Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and arguably the most influential leader in the Southern Baptist Convention had some harsh words on his podcast today for the former editor of Christianity Today, Mark Galli. In December, Galli wrote a scathing hit piece on Donald Trump accusing him of violating the Constitution of the United States and called on Evangelicals to support the Democrat-led partisan impeachment.
Mohler addressed Galli’s comments today stating that it was “irresponsible in an editorial like this to accuse the president of the United States of a violation of the constitution without making clear exactly what that violation is and why that violation, which is the only constitutional grounds for the removal of a president, rises to that level of significance.”
Mohler also criticized Galli’s categorization of polarized Evangelicals stating that, instead, there is a third and more prominent category of Evangelicals “who understand fully the moral issues at stake, but who also understand the political context and have made a decision to support President Trump, not out of mere political expediency and certainly not merely out of naivete, but out of their own analysis of what is at stake.”
Mohler’s repudiation of the CT editorial is interesting — if not hypocritical — in that his very own protégé, Russell Moore, the head of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission spent nearly a full year vilifying Donald Trump before the 2016 election and castigating Evangelicals, including Southern Baptists who supported him. In fact, the editorial at Christianity Today is nearly identical to the rhetoric that spewed from the keyboard and lips of Moore and his brand of The Gospel Coalition types since Donald Trump joined the political landscape.
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While it is difficult to disagree with anything Mohler said in his briefing today, one can only wonder why he is so blind to the very same activity in his own backyard. Not only has Russell Moore poisoned the well of the current president but Mohler employees several politically liberal faculty members who, as well, have denounced Trump at his seminary.
If Mohler is to be taken seriously, he would have to repudiate the identical actions of those under his wing otherwise he’s merely — as usual — walking both sides of the aisle. The briefing for Jan 6, 2019, can be listened to at this link.
