Mark Driscoll on Inauguration Day: Obama Likely Knows Neither God nor Bible
As Americans tuned in to watch President Barack Obama be sworn into office for his second term on Jan. 21, a number of Christian leaders took to their Twitter accounts to offer reaction.
Arguably the most impassioned remark came from Pastor Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wash., who wrote that Obama knows neither God or the Bible. "Praying for our president, who today will place his hands on a Bible he does not believe to take an oath to a God he likely does not know," Driscoll tweeted. The Mars Hill Church pastor's tweet was retweeted by more than 2,100 people.
The president has publicly professed his faith in God many times, but also has been accused by conservatives of attacking religious freedom, most notably with the Affordable Care Act that mandates religious employers to offer insurance that covers birth control, including abortifacient, to their employees.
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In his tweet shared Sunday, Christian minister John Piper argued that Obama's support of abortion stands against the ideals that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, whose day of remembrance falls on inauguration day this year.
"President Obama 'spiritually blind' or 'evil hypocrite' in claiming MLK and disregarding the weakest," Piper tweeted, who is former senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn.
Russell Moore, Dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, shared that he would be praying for President Obama.
"Congratulations President @BarackObama. Prayers for blessing, wisdom, direction, & health," Moore tweeted.
Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Ga., who found himself at the center of a controversy surrounding the inauguration after he resigned from delivering the official benediction because he did not wish to be part of the gay debate, also shared a thought with his Twitter followers.
"The word benediction literally means 'good + to speak.' Seeking to do this today," Giglio tweeted.
In his inaugural address, President Obama mentioned the gay rights riots at Stonewall, a symbol of the LGBT movement – which could have potentially caused more controversy if Giglio had remained in charge of the benediction. Several liberal websites have called the evangelical Christian minister "anti-gay" due to a 1990s sermon in which he preaches what the Bible says about homosexuality.
