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So, at Long Last, What Is Barack Obama’s Religion?
President Barack Obama has said that he is “Christian.” But isn’t that a bunch of religions? Which is his? It’s actually complicated as to whether “Christian” is several different religions or “one true catholic and apostolic church,” as many claim. More on that in a moment.
For some reason, the President’s religion keeps popping up. Candidates are asked if Barack Obama is a Christian. Candidates are told by questioners that Barack Obama is Muslim. A recent poll shows one percent of Americans think he’s a Jew. This persists despite the President’s own testimony of being Christian.
If we are going to talk about the President not being a Muslim (after seven years you’d think the media would stop), can we in the same conversation reveal to which religion he actually belongs? Wouldn’t that help rid us of the problem of people claiming he is Muslim?
I’ve followed the President pretty closely and can’t find any time he has said to which of the Christian religions he belongs. I’m reminded of the row over his birth certificate, which subsided greatly once he released it. Why not give some detail about his religion to close out this debate?
So let’s take a closer look, but first let’s visit this issue concerning the difference between a religion and a church (and just to be more confusing, many use the two words interchangeably). The definition of religion, although containing variables by source, in its simplest form, is in two parts:
1. a set of beliefs and practices 2. followed by those committed to the service and worship of God.
The Roman Catholics (themselves suffering an east/west schism) see one church, and while they see Protestants in certain communion with them, it is an imperfect communion. That sounds like one religion with those protesting folks simply doing it wrong. The many Protestant churches (religions?) also see one church – a church they improved magisterially with their reformation in the 1500s. That sounds like one religion, with those Roman folks simply doing it wrong.
However, note that culturally and colloquially, many people see the various Protestant denominations not as separate churches in one religion, but separate religions. Ask a Roman Catholic his religion and he will say “Catholic.” Ask a Lutheran his religion and he will say Lutheran. The same goes for Methodists, Baptists, et al.
In making this determination of what is or is not a separate religion, we might look to what “confession of faith” and what “catechism” a church adheres to. Note that there is among the Protestants the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles, the Lutheran Augsburg Confession and the Reformed Churches Heidelberg Catechism. While the various Protestant confessions and catechisms (Roman Catholics have their own) started with Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin, they were revised many times over the years in many directions.
There are many differences between the Roman Catholic and the various Protestant views of religion. The authority of the Pope is obviously disputed by Protestants. Catholics have saints and venerate Mary, while Protestants don’t. Lutheran and Reformed churches apply the doctrine of sola scriptura, where the Bible is both the highest authority and all one ever needs, while Roman Catholics add tradition as equally important. The Methodists and Anglicans ascribe to prima scriptura, wherein scripture is primary, but inspiration can come from other sources too. There are many more important differences, including those involving the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the forgiveness of sin.
Considering the differences, it’s clear why so many treatments refer to Catholicism and the various forms of Protestantism as separate religions, not separate churches in a religion.
Those who claim there is one Christian religion now should note well there are even efforts to consolidate the Roman Catholics and Protestants into one (thus contrary to the point that it is one religion now). There is a Pontifical Council on Christian Unity. Read this 2013 agreement on baptisms. Or the Evangelicals and Catholics Together Agreement. Or this 1999 joint declaration on justification between Catholics and Lutherans that concerned a central point of disagreement leading to the reformation. In fact, on the 500th anniversary of the reformation in 2017, Pope Francis may sign a document that some believe will finally end the split (you’d think that would be getting more press).
So, at long last, what is Barack Obama’s religion?
I’m going to avoid the claim that holds, “A Muslim is born a Muslim if his father is one.” I’m also avoiding the conversation that says because the penalty for Muslim apostasy is death, he is hiding his childhood Muslim faith to avoid being killed. I’m also skipping the concept of taqyyia, which holds a Muslim is allowed to lie about his beliefs to avoid persecution (if any of you are interested in these things, write your own column – this one presupposes the President’s Christianity).
Let’s start with what we know. As an adult Barack Obama became a congregant of Trinity church in Chicago. That doesn’t tell us enough. Trinity is a local church of the larger religion into which one gets baptized — the United Church of Christ (UCC).
One could probably say that the President’s religion is the United Church of Christ and be technically correct. However, you’d be missing an important detail about his religion if you left it at just that. It would be like trying to predict what state a person is from if they told you nothing more than they were Midwestern.
The UCC was formed in 1957. It was the coming together of two churches: Congregational Christian and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the latter being a prior merger of Reformed and Evangelical synods. The Evangelical and Reformed church used the Heidelberg and Lutheran catechisms and the Lutheran Augsburg confession. That made their protestant linage both Reformed and Lutheran.
The Congregational Christian Church, although started in 1931, obviously from its name had a history with congregationalism, and was Reformist. It also used the Heidelberg Catechism. There are differences in the Reformed and Lutheran beliefs, and there is a good detail of those difference offered here, as well as many other treatments you can find on the web.
Now here is a twist: According to the UCC Constitution, the local churches (like Trinity) remain completely autonomous (a nod to the Congregationalists) and are free to follow the confession and catechesis of their prior lineages, either Reformed or Lutheran.
This is where it gets a little tricky. Trinity UCC in Chicago, where the President is a congregant, doesn’t give any indication (at least not on its website, nor anywhere my Google kung fu can reveal) if it has adopted a confessional or catechism from any particular prior lineage, be it Reformed, Lutheran or otherwise.
And this is where it gets interesting: Trinity Church, being its own highest authority under the UCC constitution, has adopted its own creed (neither Nicene nor Apostles’ creed), written by its pastor found here.
But it doesn’t end there. Trinity, being a proclaimed Black church, has also adopted something called the “Black Value System,” inspired by a man named Manford Byrd and is found here. While I dig the emphasis on Black families, that part about “middleclassness” is shocking.
So what are we left with? What, at long last, is Barack Obama’s religion?
I still don’t know. While Trinity is technically part of the UCC, it appears to be neither Reformist nor Lutheran. Did Trinity start its own religion? The affiliation with the UCC suggests no, but Trinity doesn’t seem to have anything in common as a matter of doctrine with the UCC or any other church or religion. It may be its own religion, dedicated to Black Liberation Theology, which arguable excludes me.
Now it was the tone of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s Black Liberation Theology that led the President to distance himself from Trinity Church. That opens up the questions, did he ever return? Is he somewhere else now?
So I don’t know to which religion, or even a church within a religion, that Barack Obama belongs. I’d say none of us really do. I bet if you asked him about confessionals and catechesis, he wouldn’t know himself. The next time Jimmy Kimmel sticks a microphone in your face and asks you if you know the President’s religion, bet him $1,000 he doesn’t know either.
If Republican candidates are going to be asked to what religion the President belongs, in fairness he should clarify the answer.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
I don’t know what his religion is, but when he espouses beliefs that are in direct contradiction of the tenets of Christianity, he is not practicing Christianity.
You have no idea how hilarious this formulation is to us atheists.
Ok, I’ll bite. Where is the humor?
Obama discovered his Christianity about the same time he discovered that you don’t get elected to squat in Chicago without being a member of a black church.
His real religion? Obama goes to church every time he walks past a mirror.
Because it would be hard for an atheist to state our position much more succinctly.
Possibly not. W basically stopped attending church during his presidency, which was probably a very thoughtful thing to do. The one time as of 2010 that Obama attended church, it was an Episcopal one in the neighborhood, and I wouldn’t read too much into that.
My assumption has always been that the president is a nominal Christian and a functional None. I confess I don’t find the topic terribly interesting or enlightening, but perhaps I’m missing something.
And the answer of course is here: Obama is very much a Cultural Marxist.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call that a religion, but it does have theological-seeming tenets that its adherents believe in.
You missed the Republican Debate on Fox, I’m guessing. Particularly when Megyn Kelly asked the candidates if they received any word from God.
Religiosity is one of the categories which human beings shortcut other people into. Therefore, when a major public figure is difficult to categorize, it becomes a topic of conversation.
I don’t think there’s any mystery to Obama, but watching the reaction to the mystery is of interest.
Is there a belief other than the divinity of Jesus, that is necessary for people to have in order to practice Christianity?
It informs that we accept Christ as our savior, that He died on the cross for our sins, and rose three days later.
If it isn’t in the Bible I am not sure we need to be worried about it. Breaking people down into denominations, sects, etc. is man made religion.
On the long list of things I don’t care about is Obama’s birth certificate and his religion.
I know that I have a list of issues as wide, long, and deep as the aircraft carrier in Tom’s post this morning, but one thing I am confident I will not have to atone for is how I was President of the United States and chose to use that office to the keynote speaker at planned parenthood.
Unfortunately we are going to have to share our savior with Saints and sinners alike.
There was one stained-glass window devoted to Martin Luther, and some others devoted to Reformed theologians. But the answer is that catechesis was vague enough that you really couldn’t tell what the intellectual heritage was.
“Be nice”, “Jesus is nice”, and “God is nice” was all you really needed to believe to be an active member of the church, and what, exactly you mean by those things is fairly open to interpretation. Doubtless, many congregants have more specific – or even orthodox – views than that, but it would be totally understandable to me if someone who went to a UCC church would count himself as a good Christian on the strength of those three vague beliefs alone.
I suppose.
That’s certainly the Lutheran and Reformed view of things in sola scriptura, but the Catholics and Anglicans disagree with you.
That’s why I consider them very different religions, and why finding Obama’s view of things interests me (despite Tom Meyer’s disinterest).
I hope the OP is clear that Christianity is conceded here. I think it explicitly says so. There are many who hold the premise Catholics and Protestants, who share some basic theology, are entirely different religions.
I’d like to know more about the President’s religion, not only for posterity, but because Republicans will continue to be asked and be ridiculed not matter what the answer.
Here’s how I see it. Theologically, Obama is either atheist or agnostic. But he spent formative childhood years in a Muslim society. He did not spend his youth doing Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, or going to fireworks on the Fourth of July, or over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. These are quintessential American experiences, which bind us (or have in the past) as a country, whether or not you believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection of Christ. We have always been culturally a Christian nation. I’m agnostic, but I’m culturally Christian. This is how I see Obama. He is nominally Christian, because he had to be for political reasons, but culturally, in his heart, he’s Muslim. When I say he’s not an American, this is what I mean, not that he wasn’t born here. Americana wasn’t built into his heart at an early age.
Considering a number of heresies throughout history have claimed to believe in the divinity of Christ while denying things like He actually existed as a human in the flesh, died for the sins of humanity, and was resurrected, yes, there is more than simply believing Christ was divine.
If someone were to declare they were a Christian then walk outside and begin murdering their neighbors, would we then assume murder is part of the Christian faith? Of course not. Why not? Because we know Christianity teaches murder is wrong.
It is naive to simply take someone at their word when their actions contradict what they have said. I don’t know what Obama believes. He may sincerely believe his Christian duty is to have the state take care of everyone because he has the power to alleviate their suffering in some form as President. He may not believe in Christianity at all and may only be using religious language as an effective way of gaining support or silencing his critics. I don’t know what’s in his heart, but I can say whether what he says and does is in alignment with what Jesus said and what the Bible records regarding what does and doesn’t conform to God’s teaching.
Understood.
Certainly, if I had the understanding of Christianity outlined above (“Be nice”, “Jesus is nice”, and “God is nice”), I would naturally feel entitled to call myself Christian while holding only those beliefs, and might be rather mystified and insulted by those who insisted I couldn’t be what I said I was.
(Of course coherent theological arguments can be made that Christianity should mean more than this. But plenty of people out there aren’t really interested in theological argument, and probably wouldn’t listen.)
I always figured that his religion was Obama-ism. God, messiah and holy spirit all rolled into one dude. He decides and proclaims the Law. His thoughts are pure. Any opposing thoughts are the result of the Devil’s influence (or the donors) and therefore, a sin. Salvation comes through believing in Him alone. All other are condemned as Evil/Racist.
Not all colonial or early-American Christians celebrated Christmas, nor do some current American Christian (though non-mainstream) denominations. Nor would even mainstream American Christians be faulted for celebrating the risen Christ, and not the Easter Bunny, on Easter.
Of course, the things you mention are all part of our cultural vocabulary – even Jewish kids in America know about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Yet to not celebrate Christian holidays (even secularly), or to celebrate them without the secular American trappings, doesn’t strike me as particularly un-American. Thanksgiving and July 4th, by contrast, are truly American holidays.
How much Americana is necessary?
(For example, would celebrating with your wife and kids once you’re married suffice?)
I always cringe when I see Catholics referred to that way – it causes so much confusion.
The Church recognizes three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (CCC 839-841) and other non-Christian religions (CCC 842-844).
As for Christianity, the sole Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church (LG 8). Yes, the Orthodox split from Catholicism, but the Catholic Church still recognizes the Orthodox churches to have apostolic succession and valid and licit sacraments. There is no schism within the Catholic Church unless you foresee an outcome of the ongoing Synod that may effect this.
As for the Catholic Church, there are eastern and western rites. The Roman/Latin rite of the Church (your Roman Catholic reference) is in communion with the eastern rites: Antiochian, Alexandrian, and Byzantine.
As for the Protestant Revolution and the numerous denominations that flowed from this, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI refers to these as ecclesial communities, as they do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church.
As for Obama, I’ll answer as I have before. Daniel Pipes, in a podcast interview with Milt Rosenberg, said Obama was Muslim because he was born to a Muslim Kenyan father and also had a Muslim Indonesian father. If he is now a Christian, he is an apostate, which is not looked upon kindly by Muslims – in fact in many places it carries a penalty of death.
Why didn’t you ask me?
I’m not sure what Christ has to say about that. Vine, branches, and what not. But I don’t think we are here to re-debate the entire reformation…
I should have added that these ecclesial communities are still viewed as part of the Body of Christ, only in imperfect communion. Christ had a lot to say about this in his high priestly prayer in John 17 – he wanted us all to be one.
All caveats about my being unable to read Obama’s mind are in affect.
My opinion is that Obama doesn’t have a religious bone in his body. I think he–similarly to many other secular elites who aspire to elected office–simply pretends to have a faith in something so as to attract wider support than they would obtain otherwise. Which commits them to being seen in some church on a regular basis, publicly reciting pious platitudes when it is appropriate, and so on.
You told me to go poking about until I figured it out for myself.
The proper response when asked what Obama’s religion is to say,
“I don’t know what’s in the President’s heart. I can only speak to his actions.”
And then speak at length about all the times he’s gone out of his way to antagonize Christians.
There’s also a requirement to take what his instructions seriously as the guide for how to live your life in accordance with God’s will.
After all, Lucifer believes in the divinity of Jesus too.