DONALD Trump has the backing of God to “take out” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to one of his presidential evangelical advisers.
Dr Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor from Texas, said the US Commander-in-Chief need only look to the New Testament for divine approval to wage nuclear war or order an assassination.
“When it comes to how we should deal with evildoers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil,” Jeffress said.
“In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong-un.”
Jeffress, who preached at Trump’s inauguration, said Romans 13 in particular gives Christian rulers permission to carry out God’s wrath on wrongdoers.
“That gives the government … the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jong-un,” Jeffress explained to the media.
He added that while other Christians may focus on Romans 12, which says, “Do not repay evil for evil,” they were misinterpretating the passage.
“Some Christians, perhaps younger Christians, have to think this through,” Jeffress said. “It’s antithetical to some of the mushy rhetoric you hear from some circles today. Frankly, it’s because they are not well-taught in the scriptures.”
He added: “A Christian writer asked me, ‘Don’t you want the President to embody the Sermon on the Mount?’” , referring to Jesus’ sermon. “I said absolutely not.”
In his sermon on the morning of Trump’s inauguration in January, Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, compared Trump to the story of the biblical leader Nehemiah, who helped rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
Jeffress is no stranger to controversy. He has said in the past that former president Barack Obama paved the way for the Antichrist.
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