{"id":22834,"date":"2015-12-29T05:45:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-29T10:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=22834"},"modified":"2015-12-28T20:03:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-29T01:03:09","slug":"donald-trump-as-an-evangelical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/12\/donald-trump-as-an-evangelical\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump as an evangelical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Donald Trump is calling himself an \u201cevangelical.\u201d\u00a0 Christian columnist Michael Gerson discusses that self-identification, in the course of which he tells a great anecdote relating to (a misunderstanding of) vocation.<\/p>\n

From Michael Gerson, Donald Trump presents evangelical Christians with a crucial choice \u2013 The Washington Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Donald Trump \u2014 who knows something about crude and offensive imitations \u2014 has now taken to calling himself an \u201cevangelical.\u201d He also finds Ted Cruz a little fishy in the conservative Protestant orthodoxy department because he is, wait for it, a Cuban American. \u201cNot a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba,\u201d Trump said recently. \u201cIt\u2019s true. Not a lot come out. But I like him nevertheless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

In other words, Trump\u2019s stereotype of a Cuban doesn\u2019t fit his stereotype of an evangelical Christian. Apparently all the evangelicals he knows look like Iowans.<\/p>\n

By definition, Trump could be an evangelical Christian if he were really serious about it. Evangelicals come in a surprising variety of flavors. The wealthy and powerful, we are told, have a tougher time of it, with that whole camel-through-the-eye-of-a-needle thing. But the offer is universal.<\/p>\n

Actually being an evangelical, however, requires a basic grasp of theology. After praying with Billy Graham, the mobster Mickey Cohen claimed a conversion experience. When Cohen resumed his former lifestyle, some Christians challenged him. Cohen supposedly replied, \u201cChristian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians: Why not a Christian gangster?\u201d<\/p>\n

So, why not an evangelical Trump?<\/p>\n

Some theological objections might be offered. It is not characteristic of evangelicalism \u2014 apart from the very worst that televangelism has to offer \u2014 to count your worth in dollars or elevate pride to an art form. Or to trivialize Communion (\u201cmy little wine\u201d and \u201cmy little cracker\u201d), or dismiss the idea of Christian conversion (\u201cit doesn\u2019t happen that way\u201d), or reject the need for forgiveness. \u201cWhy do I have to repent or ask for forgiveness,\u201d Trump has asked, \u201cif I am not making mistakes?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump is calling himself an \u201cevangelical.\u201d\u00a0 Christian columnist Michael Gerson discusses that self-identification, in the course of which he tells a great anecdote relating to (a misunderstanding of) vocation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,36,48],"tags":[3881,788,4359],"class_list":["post-22834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-politics","category-vocation","tag-donald-trump","tag-evangelicals","tag-vocation"],"yoast_head":"\nDonald Trump as an evangelical<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Donald Trump is calling himself an "evangelical."\u00a0 Christian columnist Michael Gerson discusses that self-identification, in the course of which he tells\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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