Did God Appoint Trump?
“Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.”
(Romans 13:1 NLT-SE)
This verse seems like a slam dunk answer to the question I posed…but it’s not.
As with many issues, the Scriptures are maddeningly ambiguous about the answers.
“The people have appointed kings without my consent, and princes without my approval.”
(Hosea 8:4 NLT-SE)
If you really believe that all leaders are divinely appointed by God, let’s have a chat about Mao, Stalin, Hitler and a host of other murderous tyrants.
Those who believe in “meticulous sovereignty” (God appoints everything that happens) would affirm God chose them all “for His glory”.
I think that is a complete misrepresentation of both the character and heart of God.
Rob McCoy thinks Trumps election was an act of Gods mercy…
“He sees in Trump a man persecuted by the left, who, while “flawed like the rest of us,” was chosen by God to lead a sinful nation that, in his opinion, allows too many abortions and is too accepting of transgender rights.
“God saved us,” McCoy told his congregants in his first sermon after Trump won. “He gave us mercy. We didn’t deserve this.”
I think what we can reasonably say is this…God may not have chosen Trump, but He has allowed Trump to ascend.
We cannot yet say what Gods purpose in this was…it may have been for blessing…or it may have been for judgment.
My personal opinion is that He gave us what we wanted…and that is often a fearsome gift.
The bigger problem is this…whether it’s presidents or pastors, evangelicals believe that God appointed not only the people, but their actions.
Thus, when president or pastor is revealed to be in sin they warn us “touch not Gods anointed’…
This has been the “get out of jail free” card used over and over again by abusive clergy and it’s used now to defend the President elects lack of character and vindictive nature.
This election may be Gods mercy…but we may find it is a severe mercy, indeed…
Trump is kind of like King Saul. “This is what you want? Okay.” Maybe throw in Herod the Great, as another example.
Terry,
That’s my thought as well…
When Paul wrote Romans, he was referring to authorities of the Roman empire, a pagan empire, led by violent, idolatrous, immoral men. It didn’t seem to bother him. We could be asking why?
As for the Church’s responsibility to speak truth to power (even to the Don), there is a consistent OT tradition of prophets (right up to and including John the baptizer) who regularly and sharply critiqued and often condemned their leaders for sinful, idolatrous, immoral and/or unjust behavior.
The church is not a rubber stamp for any earthly government. “Submitting” does not mean shutting up or approving.
If God appointed Trump, then He must have appointed Biden. The “evangelical right” appeared to reject that.
Benjamin Cremer had an excellent response to this question.
Bob,
I can go one better…He appointed Obama…twice…
In whatever manner/meaning that God “appoints” leaders, I think it is quite likely that the substance of appointing Trump is no different than the substance of how He appointed Biden or Obama, or any other U.S. president for that matter. But such consistent thinking doesn’t sit well with the Christian Nationalists or Religious Right (of which there is much overlap between the two), so they speak in a way as if there is something much more important and spiritual about Trump’s appointment.
A Christian should no more praise the good things or oppose the wicked things done by a Trump administration, then they would a Biden or Obama administration.
No, I don’t believe God controls things like that any more.
Romans 13 as is ITimothy 2 and IPeter 2 is written in the context of focusing disciples of Christ to submit to and support the intended god appointed purpose, not office of earthly rulers to provide a measure of order that hopefully will arise above a level of anarchy.
As governed by Christ we are to live good
lives and peaceable lives that glorify God because we are under the exclusive and exhaustive and supremely authoritative command of the one and exalted ruler appointed by God, the Lord Jesus Christ as citizens of His Kingdom.
What to me is sad in light of the warnings of the Book of Hebrews is that McCoy and others across a host of evangelical groups while teaching through the Bible have either missed or turned away from being stewards of the New Covenant which is the thrust of the prophetic voices of the Old Covenant and setting aside the substance of the New Covenant which was brought into being and is still upheld by the promised seed of David, Jesus- The Prophet , Priest and King of the New Covenant
We are to obey Jesus and be formed by the promised Spirit of His New Covenant. If we are doing so, we will live peaceably and with an order of goodness for ourselves and our neighbors without glorying in a king or political party or ruling of a supreme court.
If not, maybe McCoy and others biblicists we are watching along with many others are apostatizing and departing from the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified while retaining the formal words in their creeds of a sound faith, but denying it in their proclamations and actions.
At best they are living on the spectrum of those who end up classified as unfaithful servants as measured by the benchmarks of the foundational apostolic witness grounded in personal ethics lived amongst humble believers and for the benefit of loving neighbor and enemy, not the latest form of political virtue signaling.
My friend Dick Staub (a pastor who recently moved into the Anglican church) posted this today: “Participation in the political arena is dangerous for the Godward soul. Disengagement from the political arena is dangerous for the world. The Godward soul’s first calling is to the kingdom of God, but we dwell in a fallen, broken world, the kingdom of this world. Psalm one is a reminder of the distinctions between these two kingdoms. God help us, give us wisdom and discernment in these troubled days. Be vigilant in prayer, keep your eyes open to what is happening around you, and let your heart be drawn to God‘s presence and peace in your soul.”
Josh @ 11:44 am,
I don’t believe that anymore either.
I now think that the Almighty spins the roulette wheel and lets the little bouncing ball bounce where it will, rather than the strict determinism I was taught as a fundagelical.
Muff, that’s interesting. I’m not sure where I’m landing on this, but the determinism is out. I get that it can be comforting to feel like God is in control, when everything feels chaotic, but on the other hand…that also makes him liable for some awful stuff.
My starting point for understanding how God works in the world is in the myths of creation and fall.
In creation, God created order out of chaos.
In the fall, mans choices sent the good creation into chaos.
As a result, creation is still good, but broken.
We’re broken.
God is present…but our choices matter.
The coming of the kingdom will be the recreation and restoration of God’s will for His creation.
That’s my very short version of how I view Gods sovereignty.
Michael,
Love that explanation!
As +Michael Ramsey wrote:
“First, when you fret about the world and wonder whether God has gone away or whether God is “dead”, turn to the doctrine of Judgement. Recapture the lost biblical theme of judgement. God is indeed here—but here in judgement upon a world which has wandered from his righteousness. Let the prophets and the apostles speak to us again of how nations which neglect God, stifle conscience, and prefer selfishness do bring calamity upon themselves. That is what is happening in our world. God has not disappeared: God is here—in judgement. As the Psalmist vividly puts it, “he gave them their hearts’ desire, and sent leanness withal into their souls”.
My starting point for understanding how God works in the world is that he is God my Father (emphasis on Father).
Relate God being father to Trumps election.
“Turn your fretting into the thought that God is here as Judge—and you will once again be near to God himself. Knowing God’s nearness as judge, we know at once his nearness also in mercy and forgiveness.”
+Michael Ramsey
Still weird if you think about it.
Judgment and mercy – two sides of the same coin and neither one makes sense without the other, at least, in my opinion,😁
“Relate God being father to Trumps election.”
Josh, we walk by faith not by sight. There are innumerable possible futures.
If you’re asking me how Trump plays into the future that our loving Father has for each one of us, at this point I have no idea. He never promised us a window into future temporal events or timelines (other than what he’s revealed in the Bible). But he does promise his followers all the blessings recited in the Beatitudes.
IMO, We’re closer to WW3 than at any time in my life since the Cuban missile crises. If the only positive thing that comes out of Trump’s presidency is avoiding a nuclear war, I would gratefully praise God for his merciful governance.
Bob,
Thanks, my friend…it’s the very short version, but it works…
Jean,
According to all the military advisors Trump had in his first administration, he is a dunce.
He pays no attention to briefings or reports and understands little about actual diplomacy.
He is the worst person imaginable to be in power at this critical time.
Or if your children ask for a Harris, would you give them a Trump?
So I don’t get the spiritualizing of all of this.
The judgement is for what? For whom? It doesn’t make sense. I think its juts the natural consequences of our choices. Some people like these consequences, like Jean, some people like me, don’t like them.
So relating to god as father, and he judges me, punishes me, for things I couldn’t possibly control if I wanted to. I ask for a fish, but its a snake over and over again. I think it doesn’t work the way we thought it did.
Hi Michael,
Your memory is correct. My theology compels me to trust God that his will (whatever it is for his children) is being served through the election and that his will is good.
Not to argue at all, but I think a lot of what this election was about was a critique of notions such as “actual diplomacy.” On any number of practical issues facing our nation, where most people can observe that as a nation we are failing, from diplomacy, to civil liberties, to the educational system, to the healthcare system, to the tax system, the electorate is rejecting what has heretofore been thought of as “expertise”, orthodoxy, justice, etc.
Maybe what we think diplomacy should look like, which has not been working in the real world, needs a fresh look.
Like I said, I have no crystal ball into the future. We will all learn together in the months and years to come.
We are blessed, however, to have an unmovable Rock to ground our hope upon.
If my instincts are correct, Duane’s quote of our esteemed Archbishop makes perfect sense.
I think Trump may be a judgement on an idolatrous church…but even those of us who opposed him will suffer along with the idolaters and will be in great need of God’s mercy and comfort.
Jean,
I would highly recommend you read Tom Nichol’s “The End Of Expertise’…this idiotic and extremely dangerous notion that we should reject expertise and education in critical fields has to be ended.
Diplomacy has kept us out of nuclear conflict and managed a dozen explosive situations all over the world.
The electorate has been deceived into believing that bluster and noise will solve real problems…
Josh, you wrote:
“So relating to god as father, and he judges me, punishes me, for things I couldn’t possibly control if I wanted to. I ask for a fish, but its a snake over and over again.”
There are so many issues in those sentences that they deserve a thread of their own, so I won’t respond to everything.
But I will say that behind all the debates about God’s sovereignty, free will, and predestination, is the inclination on the part of some theologians to want to protect God from the charge of being responsible for sin and/or evil.
I cannot judge the workings of God on the basis of some law or moral code. Even if I had the highest IQ on earth, I would be completely incapable of understanding the wisdom of God in carrying out his will for his creation.
I trust, on the basis of his Word, that God in Christ loves me and gave his life for me; and that he is shepherding me through this valley of the shadow of death in the best way that he determines to bring me to himself.
Hi Michael,
“this idiotic and extremely dangerous notion that we should reject expertise and education in critical fields has to be ended.”
I probably was unclear. I meant to say that what is being rejected is the **conventional** expertise and education that has guided America in our government and educational institutions over the past decades.
I recall a couple of congressional hearings: In one case a nominee couldn’t define what a women is; In another case, the president of an Ivy League University could not define anti-Semitism from the chants of the anti Israel and anti Jewish demonstrations that broke out earlier this year at the elite universities in this Country. From a few years ago, people are now learning that government institutions lied or were wrong about many issues surrounding the Covid pandemic. These bad decisions cost the nation and many people a lot and won’t quickly if ever be forgotten.
Thus, I think a lot of people would have a hard time affirming what is passing for conventional expertise
There is no doubt that the government botched the pandemic and we are suffering the consequences.
Let’s not kid ourselves, however…no one was “right” about Covid and the backlash is as flawed as what already occurred.
We can lift extreme examples of ineptitude or outright stupidity from every place of human work…but hiring a felon and fornicating narcissist to fix things he doesn’t understand is beyond my comprehension.
God isn’t going to save us from that…
“Conventional” expertise has provided us a standard of living most countries dream of…or their people risk their lives trying to get here to share in it.
“Conventional” expertise put our economy in recovery and great strength while other countries are still trying to get their footing.
“Conventional” expertise has wiped out diseases that killed millions.
“Conventional” expertise has prevented us from blowing ourselves to hell.
The new expertise threatens all of the above… because they believe the most important thing is how many brown people are here and who their neighbor is sleeping with.
Jean , I once believed that too. It was hypothetical and made sense. When the rubber hit the road, it failed. It just didn’t work in the real world. I could no longer believe like that if I wanted too.
“brown people are here and who their neighbor is sleeping with.”
This line is so funny if you know my situation and explains why I could Never vote conservative.
Josh,
I can’t answer all your questions…if, like me, you’re not even sure of what questions to ask.
I think your deconstruction will have to start at square one…is there a creator God and if so, what is he like?
If he is what Jesus claims and is a god of love, why do terrible things happen to me and others?
Whether fundamentalists like it or not, the Bible gives inconsistent answers, so I focus on the New Testament and the Gospels.
Jesus is clear that God is love…and He’s also clear that suffering is a feature, not a bug of the Christian life.
I’ve had a lot of stones and scorpions instead of bread and fish myself…
So my personal take on “God Appointed Trump”:
I have a high view of God’s sovereignty, but at the same time human choices somehow play into His sovereignty. The book of Proverbs repeatedly tells us to choose wisely and that foolish choices cause suffering. So…Trump fits into God’s overall plan somehow, yet we will suffer the consequences of his presidency (and I am praying that if Trump really believes in God that he will seek godly wisdom while he is in office.) I have a lot of doubts about Trump’s capabilities given his last term, but maybe there will be something better this time. I think the bigger questions for Christians is how we choose to respond to Trump. I have been careful not to make negative statements in front of my students, and not to pick fights with those i know who voted for him. No comments on Facebook. I’m going prayerfully into January…and resolved to be the best citizen that I can be. I can honestly say I wasn’t thrilled about the other candidates, either, but at least they don’t make some of the unhinged comments that Trump and his followers do.
Sometimes what we think is a blessing is actually a judgment. And sometimes what we think is a judgment is actually a blessing. It makes me think about the old Chinese story about the lost horse:
“Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer who lost a horse. All the neighbors came around that evening and said, ‘That’s too bad.’ And, the farmer said, ‘Maybe.’
The next day the horse came back and brought seven wild horses with it. All the neighbors came around and said, ‘Why, that’s great, isn’t it?’ And, he said, ‘Maybe.’
The next day his son, who was attempting to tame one of these horses and was riding it, was thrown and broke his leg. All the neighbors came around in the evening and said, ‘Well, that’s too bad, isn’t it?’ And, he said, ‘Maybe.’
The next day the conscription officers came around looking for people for the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. All the neighbors came around that evening and said, ‘Isn’t that wonderful?’ And, he said, ‘Maybe.’”
The folks over at CharismaNews seem to think so. Not only that, but they called out a prophet who prophesied that Trump would cause disruption and chaos and devastation. Apparently they didn’t like what this person said.
Tickling ears anyone?
I was in the camp of all leaders are God-appointed, whether you like the leader or not. Now, not so sure about this deterministic view.
Whoever elected or appointed the leaders is debatable. But nowhere are we told to put our faith and trust in them or any other man in charge. You can love them but not “faith” them, and it is foolish to trust them.
Oh, I forgot. Faith is now a verb.
Try and “truth” them and see where that gets you.
No, the Almighty did not install Trump into the presidency.
The American people did that themselves (my opinion).
The Bible is a good and wonderful thing, but I also think it suffers from two great ills.
Not giving it the credence it deserves at one extreme, and making way too much of it at the other extreme.
In The Politics of God and the Politics of Man Jacques Ellul contended that the biblical narrative literature can’t be interpreted as if agency was strictly divine or human. People acted and we are shown they acted with their own agendas and interests and yet God also providentially was at work. It’s not something we can readily explain and special providence has often been one of the mysteries of the faith.
The difference, if I can hazard a guess, is that in the last two or so centuries the doctrine of special providence has tended to be a football in the hands of people whose engagement with the teaching is American civic religion and not actually Christian dogmatics. That God raises up and deposes kings and rulers and empires is an article of faith but we live in an era in which people take the doctrine of special providence to be some kind of doctrine of political entitlement for this-worldly empire rather than a doctrine of consolation.
In Writing the Rapture Crawford Gribben had a brutally funny observation about the North and the South in the wake of the American Civil War. A bunch of clergy in the South who had been postmillennialist futurists abruptly switched to premillennialist views after the Confederacy lost. The New England clergy saw defeating the South as Manifest Destiny vindicating their own amazing mission to Christianize the world. World War I punctured that balloon in the 20th century. Berkouwer proposed that the doctrine of providence has been roundly rejected by a lot of First World nation theologians because “we” can’t believe in it. Matthew Jantzen’s recent book on providence suggests an alternative or supplement to Berkouwer’s observations on providence–enough white supremacists across every denomination wielded providence as a doctrine of racial entitlement that when things didn’t go as planned people decided to reject a doctrine (providence in general) rather than have a reckoning with their misuse of the doctrine.
That said, it’s not like David Hume was a religious man. The temptation in contemporary American internet life is to impute praise or blame to ideas themselves. It is too pat and simple just to blame postmillennialism, for instance, even if there’s a lot about the doctrine I despise, because how Roger Williams used postmillennialism is not the same as how R L Dabney invoked it, just sticking with North American clergy.
@ TheHatchet,
Truth be told?
I quit reading all those theo-dudes years ago.
Their hubris in thinking that they know the mind of God, just got to be too much.
I’d rather relax with a Stephen King novel.
Muff, it kinda shows even if you don’t draw attention to.
I’m more a fan of Rumiko Takahashi than Stephen King but her Kujo homages in Maison Ikkoku are still really funny.
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign. That infers that He rules all things according to His will; by permitting events, desiring them, or controlling them in a direct or indirect manner. ‘Of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will.’ Ephesians 1:11. There are also instances of God raising up certain wicked rulers to judge His own people and nations. The antithesis could also be the case. a wicked king is the Lord’s wrath upon the earth. Job 34:30, Vg.; Hos. 13:11; Isa. 3:4; 10:5; Deut. 28:29.