"They regard him as a person who is not one of God’s own people (Jewish or Christian) but an instrument of God to deliver Israel and American evangelical Christianity from persecution," Olson wrote.
"Their hope and belief is that Trump will appoint federal judges and Supreme Court judges who will 'undo' Roe v Wade and gay marriage and free Christians (and others) to refuse to do business with gays."
But Olson is not convinced that Trump will deliver. He thinks the president is likely to throw Evangelicals under the bus when they no longer suit his agenda. "Personally, speaking only for myself, I believe President Trump only cares about power. I have not seen any real principles—other than 'Make America great again' (with an implied 'and me, too'). I strongly suspect that he is manipulating his conservative Christian 'base' and would turn on them in a moment if it suited his agenda to be powerful."