Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day kicked off with controversy over a Southern Baptist preacher selected to preach at a private prayer service for the president-elect and his family shortly before taking the oath of office. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist…
U.S. Christians divided on U.N. rebuke of Israel
A coalition of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches that works to influence U.S. policy on peace and justice issues in the Middle East applauded the Obama administration for not exercising veto power of a Dec. 23 United Nations Security Council…
Anti-Trump protesters target Southern Baptist church
Anti-Trump protesters marched on a Southern Baptist megachurch whose pastor was among the president-elect’s most vocal evangelical supporters in a fourth night in the streets Saturday night. “This church right here is the mother Mecca of the hate that lives…
White evangelicals don’t heed leaders’ concerns about Trump
Many white evangelicals did not follow their leaders voicing grave concerns about Donald Trump, according to exit polls showing the president-elect winning four out of every five votes cast by a demographic long taken for granted by the GOP. The…
Jesus and John Wayne: Must we choose?
Evangelical support for Donald Trump should come as no surprise. The Republican candidate is the personification of idealized white manhood, an iconic American in the mold of John Wayne. For evangelical leaders of a certain age, that makes him the…
Former SBC leaders denounce ‘Christophobic behavior’ in Clinton campaign
Two past presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention and a retired agency head were among 86 Roman Catholic and evangelical leaders in an open letter Oct. 12 denouncing what they call anti-Christian bigotry in the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. The…
‘Evangelical elite’ just doesn’t get it, claims pastor and Trump supporter
A Southern Baptist pastor who has been supportive of GOP presidential front runner Donald Trump says leaders of an “evangelical elite” vocally opposed to Trump are out of touch with people in the pew. “There is an absolute disconnect between…
Christian website calls Trump candidacy a ‘scam’
In a first-ever position statement on a political candidate, the evangelical news-and-commentary website the Christian Post ran an editorial Feb. 29 urging Christians to back away from GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. “As the most popular evangelical news website in the…
The ‘downward death spiral’ of hypocrisy
January 28, 2016 By Marv Knox / Editor Which speaks louder-words or deeds? This isn’t a benign question, particularly this week. The Iowa caucus officially kicks off the 2016 presidential primary season Feb. 1. As Americans prepare to choose a…
Here’s one Dallas voice that tackled hate head-on
It’s tempting to wonder sometimes where in the world good sense and decency have gone. Why does panicky anti-Muslim hatred seem to command center stage so often? Why do people let hatred fill up their heads and infect their hearts?…
Pastor says ‘closeted’ evangelicals support Trump
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist pastor and Fox News contributor Robert Jeffress said Oct. 26 he believes presidential candidate Donald Trump is being buoyed in the polls by “closeted” evangelicals who believe electing a strong leader is more important than…
Evangelicals lay hands on Donald Trump
A meeting with pastors and televangelists invited to Trump Tower ended with the group surrounding the candidate and laying hands on him for a closing prayer. Many evangelicals who support Donald Trump for president don’t expect him to hold Bible…
Robert Jeffress prays ‘special blessing’ on Donald Trump
A Southern Baptist megachurch pastor asked God’s blessing on Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in an invocation at a Sept. 14 campaign rally in Dallas. Trump, addressing a crowd estimated at 17,000 Monday evening at the American Airlines Center, thanked…
Billy Graham’s shadow: Chuck Templeton and the crisis of American religion
It was August of 1949 and Billy Graham had never been so depressed. Twelve years after “surrendering to preach” on a Florida golf course, the evangelist was wrestling with doubts. He had been reading neo-orthodox theologians like Karl Barth and…