Northern Viewpoint: Is Donald Trump a Christian?

An acquaintance recently told me he was sure that Donald Trump was a Christian. I didn’t have the opportunity at the time to ask him why he thought so.

One reason I suspect may be because Trump is anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, and, oh yes, hates communists. But that puts him in the same company as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and other not so nice fascist dictators. Under Nazi Germany the only way a woman could get an abortion was to claim she was raped by a Russian soldier. And before Hitler started on the Jews, he had communists and homosexuals rounded up and shipped to concentration camps. Abortion was banned under Stalin, became legal later, and is now facing new restrictions under Putin.

So no, that’s not enough reason to class Trump as a Christian.

What about his claimed religious experiences.

At a White House prayer breakfast on February 6 Donald Trump spoke about the Pennsylvania assassination attempt. “It changed something in me” he said. “I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel, I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened”. Trump then urged Americans “Let’s bring God back into our lives”.

How much faith can we put in Trump’s expressions of faith?

Shortly after his first inauguration Donald Trump shared a “religious experience” that he had with a group of evangelical leaders. Franklin Graham, and others with him, were convinced that Trump had had a genuine “born again” experience. But Trump reportedly walked out of the room and commented to his aides something like: “I can’t believe how gullible these people are”. [I can’t find the reference now, but recall reading it at the time.]

If that is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then Trump not only doesn’t love Christians but he despises them. What he does love about Christians are their votes, their money, and their adulation. Trump needed their votes, covets their money, but especially loves being worshipped.

Trump was a Democrat supporter and Pro-choice before he became a Republican and Pro-Life. Do you think he changed for reasons of faith or politics?

The only times Trump attends church service is for official business or a photo op. I doubt he has ever gone to a church (or anywhere) by himself to pray and seek God’s guidance. Why waste time when no one can see him? If you asked him his favorite Bible verse, I doubt that he could recite even one.

What about the “divine intervention” that saved his life in the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt. Trump turned his head suddenly and the bullet creased his ear (or missed completely – he never showed us the scar). Did God save his life so he could make America great again? Adolf Hitler survived at least 42 plots to assassinate him – did God save his life so he could make Germany great again? Just asking.

Then there are Donald Trump's lies. The Washington Post fact checker counted over 30,000 untrue or misleading statements during his first term as president. Many of those were outright lies that Trump knew were not true.

The Bible has a lot to say about truth and lies. Here is just one verse: “…they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly” (Ps 62:4 KJV). The Psalmist here could be talking about the Republicans for whom lying and cheating is their modus operandi. Jesus described people who pretend to be good on the outside but are full of evil inside as “whited sepulchers” (Matthew 23:27 KJV).

I won’t go into his other un-Christian activities – business and tax fraud, cheating on his wives, sexual assault allegations, etc.

One report I found in researching this article speaks to my experience. Joel Tooley, a pastor, attended a Trump rally in Florida in 2017 with his 11 year old daughter. Tooley has experience with demonic activity and he found the atmosphere at the rally demonic – in the way the crowd sang “God Bless the USA”, recited the Lord’s prayer, and attacked two anti-Trump protestors in the crowd. There was nothing wrong with the prayer or the song, it was the spirit in the crowd which made him very uncomfortable and feeling sick. The demonic anger was palpable but Tooley felt the Holy Spirit protecting him and his daughter. Read the whole article (link below). Tooley’s experience matches mine. Whenever Fox News is on TV at my in-laws I can sense an evil spirit in the angry hate-filled language, and I have to leave the room.

Tooley is not the only Christian leader that doesn’t approve of Trump. There are many, but their voices get drowned out by the pro-Trump Christian mob.

But it doesn’t matter to most Christian voters whether Trump is, or is not, a Christian. They believe he is fighting on their side and that‘s all that matters. Franklin Graham put it this way back in 2017 “I never said he was the best example of the Christian faith. He defends the faith. And I appreciate that very much.” He also said “Never in my lifetime have we had a president willing to take a strong, outspoken stand for the Christian faith like President Donald J. Trump has.”

How is Trump fighting for Christians? Well just a few days ago he signed two executive orders, to establish a White House Faith Office with televangelist Paula White-Cain as head, and to create a DOJ task force to eradicate “anti-Christian bias” with the new AG Pam Bondi as leader. These moves were well timed to make Christian supporters forget any unease they may be feeling at the Trump regime’s dismantling of federal government agencies. I will follow up on these stories in future posts.

Back to the original question. I do not believe Donald Trump is a Christian by any definition of the term. Furthermore because of his peculiar psychological makeup I don’t believe it is possible for him to become a Christian. Here's why.

Evangelical Christians believe that the way to become a “born-again Christian” is to accept salvation as a gift from God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross. The first step of this process is to admit that you are a sinner. Step 2 is to ask God to forgive you, and then to accept His forgiveness. Step 3 is to ask Jesus to come into your heart as Lord of your life.

Donald Trump has never admitted to being wrong about anything in his life. I don’t believe he is capable of doing so. When asked specifically if he has ever asked God for forgiveness, Trump said that he had not, and added that he had always been good and had done nothing wrong to forgive. And you know, I believe that he actually believes that. So, Donald Trump can never get past step 1.

I had sincerely hoped that Trump would have a salvation experience in prison, like Chuck Colson. Colson was Richard Nixon’s hatchet man and served 7 months in prison for his activities in the Watergate scandal. While in prison Colson became a Christian and later wrote a book about his experience called Born Again (1976).

If Trump ever does become a Christian, here is how you can tell:

·        He will stop lying and start telling the truth.
·        He will admit he lost the 2020 election (he knows he did).
·        He will apologize to the American people for all the lies he has told them.
·        And much, much, more.