“I think it’s important we not overthink this, or over-scrutinize it, but to see it for what it is, which is a great witness by a political leader who has not always spoken about his faith,” he said.
Roberts argued that critics of Trump could learn from the parable of the prodigal son. “When any man or woman maybe has not been the greatest witness of God’s truth decides that he or she wants to speak up, let’s welcome him or her with open arms,” he said.
‘Potentially dangerous misunderstanding’
Bradley Gregory, an associate professor of biblical studies at Catholic University of America (CUA), on the other hand, argued that Trump’s Bible marketing “reflects a basic, potentially dangerous misunderstanding of how our Christian faith should relate to our politics.”
Gregory, who also serves as associate dean for graduate studies at CUA’s School of Theology and Religious Studies, said that it’s “often underappreciated just how much our understanding of Scripture is affected by what we ‘pair’ with it, either mentally or in this case physically within the same book.”
“Whenever Scripture and something political are implied to be on the same level, even subconsciously, it makes it that much harder for the Church to see and challenge things that might be in conflict with the Gospel,” Gregory said.
“And worse, one of the sad patterns of Church history is that when Christians do this and invest political causes with a kind of religious devotion, compromises that betray the heart of the Gospel are usually not far behind,” he said.
Roberts noted that for Catholics, Trump’s promotion of the King James Bible left something to be desired. That version has traditionally been used by Anglicans and other Protestant denominations; it is distinct from the version of the Bible approved by the Catholic Church, which in the U.S. includes the New American Bible among other approved translations.
“It’d be nice if [the God Bless the USA] Bible had all the books in it,” Roberts said. “As a serious Catholic, I’m going to read one version of the Bible,” he said. “The entire Bible. It’s not going to have anything additional in it.”
Matthew Bunson, vice president of EWTN News, made similar observations in an interview on the subject with “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Wednesday.
Trump is tapping, Bunson said, “into what is a wider concern in the United States for decline in religiosity, a decline, as he puts it, in prayer,” he continued. “It’s captured all, I think, by the phrase that he uses in his social media blasts [Wednesday], that he wants to ‘make America pray again.’”
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Bunson’s full interview with Sabol can be viewed below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okxaImJtSus
Daniel Payne is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at the College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.
Ken Oliver-Méndez is editor-in-chief of the Catholic News Agency, which provides news of general interest to Catholics worldwide through its network of regional correspondents, bureaus, and sister services, including ACI Prensa, ACI Stampa, CNA Deutsch, ACI Africa, ACI Afrique, ACI Mena, and ACI Digital. A native Washingtonian and journalist by profession, Ken is a former White House director of specialty media, news editor at NBC Radio, and evening news producer at Radio Martí, among other positions in journalism and public policy.
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