Evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem, who withdrew his support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump almost two weeks ago, said it is better to vote for Trump’s policies than those of his contender, Hillary Clinton.
When the Trump tape emerged, the theologian lamented that “there is no morally good candidate” in the November election, and he said he did not know how to vote.
He asked Town Hall to delete an earlier statement expressing his support for Trump and calling him “a morally good choice,” and he urged the candidate to withdraw from the race.
“His conduct was hateful in God’s eyes and I urge him to repent and call out to God for forgiveness, and to seek forgiveness from those he harmed. God intends that men honor and respect women, not abuse them as sexual objects,” he wrote.
However, in a more recent article, Grudem weighed the pros and cons of choosing either Trump or Clinton.
“Voting for Clinton and her ultraliberal policies is not an option for me as an evangelical Christian. Therefore I am left with two options: (1) vote for Trump, or (2) vote for a third-party candidate whose hopes of winning belong to fantasy, not reality,” he wrote.
He added that voting for a third-party candidate would only boost Clinton’s chances of winning.
Essentially, he said the election came down to two choices: “vote for Trump, or help Hillary Clinton get elected.”
The important question voters should be asking, according to Grudem, is this: Whose policies are better? And comparing the two candidates’ stand on various issues, Grudem said his decision became more obvious.
“I overwhelmingly support Trump’s policies and believe that Clinton’s policies will seriously damage the nation, perhaps forever. On the Supreme Court, abortion, religious liberty, sexual orientation regulations, taxes, economic growth, the minimum wage, school choice, Obamacare, protection from terrorists, immigration, the military, energy, and safety in our cities, I think Trump is far better than Clinton,” he wrote. “Again and again, Trump supports the policies I advocated in my 2010 book ‘Politics According to the Bible.’”
He reminded Christians who object to voting for Trump because of objections to their conscience to know the difference between committing sin and voting for someone who has committed sin.
Grudem also refuted the argument that choosing Trump for president will destroy his credibility, particularly when he teaches about the significance of a person’s character.
“On the other hand, if you refuse to vote for Trump, how can you ever have credibility in the future when you say that the policy differences between candidates and between political parties matter?” Grudem said.
He also acknowledged that God uses “human means” to answer believers’ prayers for the nation.
“And I think that the ballot box in this election is still the human means that God has given in answer to our prayers that he would deliver us from the increasing opposition to Christian values brought on by the Democratic Party and the Obama administration,” Grudem said.
