Today, after some introductory remarks, Ken shares his most recent Substack post. It's time to sound the alarm.
Here's the post in its entirety - you may read along. (Ken's Substack Page)
Biblical Authority Part III
The Plan to Institute a “Biblical America” - Project 2025
If you’ve been following this series, you know that I have come to question the ubiquitous and dubious claim to “biblical authority.” From the earliest days of my connection with the evangelical church - as a student, a board member, an elder, a pastor, and as an observer - the Bible has been foundational first and foremost for just about everything else. From governance, to doctrine, to morality, to ethics, to community, to education, to business, to private life, to public life - if it’s not “biblical,” then it’s out of bounds.
It’s time to call the question.
If you haven’t identified as this brand of Christian, or if your tradition is some other strand of Christianity, or if you grew up in another religious tradition or no religion at all, then the whole notion of “biblical authority” will sound odd.
Because frankly, it is.
Most all religions will lay claim to a collection of sacred writings: a book or books that are set apart and give definition to beliefs or affirm faith. Christianity is no different. It’s The Bible. But these MAGA evangelicals, as we’ve come to know them, take it to another level.
Just this week, historian and author Kristin Kobes du Mez wrote a lengthy Substack essay on Project 2025. We’ve been hearing about Trump’s MAGA following and their plans for his first few months in office should he (God forbid) win back the White House. If you don’t know the name Stephen Miller, I suggest you do some homework - just Google him. He’s been Trump’s go-to speech writer and confidant from the beginning of his first term. Miller gave us the ghastly Trumpian theme: “American Carnage.” Throughout, he has been a primary architect in this very public blueprint to remake our country in line with MAGA worldview.
Kristin quotes PBS Newshour: “With a nearly 1,000-page ‘Project 2025’ handbook and an ‘army’ of Americans, the idea is to have the civic infrastructure in place on Day One to commandeer, reshape and do away with what Republicans deride as the ‘deep state’ bureaucracy, in part by firing as many as 50,000 federal workers.” And that’s not all: there will be mass deportations, invoking the “Insurrection Act,” and a whole host of draconian laws. Project 2025 has a web site tauting these plans. There are 100 right-wing organizations supporting this effort. A casual review of the endorsers will show you just how pervasive it is.
These same people have issued a “Statement on Christian Nationalism and the Gospel.” They are currently soliciting signatures. There are twenty articles outlining their conviction that Christians must take dominion over the government and all aspects of American life. The first Article lays the foundation: Article I: The Source of Truth - “WE AFFIRM that the Bible is God’s Word, breathed out by Him as the only sufficient, certain, inerrant, infallible, necessary, and final authority for all saving knowledge, faith (what we must believe), and obedience (how we must live).”
They go on: “WE DENY that true bel