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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Jan. 18. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
If you grew up going to an evangelical church, as I did, chances are you attended youth groups at which a leader asked everyone to name their favorite Bible verse.
When I was in middle school, I had a trusty Scripture ready for any such occasion: Proverbs 27:17. It’s nine words long, easy to memorize, and it was just substantive enough to let me skate by without any meddlesome questions about the state of my soul.
Donald Trump’s awkward Scripture recitation in front of a large evangelical audience Monday reminded me of those youth group days.
The Republican presidential candidate spoke at Liberty University Monday to an audience of roughly 13,000 people inside the school’s main events building, the Vines Center. Most in the audience were students required by school policy to attend a weekly convocation meeting.
After beginning his remarks with his usual mention of how well he is doing in polls, Trump tried to identify with his audience by talking about the issues he thinks matter most to them. As is his way, Trump moved to his topic abruptly.
“We’re going to go through New Hampshire, through South Carolina,” Trump said, discussing the early primary voting states. “We’re going to go right through the whole group, and I think we can do something really special. And we’re going to protect Christianity. And I can say that. I don’t have to be politically correct. We’re going to protect it.“
“I hear this is a major theme right here,” Trump added.
It seemed to be a reference to the religious liberty debate, which has boiled over in the wake of a Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage and Obamacare’s contraception mandate. But Trump didn’t clarify. Instead, he brought out the Scripture verse he had chosen to share with the deeply religious crowd, who are accustomed to speakers citing the Bible and then talking at length about the “word of God.”
“Two Corinthians, right? Two Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ball game,” Trump said, as laughter rippled through the audience, perhaps because most Christians refer to the book as “Second Corinthians.”
Trump then read the verse: “‘Where the spirit of the Lord — right? — Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ And here there is Liberty College, Liberty University. But it is so true. You know, when you think, that’s really — is that the one? Is that the one you like? I think that’s the one you like because I loved it, and it’s so representative of what’s taking place. But we are going to protect Christianity.”
If Trump had been talking about religious liberty, he wasn’t now. He mentioned Christians in Syria who have been beheaded (the so-called Islamic State has killed Muslims and members of small religious sects as well). And he said that the Christian faith is “under siege.”
“Bad things are happening,” said Trump, before branching off into a discussion of what sounded more like religious identification along cultural or ethnic lines than the kind of devout faith that many American evangelicals are familiar with.
“I don’t know what it is, we don’t band together, maybe. Other religions, frankly, they’re banding together and they’re using it,” Trump said. “The power we have, somehow we have to unify, we have to band together, we have to do in a really large version what they’ve done at Liberty, because Liberty University has done that. You’ve banded together. You’ve created one of the great universities, colleges, anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world, and that’s what our country has to do that around Christianity. So, get together folks and let’s do it because we can do it.”
And that was all the religion Trump could stomach. He fled quickly back to discussing his own popularity. “No matter where I go, we’re having tremendous crowds and we’re setting records everywhere,” he said. Trump spent 45 more minutes on familiar material: his standard, rambling stump speech bashing President Obama and Hillary Clinton, the media and super-PACs, with an extra flourish on how he would negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program and the release of American hostages.
Trump’s handling of the Bible on Monday added to what is now a substantial list of comments indicating a superficial relationship, at best, with the words that Christians look to for guidance and spiritual sustenance.
If you grew up going to an evangelical church, as I did, chances are you attended youth groups at which a leader asked everyone to name their favorite Bible verse.
When I was in middle school, I had a trusty Scripture ready for any such occasion: Proverbs 27:17. It’s nine words long, easy to memorize, and it was just substantive enough to let me skate by without any meddlesome questions about the state of my soul.
Donald Trump’s awkward Scripture recitation in front of a large evangelical audience Monday reminded me of those youth group days.
The Republican presidential candidate spoke at Liberty University Monday to an audience of roughly 13,000 people inside the school’s main events building, the Vines Center. Most in the audience were students required by school policy to attend a weekly convocation meeting.
After beginning his remarks with his usual mention of how well he is doing in polls, Trump tried to identify with his audience by talking about the issues he thinks matter most to them. As is his way, Trump moved to his topic abruptly.
“We’re going to go through New Hampshire, through South Carolina,” Trump said, discussing the early primary voting states. “We’re going to go right through the whole group, and I think we can do something really special. And we’re going to protect Christianity. And I can say that. I don’t have to be politically correct. We’re going to protect it.“
“I hear this is a major theme right here,” Trump added.
It seemed to be a reference to the religious liberty debate, which has boiled over in the wake of a Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage and Obamacare’s contraception mandate. But Trump didn’t clarify. Instead, he brought out the Scripture verse he had chosen to share with the deeply religious crowd, who are accustomed to speakers citing the Bible and then talking at length about the “word of God.”
“Two Corinthians, right? Two Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ball game,” Trump said, as laughter rippled through the audience, perhaps because most Christians refer to the book as “Second Corinthians.”
Trump then read the verse: “‘Where the spirit of the Lord — right? — Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ And here there is Liberty College, Liberty University. But it is so true. You know, when you think, that’s really — is that the one? Is that the one you like? I think that’s the one you like because I loved it, and it’s so representative of what’s taking place. But we are going to protect Christianity.”
If Trump had been talking about religious liberty, he wasn’t now. He mentioned Christians in Syria who have been beheaded (the so-called Islamic State has killed Muslims and members of small religious sects as well). And he said that the Christian faith is “under siege.”
“Bad things are happening,” said Trump, before branching off into a discussion of what sounded more like religious identification along cultural or ethnic lines than the kind of devout faith that many American evangelicals are familiar with.
“I don’t know what it is, we don’t band together, maybe. Other religions, frankly, they’re banding together and they’re using it,” Trump said. “The power we have, somehow we have to unify, we have to band together, we have to do in a really large version what they’ve done at Liberty, because Liberty University has done that. You’ve banded together. You’ve created one of the great universities, colleges, anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world, and that’s what our country has to do that around Christianity. So, get together folks and let’s do it because we can do it.”
And that was all the religion Trump could stomach. He fled quickly back to discussing his own popularity. “No matter where I go, we’re having tremendous crowds and we’re setting records everywhere,” he said. Trump spent 45 more minutes on familiar material: his standard, rambling stump speech bashing President Obama and Hillary Clinton, the media and super-PACs, with an extra flourish on how he would negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program and the release of American hostages.
Trump’s handling of the Bible on Monday added to what is now a substantial list of comments indicating a superficial relationship, at best, with the words that Christians look to for guidance and spiritual sustenance.
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