President Donald Trump's evangelical adviser is standing behind his claims that God has given the nation's leader the authority to take out North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, saying he believes the Bible is clear about using force to stop evil, but a Catholic priest Thursday argued the minister is misinterpreting scripture.
"There is a great deal of confusion among Christians when it comes to this idea of using force to topple evil," Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program. "I wanted clarify that I believe the Bible, especially Romans 13, does give President Trump moral authority to use whatever force necessary, including assassination or even war, to topple an evil dictator like Kim Jong Un."
Trump prefers a diplomatic solution, continued Jeffress, noting that the president has been talking for the past 19 years about diplomacy with North Korea, but he also is committed to doing what it takes to keep the United States safe.
"One thing I know about President Trump, after being around him for the last two years is this: Unlike his predecessor, when President Donald Trump draws a red line, he is not going to erase it, move away from it, or back down from it," the evangelist said, "and we ought to thank God every day we have a courageous leader like President Trump in the White House.
Jeffress noted that Romans 13 deals with government leaders, "and the Bible never commands government to turn the other cheek or to forgive."
Father Jonathan Morris, who like Jeffress is a Fox News religion contributor, argued that while he agrees with Jeffress on many things, he does not believe a single biblical passage should be used as justification "for a very particular and complex political policy and especially a military policy."
War, he continued, is "always a total failure of the human family," but he did concede that it "doesn't mean that sometimes violence is not necessary to stop evil. As soon as you are say you are justified in doing whatever you want, I think we have made a big mistake."
Jeffress said he does believe Trump is seeking God's wisdom, but at the same time, "I'm glad that Americans did not listen to Christian pacifists during the Second World War, when Adolf Hitler was marching toward world domination, or they would all be speaking German and saying 'heil Hitler.'"
But he did agree that war is "never preferable," but "sometimes you have to stand up and confront evil to defeat evil."
Morris, though, said that he does not agree that Trump is justified in taking out Kim, just because he has the moral authority to make political decisions.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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