Distortions, Lies, and Leaps in Logic, Author Katherine Stewart Libels Ralph Drollinger
In her newest Christian-bashing book, Katherine Stewart continues to ponder the “conundrum” that has left an entire generation of liberal writers bewildered: how could Christians support a flawed man like Donald Trump?
For an online review of the book, writer Amanda Marcotte interviewed Stewart and concluded: “Author Katherine Stewart has the answer: Because the true god these folks worship is power.
This is false.
The true God worshiped by Bible-believing evangelical Christians is the One and true Holy God who created the heavens and the earth as He describes Himself in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Rather than Stewart providing “the answer,” Jesus has and is the answer: John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
It is shocking that Stewart, who is Jewish and married to a Catholic, presumes to tell fundamental Christians what they really believe and what their true motivations are.
While she may understand the tenets of her own faith, she cannot possibly understand the heart change, the transformation that occurs when one accepts that he is a sinner and needs Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
And yet, in book after book she continues to hold herself up as the expert on the convictions of fundamental Christians and questions their sincerity as they seek to do the will of God in their lives. That would be like a Christian telling a Hindu he is worshiping Brahma in the wrong way. How could a Christian possibly know that?
She presumes to know a Christian’s heart.
Among the many contorted leaps in logic and malformed assumptions that Stewart offers is a mischaracterization of Ralph Drollinger’s Bible studies that he teaches to members of the White House Cabinet, U.S. Senate, and House of Representatives.
She first lumps Drollinger in the category of “Christian Nationalist.”
This is false.
A generally accepted definition of “Christian Nationalist” is one offered by author Michelle Goldberg who wrote the book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism.
Goldberg makes a distinction between conservative fundamental Christians and those who want a Christian-ruled government. She writes: “I’ve been asked several times what Christian nationalism is, and how it differs from Christian fundamentalism. It’s an important concept to understand, because the threat to a pluralistic society does not come from those who simply believe in a very conservative interpretation of Christianity. It comes from those who adhere to a political ideology that posits a Christian right to rule.”
Another word for “Christian Nationalism” is “dominionism.”
Drollinger is neither a Christian Nationalist nor a dominionist and Stewart is libeling Drollinger by calling him one. Drollinger has spoken often and written extensively about his opposition to Christian nationalism because it is not biblically based.
Drollinger addresses the subject in the Bible study, “Better Understanding the Fallacy of Christian Nationalism.” He wrote:
“Let me add here in the introduction that in ministering to public servants in the highest levels of governance for 23 years, I can vouch for the fact that not one Christian public servant I’ve ever worked with harbors motives of a theocratic takeover of some sort: In fact, most every one of them has been totally unfamiliar with these concepts or terms!”
“In essence, secular journalists and left-wing blogger activists are attempting to strike fear in the hearts of society by falsely postulating that believers in office desire to turn America into a theocracy – a church-controlled state.”
Among other Drollinger writings that do not support a modern-day theocracy include the article, “Why Capitol Ministries Would Never Support a Theocracy,” the Bible study, “Understanding the Separation of Church and State,” and the Bible study “Five Wrong Views About Christians and Government, Parts 1 and 2,” among many others.
This is True: Drollinger is a conservative Evangelical Christian who serves as a missionary to political leaders. He does not believe in changing the structure of the United States to a theocracy. He does not believe in a political ideology that posits a Christian right to rule.
A principle that Stewart fails to grasp is that there is a major difference between teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ – evangelizing – to change the hearts of leaders, which is missionary work, and working to change the structure of an existing republic government into a theocracy, which defines Christian nationalism.
This is Misleading: Stewart is critical of Drollinger for saying, “that social welfare programs have no basis in Scripture,” … that “the government should not directly fund needs for the poor,” … that “the responsibility to meet the needs of the poor lies first with a husband and a marriage, second with a family if the husband is absent, and third with the church.” She criticizes Drollinger for saying “nowhere does God command the institutions of government or commerce to fully support those with genuine needs.”
This is True: Drollinger preaches those things because they are in the Bible.
This is False: With the skill of a center-ring circus contortionist, Stewart’s logic irrationally spirals to the conclusion that Drollinger’s true agenda for teaching the Word of God to national leaders is really to benefit the “plutocratic fortunes” of wealthy Christian families who “benefit from a deregulation of lack of environmental control regulation, low taxation, and minimal workers’ rights.”
This is True: Drollinger teaches the Word of God to political leaders to lead them to salvation through Jesus Christ and to disciple them to maturity in the faith. The mission of Capitol Ministries is: To make disciples of Jesus Christ in the political arena throughout the world.
This is True: In the Bible study, “God’s Design for a Societal Safety Net,” Drollinger quotes the Bible on who Scripture designates as being responsible for taking care of the poor. He writes:
“There is a design in Holy Writ relative to a biblically informed construct of a societal safety net for those in genuine need. Short of the ability for one to provide for himself, God’s order of catch-basins is for individuals to help others. Closely related to that is helping the poor via the institutions of marriage and family. Lastly, the responsibility falls to the institution of the church — but only at such a time as the other prerequisites have fallen short of meeting those need; only then does the need become the responsibility of the institution of the church.
“Importantly, the institution of the state is explicitly absent: it is outside the purview of God’s ordained means of provision for the truly needy.
“Inefficient and ineffective results are always the outcome whenever any of God’s ordained institutions attempts to hijack the responsibilities of another.”
Drollinger’s Bible study notes that the first responsibility is the individual’s. Second Thessalonians 3:6-10 says, “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”
The study says second in responsibility to meet the needs of the truly needy falls to individuals helping others. States Proverbs 22:9, “He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives some of his food to the poor.”
Third in responsibility to meet the needs of the truly needy fall to the family. First Timothy 5:3 says, “Honor widows who are widows indeed; but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.”
Drollinger wrote: “Civil government should not be tasked with taking care of the needs of individuals when an individual family member or members can step up. Individuals and other family members are to take care of their own blood lines; to refuse to take care of your family members is akin to asking your neighbors to take on your personal responsibility.”
“For a believer to fail to take care of the needy in his own family makes him or her worse than an unbeliever who knows the right thing to do!”
Lastly, the responsibility to meet the needs of the truly needy falls to the church: Romans 15:25-26 says, “But now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.”
Galatians 2:10 serves the same purpose: “They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.”
And James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
First John 3:17 says, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
Drollinger wrote, “Importantly, the institution of the state is explicitly absent: it is outside the purview of God’s ordained means of provision for the truly needy.”
This is False: Stewart inserts her opinion as fact and charges that Drollinger is among those who don’t “really believe in modern representative democracy.” She accuses, “At bottom, they sound as though they prefer autocrats. In fact, what they really want is a king. Paula White is always calling Trump a king. Ralph Drollinger is always talking about kinging and kings.
This is True: Stewart has taken a portion of Drollinger’s book, Rebuilding America, the Biblical Blueprint out of context and distorted its meaning to validate her peculiar and unfounded conclusion. In Chapter 16, Drollinger writes about how believers will reign with Jesus Christ as kings during the Millennial Kingdom.
Among many passages he cites is Revelation 20:4: “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Order your Free copy of Rebuilding America, the Biblical Blueprint.
This is True: Drollinger does not write Bible studies, books, and articles from his own authority. The source of his information is the Bible. He is a learned and disciplined Bible expositor. As revealed in the interview, Stewart’s sources for her books are her own perceptions and opinions.
Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”