Wayne Grudem is a prominent and influential evangelical theologian. As we blogged about, he surprised quite a few people when he endorsed Donald Trump. But now, in light of that tape of Trump’s sex talk and of the things he said as a regular guest on the Howard Stern show (including sexual talk about his own daughter), Grudem has taken back his endorsement.
But read Grudem’s entire statement after the jump. He said that Hillary Clinton is “no better” and says that he will definitely not vote for her. He argues that Christians should not simply refuse to vote. He says that he does not know what he will do come election day.
One issue he raises is the “witness” of Christians, if they support someone so blatantly lecherous. That makes it look as if Christians care only for power. He fears that Christians won’t be taken seriously if they gloss over gross moral failings in the candidates they support.
What do you think of what he says?
From Wayne Grudem, Trump’s Moral Character and the Election – Townhall:
There is no morally good presidential candidate in this election. I previously called Donald Trump a “good candidate with flaws” and a “flawed candidate” but I now regret that I did not more strongly condemn his moral character. I cannot commend Trump’s moral character, and I strongly urge him to withdraw from the election.
His vulgar comments in 2005 about his sexual aggression and assaults against women were morally evil and revealed pride in conduct that violates God’s command, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). I have now read transcripts of some of his obscene interviews with Howard Stern, and they turned my stomach. 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.
Some may criticize me for not discovering this material earlier, and I think they are right. I did not take the time to investigate earlier allegations in detail, and I now wish I had done so. If I had read or heard some of these materials earlier, I would not have written as positively as I did about Donald Trump. I am grateful that Townhall.com has agreed to remove my earlier statement.
But if Trump refuses to withdraw, where does that leave us? Hillary Clinton is no better. She vilified the victims of Bill Clinton’s sexual advances; she abandoned our diplomats to be killed by terrorists in Benghazi and then lied about it; she illegally handled classified emails on her private server and put national security at risk; she left much of the world in chaos after four years as Secretary of State; and she has a lifelong pattern of acting as if she is above the law, protected by the Obama administration’s Justice Department, the FBI, and the mainstream media.
Should we not vote for either candidate?Some Christian friends tell me they can’t vote for either candidate, because they think that voting for either one is compromising with evil. They say that we must absolutely repudiate Donald Trump in order to demonstrate to every Republican voter in the nation that evangelicals will never support a blatantly immoral candidate, and if one is ever nominated in the future he will lose the evangelical vote and lose the election. I respect that argument, and because of it I am not now sure who I am going to vote for. I absolutely will not vote for Clinton. I’m hoping that Trump will withdraw.
