Setting the Record Straight
Capitol Ministries Responds to False and Misleading Newsweek Story
A Newsweek story about Donald Trump published on October 6, 2017 contained false information about Ralph Drollinger.
The Newsweek story said:
“The next most prominent godly voice in Trump’s White House is the Cabinet Bible study pastor, Ralph Drollinger, who preaches that Jesus-contrary to several millennia of church teaching-didn’t really think you had to help the poor if you happen to be a member of Congress.”
This is false.
In the Bible study, Entitlement Programs Viewed Through the Lens of Scripture, Drollinger examines the Bible to determine what the Word of God says about massive social programs.
He asks the question: “Is there a biblical basis for the Institution of Government to create such large entitlement programs? What does God’s Word say in regards to the extent of governmental responsibility for the welfare of its citizens?”
This study examines the biblical hierarchy of responsibility that the Bible reveals for the five societal institutions that God created: marriage, family, church, state, and commerce.
The Bible study showed, through Scripture, that the responsibility for taking care of society’s poor first lies with the Institution of Marriage.
Drollinger never said the government should not help the poor.
In that study, Drollinger adds this important point that Newsweek left out of its story:
“I should quickly and in all objectivity, add that Scripture does not prohibit Government from directly aiding the poor, but to the degree any of God’s five ordained institutions wanders from its scripturally explicit responsibilities is the degree the institution will become inefficient and increasingly unable to fulfill its God-explicit responsibilities.”
The Newsweek story reported: “Nowhere to be found in the NT is an explicit command for the Institution of the State to assume such a function,” he wrote. “Jesus was only a role model to emulate.”
The last of these two points is false, inflammatory, taken out of context, and libelous.
In Entitlement Programs Viewed Through the Lens of Scripture, Drollinger makes a distinction between the beliefs of fundamental Evangelicals, who consider Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior, and theological liberals who do not.
Drollinger writes that theological liberals do not consider Jesus Christ to be salvific, which is having the power to save or redeem mankind. Drollinger writes that to these men, “Jesus was only a role model to emulate.”
To mischaracterize Drollinger on such fundamental theology is damaging to his standing as an Evangelical minister and harmful to his reputation.
The Newsweek story said:
“Drollinger’s fondness for abject subservience even extends to climate change. He and several of Trump’s theologians preach that even if the world is heating up, it’s presumptuously sinful to believe human activities have anything to do with it. Says Drollinger: “To think that man can alter the earth’s ecosystem-when God remains omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent in the current affairs of mankind-is to more than subtly espouse an ultra-hubristic, secular worldview relative to the supremacy and importance of man.”
This is false, and is a distorted, misleading, and unfair characterization of Drollinger’s position.
The Christian is to look to the Bible for answers to all things. As a traditional, historical Evangelical Christian pastor, Drollinger believes that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God and he begins with Scripture when seeking answers to any question.
With a Bachelor’s degree in ecosystems from UCLA, Drollinger also researches science.
The Newsweek story failed to mention Drollinger’s Bible studies that show how modern archaeological discoveries give evidence to biblical historical stories and beliefs long-held by Christians but mocked by liberal theologians. Among them is Drollinger’s study, Liberal Theology’s Struggle with Modern Archaeology.
Drollinger is not a climate-change denier. He understands that the world has always experienced climate change. What he does not believe is that man has the power or the ability to destroy the ecological system that God perfectly designed.
The Newsweek story reported: “Drollinger endeared himself to Trump last year when he called on him to create a “benevolent dictatorship.”
This is false.
Drollinger’s comments were made in passing reference to a divided Congress that fails to accomplish business. He was speaking of the nation’s need for a strong leader with gifts of persuasion.
The Newsweek story elaborated on this point, saying:
“This anti-democratic impulse was familiar to people who study evangelicals. Political scientists have noted a growing authoritarian trend in American voters, and in Trump voters in particular. A 2011 meta-analysis of hundreds of studies involving thousands of people found that “fundamentalism correlated positively with authoritarianism, ethnocentrism, militarism, and prejudice.”
Merriam-Webster defines meta-analysis as “a quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to test the pooled data for statistical significance.”
Newsweek is not using meta-analysis study to test the pool for statistical significance.
Newsweek is hiding behind the cloak of meta-analysis in order to call fundamental Christians authoritarian, ethnocentric, militaristic, and prejudice.
This is not scientific evidence. It’s a cheap shot.
Capitol Ministries greatly resents the mischaracterization.
A synopsis of this study was posted on the website http://www.centerforinquiry.net which describes itself as “A Leading Resource for Journalists, Producers, and the Media.”
This is a not a neutral source. This source is out to prove its own singular and biased point of view. It’s website posts:
“The Center for Inquiry tackles head-on many of today’s burning issues from a refreshing and often provocative perspective, one based on science and reason, and guided by the values of secular humanism.”
“Our Mission: The Center for Inquiry strives to foster a secular society based on reason, science, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.”
“Our Vision: A world where people value evidence and critical thinking, where superstition and prejudice subside, and where science and compassion guide public policy.