Over the weekend, Rick Perry, the U.S. secretary of energy, became the latest highly placed evangelical Christian to claim that President Trump is the “chosen one.” …
Perry seemed to be making a general point about some Christians’ understanding of God’s role in history. (A Fox reporter made clear that Perry thinks the same of President Obama.) But others have gone further. Not long ago, Paula White, the Pentecostal pastor who was recently named to head the White House’s faith outreach office, said she couldn’t refuse a request to serve from the president. “To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God, and I won’t do that.”
The Rev. Franklin Graham has made similar allusions, saying, “I think God was behind the last election,” as has former U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann. …
Is this view of Trump as anointed by God common among Protestants? We put a survey into the field in May of 2019 that assessed the opinions of just over 1,000 Protestant Christians. CONT.
Paul Djupe (Denison) & Ryan Burge (Eastern Illinois U.), Religion News Service