The Pope and Donald Trump<\/p>\n
According to news reports, Pope Francis has declared that, based on statements U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has made about immigrants and Muslims, he is not a Christian. Actually, the pope\u2019s declaration was more nuanced than that, pointing more toward certain apparent attitudes expressed by Trump\u2019s policies and plans than toward Trump himself\u2014as to whether he is saved or unsaved. As I interpret the pope\u2019s words, he was not damning Trump to hell but simply making the theological judgment that if<\/em> and insofar as<\/em> Trump actually believes what his words indicate, his mind<\/em> and heart<\/em> are not formed Christianly, conformed to (or even moving toward) the mind and heart of Christ.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Donald\u201d reacted negatively, as one might expect, stating that a religious leader has no business declaring someone not a Christian.<\/p>\n It is that statement\u2014Trump\u2019s in response to the pope\u2019s\u2014that I want to reflect on momentarily. Is it ever the case that it is right, rather than wrong, for a Christian leader (or any Christian) to state the opinion that a person is not a Christian?<\/em> How can it not be the case?<\/p>\n Does Trump believe that everyone who claims to be a Christian is automatically thereby truly a Christian? I doubt it. Maybe I\u2019m wrong; he might be that stupid. I don\u2019t know. However, I would very much enjoy it if some reporter would ask Trump \u201cDo you think Hitler, a member of the Catholic Church, was a Christian? And, if not, do you think the pope of that time should have declared him \u2018not a Christian\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Now, to forestall a weak-minded but predictable criticism, I am not comparing Trump with Hitler!<\/em> To think so would be to misunderstand analogies entirely. I am not comparing Trump to Hitler; I am comparing Pope Francis with people who say Hitler was not a Christian, in spite of his membership in the Catholic Church (I am not aware that he ever renounced it), and Trump with people who would say a Christian leader had no business declaring Hitler not a Christian. I suspect the latter comparison would fail if Trump were specifically asked about whether he thinks Hitler was a Christian and whether he thinks that pope should have said so.<\/p>\n In other words, I doubt if Trump really meant what he said<\/em>\u2014that a Christian leader has no business declaring someone not a Christian. What he really meant<\/em>, I suspect, was that a Christian leader has no business declaring him<\/em> not a Christian. But, in that case, he ought to bring out his Christian credentials and more than simply his membership in a Presbyterian church.<\/p>\n Do I think Trump is a Christian? Well, as often, I have to say \u201cit\u2019s complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n First, what does \u201cChristian\u201d mean in that question? In one sense there is no doubt that Trump is a Christian\u2014insofar as \u201cChristian\u201d simply means \u201cmember of a Christian church.\u201d Apparently someone has looked into the matter and found that, true enough, as he claims, Trump is a Presbyterian. So, technically, formally, at least nominally, he is a Christian. So was Hitler. (No, I\u2019m not comparing Trump with Hitler except in the sense that both were\/are members of Christian churches and, as I will go on to say next, that alone does not count, for me, as proof or even evidence of authentic Christian commitment.)<\/p>\n Second, insofar as <\/em>\u201cChristian\u201d means more than<\/em> simply \u201cmembership in a Christian church,\u201d the authenticity of Trump\u2019s Christianity is open to examination and question and who better to do that than a Christian leader (or theologian)?<\/p>\n Third, no doubt the pope judges \u201ctrue Christianity\u201d by some other standard than \u201cmembership in a Presbyterian church.\u201d Almost certainly he uses a criterion based on conformity of the mind and heart to the way of Jesus Christ<\/em>. What is that way? Well, Pope Francis has said it is mercy<\/em>. So I think it is reasonable to conclude that when the pope declared Trump not a Christian, even in the nuanced manner in which he clearly meant it\u2014as explained above\u2014what he meant was that Trump\u2019s publicly stated policies and plans reveal an attitude inconsistent with mercy.<\/p>\n So, back to what I think. I have no idea what Trump believes doctrinally because membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is no clear indicator of that. So I cannot judge Trump\u2019s orthodoxy or lack of it. (If you question my qualifications to say that about the Presbyterian Church [U.S.A.] I will tell you that I served for three years as associate pastor of such a Presbyterian church and worked within its presbytery and can say with confidence that doctrinal orthodoxy is not essential to being a member of such a Presbyterian church.)<\/p>\n However, when it comes to disposition<\/em> I agree with Pope Francis that mercy<\/em> is a crucial indicator of the authenticity of a person\u2019s Christianity and the only way to measure that is by a person\u2019s words about the vulnerable. I do not believe a person can be a Christian in the truest and fullest sense and at the same time have no mercy toward the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, the outsider and stranger, or any group of human beings in need<\/em>. Does Trump have mercy toward those people? I can\u2019t read his heart or his mind; all I can do is go by his public statements. Based solely on them, I do not think Trump is a Christian. But neither is Sanders\u2014by other criteria (and he doesn\u2019t claim to be)\u2014so I am not making a political non-endorsement with regard to Trump. I am only making a theological judgment in agreement with Pope Francis. And it has nothing to do with whether Trump is \u201csaved\u201d or not; that is solely and exclusively God\u2019s judgment to make. I never make such judgments about anyone.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Pope and Donald Trump According to news reports, Pope Francis has declared that, based on statements U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has made about immigrants and Muslims, he is not a Christian. Actually, the pope\u2019s declaration was more nuanced than that, pointing more toward certain apparent attitudes expressed by Trump\u2019s policies and plans than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n