Raphael Warnock is a Democrat U.S. Senator from Georgia who has been in office since January 2021. He is Georgia's first Black senator and entered office when he won a special election in 2021. He was re-elected in 2022 to a full term that is due to end in 2029.
But he also has another distinction. He has been the pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church since 2005. This is the church Martin Luther King, Jr. pastored when he took on his civil rights efforts.
Recently, Warnock sat down for an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, and a discussion ensued in which Warnock likened pro-Trump Christian leaders to people during the Civil War era who used Scripture to defend slavery. You can read about this at https://www.foxnews.com/media/warnock-likens-pro-trump-christian-leaders-those-who-used-scripture-defend-slavery.print
It is definitely true that during the time when slavery in America was legal, there were people who attempted to use the Bible to defend that institution. And it is right to note that people who did that were misinterpreting Scripture. But there are a couple of huge problem with Warnock’s criticism.
First, the fact that people during the period of slavery were misinterpreting Scripture does not necessarily mean that people who support Trump are misinterpreting it. Generalizations like that have no place in biblical interpretation.
But there is another, even bigger, problem with his statement. He is basing his assertion on the foundational beliefs of a form of theology that interprets Scripture as badly as the slavers he was criticizing. In doing that, he is assuming that his interpretive approach is right and that any approach that goes against it is automatically wrong – without giving evidence for his assumption.
Senator Warnock frames his political positions through the lens of Black Liberation Theology. Generic Liberation Theology is a 20th-century Christian theological movement that interprets the gospel of Jesus Christ through the lived experiences of the poor and oppressed. It is based on Marxist principles that sees society through the lens of oppressor vs. oppressed – where it is the work of the church to side with the oppressed against the oppressor. In the case of Black Liberation Theology, black people are understood to be the oppressed, while white people are the oppressors.
This approach to biblical interpretation is totally false. That is simply not how a biblical worldview is expressed in the Bible. In order to create that kind of interpretation, a person has to begin with the philosophical beliefs of Liberation Theology, then interpret the Bible through that lens. Legitimate interpretation doesn’t begin there. Rather it begins with the teachings of the Bible itself and exegetes the text to discover what it says about the nature of reality. People who use Liberation Theology as their foundation must use proof texts out of context to arrive at their interpretations.
And that is exactly what Warnock does. Rather than using the biblical message that puts a priority on pointing people to a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, his entire goal is to accomplish political ends. Thus, he supports a whole range of liberal political policies. For him, it is all about helping those he considers “oppressed” by overcoming the “oppressors.”
The particular policies he supports include:
- Socialized medicine.
- Voting rights laws that promote judicial control over local election laws, automatic voter registration, same-day online voter registration, and the like.
- Criminal justice reform such as ending mass incarceration, reforming the bail system, eliminating the use of private prisons, and increasing police accountability.
- Economic justice and workers' rights laws that increase the minimum wage, invest in infrastructure projects that create jobs, and expand broadband access.
- Social issues such as abortion rights and gay marriage.
- Environmental policies that address climate change and investment in clean energy infrastructure.
- Stricter gun control laws.
Based on Warnock’s theology, advancing these political policies is the very purpose of the gospel. Thus, he often uses Scripture to challenge his opponents directly by questioning the way they interpret the Bible – sometimes even asking “what Bible folks are reading” when they support budget priorities different from his own. He further labels any policy that restricts healthcare access as “unconscionable” and “un-godly” because they fail to “defend the rights of the poor and the needy.”
Of course, Warnock is not alone in his misuse of the Bible to support liberal political efforts. Virtually every church and denomination based on theological liberalism (Liberation Theology, Postmodern Theology, Progressive Theology, etc.) follows the same pattern – and they are all unbiblical.
Warnock and his ilk should be careful as they throw stones at their political opponents. The fact is, they live in philosophical and theological glass houses, and the stones they throw ultimately end up destroying their own houses. Spiritually, they are completely off base. And the path they are walking leads them, and those they are influencing, away from God.
Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.
You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.
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