The Bible According to the RNC
With media attention focused on last weekend’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump and on the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a Trump campaign spokesperson went on Fox News Tuesday (July 16) from the convention hall to talk about the state of the campaign. After claiming “the Left is godless,” Caroline Sunshine joined preachers and Republican politicians in saying God miraculously saved Trump during the shooting. But then with the numerological zeal of a Swiftie, she added a biblical lens through which to consider the moment.
“President Trump survived as they said [with] divine intervention,” she said. “The bullet pierced President Trump at 6:11 p.m. Ephesians 6:11 tells us, ‘Put on the full armor of God, so you can stand against the devil and his schemes.’”
Putting aside her perhaps unrealized implication that God did not merely save Trump but actively orchestrated the attack to occur at that precise time to line up with the “armor of God” verse, this palm-reading approach to the Bible is theological malpractice. Not only were the chapter and verse numbers added centuries after the texts, but there are dozens of books with an 11th verse in the 6th chapter. Thus, such an approach is so malleable as to allow someone to flip through until they find one to fit their preconceived beliefs. That’s not God speaking in mysterious ways like Miss Cleo; that’s abusing the Bible for politics. We could just as easily — and stupidly — turn to Amos 6:11 to interpret this as a sign predicting the fall of the house of Trump: “For the LORD commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
Miss Sunshine, a teenage actress-turned-Trump lackey, didn’t make up this biblical “interpretation.” Far-right commentators like Jack Posobiec and Charlie Kirk were already pushing this “reading” of the events on Sunday. Data from Google shows that online searches for Ephesians 6:11 skyrocketed this week as people looked it up to see what it might say about the shooting. (No one, it seems, has been googling Amos 6:11 — until after this piece, of course.) Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White-Cain also cited Ephesians 6:11 — connecting it to 6:11 p.m. — during her remarks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast at the convention on Thursday.
While the 6:11 argument is the worst use of the Bible this week, scriptural references have been regularly peppered into the speeches at the RNC. Paying attention to how the Bible is used is important to protect against partisan exploitation of holy texts. So this issue of A Public Witness tunes into the RNC with a Bible in one hand and a vomit bag in the other. Of course, if you read this at 6:11 p.m. tonight, it might more effectively help you put on the armor of God to stand against misquotations of the Bible! Then again, it’s always six o’clock somewhere.
God & the GOP
As speakers throughout the RNC have cited Scripture this week, they’ve done so in two primary areas: to talk about the U.S. and to talk about Trump. In both ways, the speakers attempted to repurpose verses to bestow a divine blessing upon their nation and their nominee.
God Bless the USA.
Singer Lee Greenwood showed up Monday night to sing his patriotic anthem “God Bless the U.S.A.” as Trump made his first appearance at the convention. After a new career as a Bible salesman, Greenwood now apparently fancies himself as a prophet. With the band playing behind him, he declared God had saved Trump’s life Saturday so Trump could be the next president.
While Greenwood didn’t work in any biblical passages to his prediction, several other speakers utilized Scripture to essentially make the point of Greenwood’s song. Earlier Monday before Greenwood sang, attendees heard the life verse of patriotism — 2 Chronicles 7:14 (or is it “Two Chronicles”?).
“We need God in our hearts and Donald Trump back in the White House,” declared Sara Workman, one of the speakers intended to represent average Americans. “Donald Trump put me on this stage to show that he hears us, he sees us, and we are forgotten no more. I find peace in God’s promise that says, ‘If my people, who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray, I will hear your nation.’ Amen. With faith, hope, and love in my heart, I know we will make America great again.”
Workman altered the end of the verse, changing “their land” to “your nation.” In doing so, she made clear the way this verse is often misapplied to the United States, making it about this nation instead of about the people of God. As Russell Moore, a longtime conservative evangelical leader, previously wrote about such nationalistic applications, “We too often see America as somehow more ‘real’ than the kingdom, and our country as more important than the church.” Thus, Moore urged Christians to “define ourselves not by the generic god of American values.” Workman wasn’t the only one to use the verse; a pastor opened the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast at the convention on Thursday with the verse in his prayer.
Several other passages trotted onto stage during the RNC essentially worked the same way. Take a statement about the people of God and then apply it to the U.S. as if synonymous. Such a hermeneutical approach falls into the trap of Christian Nationalism by fusing and confusing American and Christian identities as if one must be a Christian to be an American. Multiple speakers — like Tennessee Gov. Bill Little, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, and military veteran Scott Neil — pulled out the line from Matthew 5:14 about a “city on a hill” to talk about the greatness of the U.S., even though Jesus used the phrase to describe not a nation but his followers.
In a similar vein, Neal Jackson, a Baptist pastor and state lawmaker in North Carolina, invoked both Psalm 33:12 and Joshua 1:9 to apply to the United States. During his opening prayer on Tuesday, he said, “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessings upon the United States of America. Thank you for your provisions upon this land, your protection of this land, and your promotion of this land which is undeniable. Your word says, ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.’ Tonight, we claim that for America, believing that you desire to bless and prosper our country as we honor you and your ways. … Tonight, we pray for our military leaders and officers, pray for our police officers, our firefighters, our first responders as they risk their lives so that we can continue to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. You commanded Joshua to ‘be strong and courageous.’ Tonight, all across this country, I pray that you would raise up a generation of courageous leaders who follow you in their whole heart and govern with integrity.”
Not to be outdone, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem dragged 2 Timothy 1:7 out to a gravel pit and shot it (yes, that incident continues to dog her). After quoting from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, she linked that to Trump and Paul to encourage the delegates to keep fighting for America.
“Like Lincoln in the midst of our pain and division, Donald Trump is calling us to be touched by the better angels of our nature. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy, ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.’ We must not be afraid. Even in our darkest days we have never once given up hope, so don’t quit on America,” she argued.
The governor who made up a story about meeting and staring down North Korea’s dictator essentially grabs a random Bible verse to christen her argument that they should prove they love America by voting for Trump.
The Lion of Mar-a-Lago.
Although several speakers used Scripture to lift up the U.S., even more did so to christen Trump as God’s chosen leader. Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law and co-chair of the RNC, depicted Trump as a righteous lion as she talked about Saturday’s shooting and what it showed about her father-in-law.
“Proverbs 28 reads, ‘The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.’ And that truly epitomizes Donald Trump. He is a lion,” she declared to cheers and applause. “He is bold, he is strong, he is fearless, and he is exactly what this country needs right now.”
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina similarly depicted Trump as a lion as he excitedly talked about Saturday — an incident that resulted in the death of one man and the wounding of Trump and two others — being a miracle. He declared, “Our God still saves, he still delivers, and he still sets free because on Saturday the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roooared!” Although he didn’t cite a biblical passage, Scott used the lion imagery — that’s so drenched in messianic meaning that C.S. Lewis famously used it in The Chronicles of Narnia series — alongside talk about God, the devil, and miracles. Donald Trump Jr. on Wednesday joined the lion references by claiming his father has the “heart of a lion.”
In a similar vein, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson cited Isaiah 54:17 to explain how God protected Trump from being killed on Saturday: “I saw President Trump, a dear friend, escape death by mere inches, and my thoughts immediately turned to the Book of Isaiah that says, ‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper.’” A state senator similarly cited the verse in that way as she prayed during a breakfast meeting for Ohio delegates that aired on C-SPAN — although she changed the verse from talking about weapons “against you” to “against us.”
Not to be outdone, megachurch pastor Jentezen Franklin suggested during the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast at the convention on Thursday that the shooting on Saturday showed Trump had been anointed. He cited Leviticus 8 where the priest Aaron was anointed with blood put on his ear, thumb, and toe. Franklin then argued Trump got all three on Saturday: shot in the ear, touched his wound to get blood on his thumb, and then when on the ground talked about needing to get his shoe. The last point Franklin also connected to Moses taking his shoes off when talking to God in the burning bush.
“‘He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit is saying.’ I really believe that God has given Donald Trump a new ear,” Franklin added.
Other biblical passages and imagery also got picked out of context to cast Trump as God’s chosen candidate. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem declared, “President Donald J. Trump is the leader we need ‘for such a time as this.’” That phrase from Esther 4:14 is often misused in politics today, but it seems particularly outlandish in this context. She read a story with an unstable ruler who cycles through wives, has sexually assaulted women, holds an international beauty contest, and listens to a bigoted advisor but then thought Trump was instead the young woman sexualized and conscripted into a harem? Yet, Noem wasn’t alone. As Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune noted, multiple speakers used the phrase during a breakfast Tuesday for the Texas delegates. And Paula White-Cain used the phrase to describe both Trump and Vance during the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast.
With Trump framed as the righteous candidate, some RNC speakers also insisted that campaigning for him would therefore be a godly act. As Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin urged those at the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast to go out and campaign for Trump, he ended his remarks with an altar call borrowed from Isaiah 6: “And so here is my call to all of you. God asked, ‘Whom shall I send?’ And I’m asking all of you to stand up right now and respond with me, ‘Send us.’ So please all stand up. And when God asked, ‘Whom shall I send?’, we answered in unison, ‘Send us!’”
Similarly, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York said on Tuesday, “As we embark on the difficult job ahead to save America, call upon Galatians 6:9: ‘And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.’ We the people will never give up on President Trump and we will never give up on the United States of America.” Perhaps in the Bible that Trump’s been helping Greenwood sell, the definition of “doing good” is campaigning for a man convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying business documents to cover up his hush money payments to a porn star he had an affair with.
A failed U.S. senate candidate in Connecticut borrowed Deuteronomy 31:6 to recast the GOP as the Hebrew people (apparently following Trump instead of Moses). Leora Levy said during her prayer Monday: “We are here to elect President Donald J. Trump, a leader with wisdom, strength, courage, and the experience to repair what has been badly broken. Lord, please bless the leaders of our great Republican Party. Bless President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley, Co-Chairman Lara Trump, the delegates, alternates, and guests gathered here today as we work to make America great again. May we remember your word in Deuteronomy 31:6, ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave nor forsake you.’”
Other speakers cited Scripture to suggest God was on their side and would make sure Trump and the Republicans win. After drawing big applause and cheers for calling the delegates “cheerful warriors for Christ,” Ben Carson employed Romans 8:31 to predict a Trump victory in God’s name: “When God is with us, nobody can stand against us. With this assurance from the Almighty, even the face of evil itself cannot shake our resolve. We will keep fighting. We will keep praying. And by the grace of God, we will save our country and reelect President Trump together with Vice President Vance this November.” When you’re sure God’s on your side, any verse can bring assurance that your candidate will win.
Garbage Interpretations
The Bible popped up a few other times at the RNC. On a couple of occasions, someone would during a prayer take a verse that praises God (like from a psalm) and then use it to praise God, thus quoting it in line with the original intent. But the verses were mostly employed to address political issues. Rather than utilizing Scripture to back specific policies, the speakers armed their remarks with verses for big picture claims like casting the U.S. as God’s favored nation, the GOP as God’s only party, and Trump as God’s chosen leader.
Such uses of Scripture during RNC speeches isn’t quite as silly as the 6:11 p.m. reading, but they’re just as malleable. Without any effort at exegesis or considering the original context and meaning, the verses heard at the RNC about America and Trump could just as easily — and perhaps more easily — be borrowed to lift up a different nation or candidate as the true godly option.
Consider how reality TV star Savannah Chrisley used a verse from Proverbs on Tuesday. Giving a speech complaining about the prosecution and imprisonment of her parents (for bank fraud, tax evasion, and falsifying documents), she also argued others were being wrongly prosecuted like Trump and Steve Bannon. She then randomly threw in a verse that would seem to apply better when taking the exact opposite position: “Look at what they’ve done to Steve Bannon. I mean, the man should be at home. Proverbs 24:16 says, ‘For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but wicked stumble when calamity strikes.’ It’s about time we start seeing people stumble.” The verse would seem to fit better coming from a speaker at the Democratic National Convention noting Bannon is in jail and then reading the proverb. But when it comes to biblical “interpretation,” for political speakers anything is possible.
What we’ve heard preached from the RNC podium is just politics with the Bible tossed on the side as rhetorical garnish. This isn’t even what Paul complained about when he wrote that the people in Corinth still needed milk and were not yet ready for meat. Using the Bible as political prooftext isn’t consuming just milk like an infant; it’s putting it on the plate merely for decorative purposes and then later tossing it into the garbage. This does not honor the Bible, and we should not applaud such remarks.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor
My mother use to say you can take any verse out of the Bible and use ir to justify anything. And these people prove that. They conveniently forget all the verses about caring for others. They would do well to read James 3 about uncontrolled speech (the tongue). And by the way, I taught 4th and 5th graders in Sunday School years ago. They really liked Amos, especially his condemnation of the rich taking advantage of the poor and when he called them "fat cows". These kids got what God is about, caring, loving, and merciful. Too bad these so-called adults can't get it.
Oh! My, My! Thanks for informing your readers about the Ephesians 6:11 goofyness of the Trumpaphiles. The tragic element is all of those "While Nationalist Christians who eat that sort of stuff up with a spoon, and have no concept of actual Bible research study and exegesis. Just had to share that Genesis 6:11 may well speak more to what our nation is facing from the Trump Authoritarians - "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence." Keep that mighty pen going!!