Also, are we talking read all the way through? Or just parts? Evangelical churchgoers read certain parts over and over, but I should say “read through the Bible in a year” programs are also at least somewhat popular
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Some evangelicals with pretensions to respectability also know not to say you should take the entire Bible literally. There is poetry in there after all. BUT they will argue that it is inerrant or at least infallible. It’s hair-splitting; they’re basically literalists
I was raised as a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran where the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. After years of Bible classes, literal and figurative is a grey area depending on the conversation.
In conclusion, pollsters often don’t know how to ask the right questions around these issues. But we do know this: the more frequently you attend church, the more likely you are to support Trump. (In the aggregate ofc; YMMV)
Church has always been a hierarchical organization, and respect has always put one (typically male) person as the most weighted decision maker, moral champion, and trusted person. These people are deeply flawed (Jim Baker anyone?).
Trump became such a surrogate at a higher level for these people.
He is deeply flawed - like King David, say the Christians. They believe that he is going to install the Christian organization in Gov even where they don't like him - and ultimately this will enable the "right man of God" to step in and the right Judges/Laws/etc to be put in place.
And Trump (or his team) understands this so well and - while he likely doesn't care, he is deeply sensitive to keep this ongoing. Once he becomes "the right type of person" - he knows his scriptural transgressions don't really matter.
Have you read much about Quakers?
Super interesting example of what happens when you make a church less hierarchical.
Quakers are notorious for two things:
Running just about everything by consensus
Being fantastic moral champions for the cause of universal human liberty
The historical Jesus, whatever, wasn't a systematic technician or a friend of rulers. "The Church" has been glossing that over as best they can since Pentecost, and the Hierarchy didn't form for centuries.
The Bible text we have is 200 years into that process. A stake in the ground. A mixed bag.
Not the rulers at the time - but Jesus famously stated "Render unto Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is God". Caesar wasn't "aligned" God, nor were the rulers in Jesus's time.
Most Christians seem to think that Trump (or his administration) is aligned with God, and the man God chose.
The question was whether it was lawful to use the ordinary coins of the realm, and he says OF COURSE a worker should be paid a day’s wage for a day’s work, don’t get hung up on sacral “purity”. He isn’t recorded as being against ordinary commerce, people gotta live. ==>
"Word study" is a thing if you want it. Everybody these days knows there are different translations, and since the internet it's easy enough to reach back to the source text. cf eg https://BibleHub.com
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They also teach the Pope in the anti-Christ.
https://wels.net/about-wels/what-we-believe/#toggle-id-5
Trump became such a surrogate at a higher level for these people.
He brings this familiarity to so many Christians
Super interesting example of what happens when you make a church less hierarchical.
Quakers are notorious for two things:
Running just about everything by consensus
Being fantastic moral champions for the cause of universal human liberty
Not coincidence, I think.
The Bible text we have is 200 years into that process. A stake in the ground. A mixed bag.
Most Christians seem to think that Trump (or his administration) is aligned with God, and the man God chose.
Divorces a bit from its context in order to support a political agenda, then use it like a club to hammer that agenda into place.
... not that most in the pews do.