American conservative evangelical leaders Rev. Franklin Graham and Eric Metaxas recently said that President Trump’s critics are “demonic.”
In an interview on the Eric Metaxas Radio Show, Rev. Graham said, “I believe it’s almost a demonic power” when discussing Trump opposition. Metaxas responded, “I would disagree. It’s not almost demonic.” They said that what is happening is a “spiritual battle.” The pair went on to suggest that America was locked in a “spiritual battle.”
Eric Metaxas has released two children’s books that he has deemed to be “political parables”, Donald Builds the Wall and Donald Drains the Swamp.
Rev. Graham previously criticised Trump himself, over the President’s decision to remove US troops from northern Syria. He is well known as the founder of the Samaritan’s Purse fund, which collects shoeboxes of gifts for families at Christmas. Last year, he toured Australia to commemorate his late father Billy Graham’s famous crusades in the 1950s and 60s.
Metaxas is a conservative evangelical writer, who has written books such as 2011’s Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and several Veggie Tales scripts.
The comments come the same week as suggestions from Energy Secretary Rick
Perry that Trump was chosen by God.
Mr. Perry says he told Trump to his face that he
was “the chosen one.”
Clarifying the comment somewhat, Perry suggested that the same applied to
former US President Barack Obama.
This comment is based on a popular understanding of Romans 13 that suggests that God installs and supports the world’s governments. This concept has long been contested, however, especially as it applies to its invocation to justify political policies.
In a paper entitled ‘Romans 13 and Civil Disobedience’, Matthew Anslow, suggests however that things are a more complicated than a surface reading of Romans 13 might suggest. Paul, he writes, wrote the letter to the Roman Christians while under an imperial dictatorship, a form of government few Christians would endorse. Furthermore, Dr Anslow writes that Paul does not give governments carte blanche.
“Paul’s teaching here is to refrain from violent resistance
against the authorities,” he wrote.
“For Paul, both unquestioning obedience and violent revolt are improper
responses to the authorities. On the one hand the authorities must not be
obeyed when they are not acting as God’s servants; on the other hand violent
revolt does not fall into the category of overcoming evil with love.”
