Barack Obama: Evangelical-in-Chief?
Courtesy of the White HouseBarack Obama: Evangelical-in-Chief?
The 2012 campaign has placed evangelicals in a paradox. A recent PRRI/RNS poll reveals that white evangelicals support a Mormon presidential candidate over Obama by an overwhelming 49% margin, but are simultaneously the religious group most likely to say it is important for a presidential candidate to share their religious beliefs (67%).
While there are plenty of legitimate policy reasons that evangelicals might support Governor Romney, their willingness to overlook their desire for a coreligionist candidate may also have at least something to do with the fact that 24% of them—higher than any other religious group—believe Obama is a Muslim, and even more are unaware (or unconvinced?) he's a Protestant. What if more evangelicals knew Obama largely shares their religious beliefs?
That the true religious identity of the world's most famous, most powerful man could remain a mystery to so many is itself a mystery. Before and especially during his presidency, Obama has been extraordinarily open on matters of faith, providing ample evidence for his repeated claim to be a devout Christian. The evidence may even suggest Obama is our evangelical-in-chief.
In his excellent religious biography of the President, The Faith of Barack Obama, author Stephen Mansfield spends several pages exploring whether Obama has been "born again." Mansfield's interviews with the President's spiritual advisors suggest so.
"I know he's born again," said Joshua DuBois, head of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, in an interview with Mansfield. A pastor's kid who served briefly in a Pentecostal pastorate himself, DuBois has queried the President about his faith and found that he "believes what the majority of Christians believe."
Joel Hunter, pastor of Florida's 15,000-member Northland Church and Obama's closest spiritual mentor, is even more emphatic. "There is simply no question about it: Barack Obama is a born again man who has trusted in Jesus Christ with his whole heart."
These assertions of Obama's "born again" status are instructive but only tell us so much. The Christian experience of spiritual rebirth is internal, subjective, and thus difficult to disprove. Moreover, it constitutes only one dimension of what it means to be an evangelical.
Admittedly, the meaning of evangelicalism is contested, and in the United States the term has become loaded with political baggage. Evangelicalism is an exceedingly diverse and diffuse global movement, lacking a unifying political agenda, institutional structure, or doctrinal basis (that's why the e in "evangelical" is usually not capitalized). Yet we can identify core features shared by evangelicals across all continents.
The most widely accepted definition of evangelicalism comes from British historian David Bebbington. According to Bebbington, an evangelical is a Christian marked by four distinct emphases: "conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be termed crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross."
If Obama is an evangelical, we should expect to find him in alignment with at least this minimalist "Bebbington Quadrilateral." Let's look at how he squares with each of the four elements.
Conversionism: Barack Obama has a conversion story, if not an entirely traditional one. In his bestseller, The Audacity of Hope, Obama recounts how he warmed to Christianity, and the black church tradition in particular, while attending Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. One Sunday, Obama writes, "I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth." Obama's eventual decision to be baptized "came about as a choice and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear."
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Judy Harrell
The Christian community needs to give Obama time along with many prayers to grow spiritually!! We need to pray for our president every day! I believe that he became a Christian as a result of our prayers now we need to pray for his growth. The comment about abortion and a woman's right to chose is very flawed. Killing an innocent child has nothing to do with ones right to chose. No one has a right to chose to kill another human being unborn or not! The fetus inside the woman is a separate human being and it has a God given right to life.
STANLEY TRENT Bemis
tHE EARLIEST cHRISTIANS HAD ONE CREED:jesus is Lord.anyone who said that was accepted at one point.I am appaled by all those who have made negative responses to this article.So many people here are willing to state who is and who is not a Christian.But othrers have observed that in a democoracy the president is over all the people.The Bible (WHICH martin LUTHER SAID WAS TO NOT BE SEEN AS A PAPER POPE,since people here which to quoate him)talks about nations being judged on feeing the Onehungry,clothing the naked,etc.The Bible is also clear on this"the letter killith but the spirit maketh alive."there is an abysmal lack of love in prouably 90% of these comments.The Evanglical Faith has exhibited a new low in this Election,even suggesting that Mr.Oboma is the "anti-christ."why?because it feels that denying a Woman choise over her own body and expressing contempt for the rights of people with a different sexual orientation (one that science has validated as a genetic predisposition and not a choise)are crucial things to be concerned about.The Bible(for all those into letter)IS very spoken about war and killing,and upuntil a certain Roman Emperior saw an oppertunity to justify killing for the state in the name of Jesus as a way to make the progress of his goverement enlarge it's boarders the Christian faith had a defenate stance on this issue.This is not mentioned in these reviews.Well,Mr.Oboma"s opponent has made it not only clear that he is not concerned about the Biblical "leasat of these'' but that his own faith is valueless-in speaking of God the creator he was as misleading as Mr.clinton on the word "sex".One may not agree with Mr.Oboma but he does stand for something,Mr.Mittens is willing to be totally packaged by the Right wing forces in this country and makes me think(sadY)OF the Biblical statement,''WHAT SHALL A MAN GIVE IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL?"oNCE MORE,IF he believes in any of his Church"s doctrines,he not only believes in a throughly unorthodox Theology but an Americian HISTORY that has no baises in reality. the Evangelical church ,at present,and in much of these comments,makes me aware of Jesus' statments about His desciples' "ye are the salt of the earth,but if the salt looses it"s savior it is worth nothing more than to be trodden under the foot of man."this article,for me,was/is a breath of clean air and after reading it I wanted to tell it's writter,thank You.
Bill Both
Its very possible to believe, as I do, that homosexuality isnt God's will but also believe that a homosexual has equal rights under the law as per the 14th amendment. Its also possible to believe, as many Christians do, that abortion's wrong but that the government has no business regulating a woman's right to choose. Looking at Rick Dalbey's comments above, the President does NOT fight Catholics, evangelicals or Jews. Many...probably MOST Catholics oppose their Church position on contraceptives & support the President's position. Many evangelicals, as noted above, dont believe the government has a role in denying homosexuals equal rights or a woman her right to choose. Many Jews are even more opposed to the oppressive & cruel policies of Israel in the territories than the President...& previous Presidents especially the elder Bush are or were. The real enemy of the Gospel is someone who ignores repeated injunctions of Jesus & Paul to judge not but to embrace their brother in Christ.