Pondering faith and theology related to politics.



After reading this post, I would like you to respond by answering the questions at the end regarding your theology and how it affects your faith regarding politics. 

By way of introduction, I should mention that we all have faith and theology. Even if you do not believe in God, you cannot escape the fact that you have a theology. Your theology is that you don’t believe in God and that belief affects your decisions. You also have faith and that faith is believing you are correct about your theology.

I have a request, please read this entire post before throwing stones. If you do choose to throw stones, please make them thoughtful as I will delete anything with vulgar expletives or simple name-calling.
The questions I have relate to the president we elect for the next four years and how you will perceive him or her based on your theology.

For example, I’ve seen many posts stating that they believe Trump is God’s chosen man. (Note that this not saying Trump is a man of God i.e. godly, though this is what some people claim.) The theology of this is based on the Bible which says, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings” (Dan 2:21). This was spoken about Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king who conquered Judah. It also says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Rom 13:1). This was written when Nero was in power. The basic idea is that God so affects the affairs of people to ensure that the people he wants to rule every nation at any particular time in history have been so chosen by him. Yes, I know that this means this also includes other ruthless evil men like Hitler have been chosen by God or as some would soften it, God has allowed them to rule for a time.

I’ve stated this to challenge you thinking about what you believe to be true about your faith. If you believe in the Bible then it seems to me that you should believe that Trump is president because it is what God wants at this time in history. If you don’t believe in the Bible or that there is a God, then it seems to me that you believe that Trump is in position by chance. It was by chance that enough people in the right places voted for Trump. Even if you don’t think it was chance, the fact that Trump is president can’t be disputed.

Let me turn your attention to the next elections. Suppose Bernie or Biden win the election. What will your faith tell you? Will those who believe in the Bible say that he is God’s chosen man? Will those who have no faith in the Bible say that it was chance? Or will you say that people just got smarter? That still sounds like chance to me.

The questions for response:
1.      For Bible believers:
a.       If a Democrat is elected, will you say that person is chosen by God and will you respect (not necessarily like) that person as much as you respect Trump?
b.       If Trump is reelected, what will be your response?
2.       If you do not believe the Bible:
a.       If Trump is reelected what will be your response, how will you explain it?
b.       If a Democrat is elected, what will be your response, how will you explain it?

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