{"id":25171,"date":"2024-11-11T12:58:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T17:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=25171"},"modified":"2024-11-11T17:52:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T22:52:50","slug":"john-piper-under-fire-for-calling-trump-election-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/11\/john-piper-under-fire-for-calling-trump-election-evil","title":{"rendered":"John Piper Under Fire for Calling Trump Election \u201cEvil\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adobe Stock | Inset: Micah Chiang \/ Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Evangelicals continue to grapple with the results of the 2024 election, with many celebrating President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s resounding win. John Piper, however, was not one of them. Taking to X after Trump was declared the winner, Piper wrote<\/a>, \u201cPresidential election results. Having delivered us from one evil, God now tests us with another. \u2018The Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.\u2019 Deuteronomy 13:3.\u201d While not explicitly stated, many evangelicals interpreted Piper as referring to Trump\u2019s election as \u201cevil.\u201d Piper has been openly critical of Trump in the past. During the 2020 election, he encouraged Christians to vote for neither Trump nor Biden<\/a>. During preparations for the 2023 election, Piper appeared to feel much the same, saying<\/a>, \u201cAt times, it happens in a fallen world that a vote for any proposed candidate is so offensive, so morally compromised, so misleading that it may be a matter of greater integrity, more faithful obedience to Christ, and a clearer witness to the truth if we do not vote for any of the proposed candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Megan Basham, author of Shepherds for Sale<\/em>, which criticized the shift towards liberal policies through members of what is called \u201cBig Eva,\u201d criticized the post. \u201cI have long benefitted from Pastor John and his ministry. But this is incredibly disappointing,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cTrump\u2019s policy positions pose some problems for Christians, yes. But the two sides were not morally equivalent. We should al[l] be rejoicing this morning that he did not hand us over to leadership with the most wicked policies this nation has ever known. What we received last night was mercy. Praise God.\u201d Samuel Sey, who writes the blog \u201cSlow to Write\u201d and has been openly critical of Trump\u2019s lax attitude toward abortion but also criticized voting for Harris or refusing to vote at all, pushed back on Piper. \u201cYou have been a blessing to me, but I think you\u2019re failing to rejoice over God\u2019s mercy,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. \u201cPersecuted Christians in other nations wish they had Trump as their president. Trump\u2019s lesser evil shouldn\u2019t be ignored. But God\u2019s \u2018small\u2019 mercies shouldn\u2019t be ignored either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others, like Neil Shenvi, author of Critical Dilemma<\/em>, which outlines the troubling infiltration of Critical Theory into the religious realm, defended Piper. \u201cGuys, Piper didn\u2019t say \u2018Trump is the greater evil\u2019 or \u2018Christians should not have voted for him\u2019 or even \u2018I wish Harris had won.\u2019 He\u2019s reminding us of what ***many of us were saying when, eg, Trump eviscerated the GOP\u2019s pro-life platform.***\u201d he wrote.<\/a> Piper\u2019s post\u2019s vague nature and the division amongst evangelicals further underscores the difficulty evangelicals faced this election cycle with a weakened pro-life stance within the GOP and a blatantly pro-choice push from the Democrats.<\/p>\n

Pro-life leader, Lila Rose, who had toyed with the idea of refraining from voting for Trump this cycle, posted just before the election that she had ultimately decided to vote for him. \u201c I have repeatedly voiced opposition to the recent changes in the Republican platform and in the positions taken by Trump and Vance, urging them to change course,\u201d she wrote<\/a> in a lengthy post. \u201cSome progress was made: When enough pro-life allies expressed outrage and threatened to withhold their vote, Trump reversed his position on Amendment 4, which would legalize abortion through all nine months in his home state of Florida, and expressed his opposition to it.\u201d While lamenting the shift left from the GOP, Rose ultimately decided that the damage to life from a Harris presidency was too great to ignore. \u201cWe must continue our fight to secure the respect for human life in both political parties, and across our culture,\u201d she added. \u201cThe protection of our children cannot be negotiable\u2014America\u2019s future depends on leaders who protect its most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evangelicals continue to grapple with the results of the 2024 election, with many celebrating President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s resounding win. John Piper, however, was not one of them. Taking to X after Trump was declared the winner, Piper wrote, \u201cPresidential election results. Having delivered us from one evil, God now tests us with another. \u2018The Lord…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":25189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2443,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-trump","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJohn Piper Under Fire for Calling Trump Election \u201cEvil\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/11\/john-piper-under-fire-for-calling-trump-election-evil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John Piper Under Fire for Calling Trump Election \u201cEvil\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Evangelicals continue to grapple with the results of the 2024 election, with many celebrating President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s resounding win. 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