The Speaker and the Bible
The Speaker of the House is a Baptist of the conservative, Southern Baptist variety. In his first interview after being elected Speaker, Representative Mike Johnson told Sean Hannity:
“I am a Bible-believing Christian. Someone asked me today in the media, ‘What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?’ I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it.’ That’s my worldview.”
It reminded me of the guy who was sincerely searching for God’s will. He picked up a bible, closed his eyes, let the Bible fall open, dropped his finger on a verse, and read, “Jael picked up a hammer, and drove the peg through [Sisera’s] skull as he was sound asleep. His brains oozed out on the ground.” (Judges 4:21). Not finding that to be very helpful, he tried again. This time his finger fell on Luke 10:37, “Go and do likewise.” He tried again and read, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (John 13:27)
Simply picking up a Bible doesn’t answer the questions because the Bible is simply not that simple. Our “world-view” depends on which words we read, who said them, where they show up in scripture, and how we interpret them. The Speaker would have been more accurate if, with a touch of biblical humility, he had said, “My world-view is based on my interpretation of the Bible.”
Interpreting Scripture
United Methodists (along with Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, etc.) are “Bible-believing Christians,” too. Our Book of Discipline declares:
“Scripture is the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine … The Bible bears authentic testimony to God’s self-disclosure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as in God’s work of creation, in the pilgrimage of Israel, and in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in human history.”
The Discipline then calls us to interpret scripture through reason, tradition, and experience. To one degree or another, every faithful person uses those tools to interpret scripture, whether they acknowledge them that way or not.
I’m a “Bible-believing Christian” who has spent the past fifty years trying to help other people become “Bible-believing Christians.” But believing in the Bible has led me to different convictions than those held by the Speaker.
The Speaker interprets scripture through his experience as a conservative Southern Baptist. He also interprets scripture through a specific American tradition. Standing outside his office with the American flag and the Louisiana state flag is the “An Appeal to Heaven” flag.
It was originally used as a naval banner in the Revolutionary War. But in recent years has been embraced by movements like the New Apostolic Reformation. Part of the NAR’s world-view is that God intends for Christians to take control of government in order to create a “Christian nation.” That’s what the Puritans tried to do in the 17th Century. It has become popular among Trump supporters and was prominent in the January 6 insurrection.
But that’s not what all Baptists have always believed.
A (Baptist) Thanksgiving Hero
There’s more to Thanksgiving than turkey, football and the Macey’s parade, though I intend to enjoy all of them! It reminds us of the Puritans who were some of the first undocumented immigrants to this land. Thanksgiving weekend would be a great time to read John M. Berry’s powerful book, Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church State, and the Birth of Liberty.
Barry gave me a much deeper appreciation of why the Puritans fled religious persecution in England in hopes of establishing a Christian community that John Winthrop beautifully envisioned as a “city on a hill.” But by attempting to enforce their interpretation of scripture through a merger of church and state, the Puritans fell into the trap of the persecuted becoming the persecutors.
Roger Williams was a “Bible-believing Christian” who arrived a few months after Winthrop in 1630. He was, however, driven out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony at risk of his life because, in the words of Governor Winthrop, he “broached & divulged diverse new and dangerous opinions.” Williams preached what he called “soul liberty.” It meant a person’s religious views could not be coerced by the government which was established by the people’s action and not by divine authority. Ann Hutchinson suffered the same fate for “holding and teaching unorthodox religious views.” Williams helped found the first Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1638.
Williams died in 1683, but his convictions found their way into the Constitution. Barry concludes:
It is no myth that the Puritans who founded Massachusetts came to build a Christian country … That belief is not myth but reality…
It is also not myth but reality that another informing principle runs like a great river through American history …first articulated when Roger Williams separated himself from the dominant view of the day and declared a citizenry “distinct from the government.”
And is it is no myth but reality that the U.S. Constitution is an entirely secular document, with no reference to any entity that can be considered divine … It prohibits a religious test for office and establishes absolute religious freedom. (p. 194-195)
So, this Thanksgiving I give thanks for Roger Williams. If I were not a Methodist, I’d be his kind of Baptist!
Thanks be to God!
Jim
Jim Harnish 
Thank you for this insightful, truth written , historically correct article.
I thought you were sick?
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Jim Thanks for this reminder. I hope you, Martha, and your family have a great Thanksgiving Holiday. WE will . Blessings and SHALOM, Tom Mc
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Puritans were not some of the first undocumented immigrants. They merely moved from one part of the British Empire to another. It would be the same thing if you moved from Florida to Texas. No one would call you an undocumented immigrant.
Great point, Paul. Not to mention, that you could only be “undocumented” if there was a legal process for immigration that included or required documentation. Which there was not at that time… But there is now in the United States, and our government is purposely ignoring it.
Dear Jim,
One of your best. If only the truth of this could somehow prevail. I am surrounded by family, friends, and neighbors whose world view has been shaped by Fox News and Trump. God help us!
Always thankful for my dear friends, Jim and Martha.
Love,
Jeannine
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Good article
Gary
Wise and thoughtful words, Jim! Sure miss your preaching!
Sent from my iPad
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My wife’s ancestors arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, also in 1630, from England seeking religious liberty. But because they were Quakers (“Society of Friends”), like Roger Williams were forcibly expelled. In their case, they moved south to found Sandwich, Massachusetts. We visited their settlement a few years ago, still preserved by their descendants. Ironic … and a lesson… how the persecuted can become the persecutors….
Ed: What a beautiful connection! As much as I loved Church History is Ken Kinghorn, I continue to discover things we skipped over or never got around to discussing, including folks like Roger Williams. Thanks for your witness.
Thank you, Jim. As a former Baptist turned Methodist, I left when the more extreme (and reformed) Baptists took over the denomination. I consider myself a Roger Williams/John Wesley Methodist. Great article!
Jim, there is no surprise that the UMC is splitting apart at the seams, when a lifelong UMC pastor believes and writes the words that you have in this blog. Nor is it surprising that the there is such a divide between conservative and liberal Christians, when there is so much finger-pointing and even mocking. Frankly, I found your words to be divisive, inaccurate, and inflammatory. Tough words from me, I know. But, yours cross some lines that just shouldn’t be stepped over. There is so much here that cries out for a response, but I will just focus on some highlights (or lowlights).
The faithful folks that have disaffiliated from the UMC often say that “We aren’t leaving the UMC, they left us.” It is absolutely true, and so very sad. As I sat in Bible 2020 during Covid, I repeatedly heard comparisons of the Bible to Aesop’s Fables and the like. The most common refrain from the facilitator was “Does it matter????” Does it matter if Daniel was a real person, or was saved from the lion’s den? Does it matter if Jonah really was swallowed by a whale or large fish? Does it matter, does it matter, does it matter… The UMC Book of Discipline is very clear on issues of gay clergy and same-sex marriage, and those are the primary issues at the heart of the split. But the “does it matters” have become so frequent and numerous that it is difficult to know what the UMC, and progressive Christians actually do believe. Your interpretation of scripture through reason, tradition, and experience is undoubtedly very different than Mike Johnson’s, or mine for that matter. Just remember, that doesn’t mean you’re “right” and we are “wrong”. It doesn’t mean that other Baptist traditions are more accurate than those if the Southern Baptists. Or conservative Christians, in general.
You have the right to disagree with Mike Johnson, and share your thoughts. But, I encourage you not to be divisive. Over the years, you have dismissed all sorts of conservative and evangelical Christians, along with their deeply-held beliefs. Now, it is the Southern Baptist tradition. I just don’t understand how you can do that, or why you are so passionate about doing so.
Further, you do not know Mike Johnson, his heart, or his worldview. But, you speak like you do. You liken him to someone who opens their Bible and randomly puts their finger on a verse. That is insulting to a good man. Instead, you should be thrilled that the House Speaker is unashamed to lead with his faith. To know that he first turns to scripture and his relationship with God, when the hard decisions need to be made. Instead, you attack him, and his faith, based primarily on the fact that he is a Southern Baptist, instead of an anointed, liberal United Methodist that believes the real truth has been revealed only to “progressive Christians”.
Further, you brought up the “Appeal to Heaven” flag outside his office, then attempted to link it to the NAR, and in turn, Mike Johnson. Guilty by association? Again, you don’t know Mike Johnson, or why he has the flag outside his office, so you assume the worst.
You stated that the constitution is a secular document. But, what about the men who composed and signed it? Were they non-believers? As you well know, they were believers. Largely, they were men of faith, who also turned to God and scripture in the good times and the bad. Or, do you also believe that they, like Mike Johnson, just let their Bible fall open to some random passage?
You go on to state that the Puritans came here to build a Christian country. But, they didn’t, did they? Instead, another group of faithful men wrote a constitution and built a country that is the greatest country in the history of the world. And, amazingly, they had a Christian worldview, and most were Protestants. It was their worldview and faithfulness to God’s direction that made America great.
If you and other progressive Christians didn’t judge Mike Johnson, and instead supported him, celebrated him, and prayed for him, you might just be amazed at what he is able to do. So, this Thanksgiving, I give thanks for Mike Johnson. He is my kind of Christian leader!
Thanks be to God!
Most of my life, I was a member of an American Baptist Church. Roger Williams’ influence was part of my heritage which I embrace today. Historically, the American Baptist followers separated from the Southern Baptist over the issue of slavery. Creating government structures that restrict people’s choices is coercion; how much better to “win” by living as a witness of loving my neighbor as myself (respectfully) and bring the other to a point of view because their heart was changed–not forced into compliance because of the powerful. And, sometimes, it is me that has a change of heart because of the person who loved me as him/her/them self! That is my kind of Baptist!
In order to govern a society, governments naturally “restrict people’s choices”. There is no way around that. It is NOT coercion. It is governance. Our choices to not pay taxes, drive without a license, board a plane without ID, buy alcohol as a minor, shoot anyone we don’t like, have sex with minors, have multiple wives, etc. are all restricted by our governments. Would you prefer that it not be that way?
Loving our neighbors is the rallying cry of progressives. We must not love our LBGTQI+ neighbors if we restrict their ability to be ordained clergy or be married in the church, right? We must not love our immigrant neighbors if we dare require that they enter our country legally, despite the associated horrors of sex and fentanyl trafficking, terrorist threats, and overwhelming our cities, right? We must not love our female neighbors if we encourage them to not use abortion as a method of birth control, right? We must not love our transgender friends if we tell them they cannot compete in women’s sports, right? We must not love our criminal neighbors if we eliminate cash bail and/or do not prosecute them, right?
It certainly sounds compassionate and Biblical to wave the “We love everyone as our neighbor!” But the reality is much different if we get into those pesky details.
And, by the way, why is it that progressive Christians, including you, Ed, and Jim seem not to love your conservative and evangelical neighbors???? Or Southern Baptists? Or Mike Johnson, even?
Jim, Ed, feel free to answer that last question.