Controversial pastor and Trump-ally Robert Jeffress has clarified widely criticised comments he made about God's support for US military action against North Korea, insisting he wasn't saying 'God ordained President Trump to nuke North Korea.'
Pastor Robert Jeffress of the 12,000 member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas said in an interview with RNS that his critics overreacted when he said last week, after Trump made nuclear-implying threats of 'fire and fury' against North Korea, that 'God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary – including war – to stop evil. God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong-Un.'
Jeffress told RNS on Sunday: 'What I said was that the Bible has given government the authority to use whatever force necessary, including assassination or war, to topple an evil dictator like Kim Jong Un.'
He added: 'That authority comes from Romans 13. Paul said that government has been established by God to be an avenger of those who practice evil.
'I made it very clear that Romans 12 says we are to forgive one another when people offend us — don't repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good.
'But in Romans 13, Paul isn't talking about individual Christians. He's talking about government. Government is an organization God uses to bring vengeance against those who practice evil.'
This, Jeffress said, didn't mean he was saying 'God ordained President Trump to nuke North Korea'. Jeffress' previous comments were widely shared and criticised online. British author JK Rowling quoted his comment saying 'The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose'.
Jeffress said later in the interview that the Bible 'tells us how we are to live in the world...So whether the issue is the use of force and dealing with an evil dictator, or dealing with racism in this country, I think the job of a pastor is to share what God's word says.'
A vocal conservative, Trump-ally and no stranger to controversy, Jeffress was however clear to condemn the white supremacy prevalent in the Charlottesville protests at the weekend.
But Jeffress still isn't shy about his belief in God-ordained violence. 'If you had listened to some of the Christian pacifists we're hearing today in World War II, when Hitler was marching toward world domination, we would all be speaking German and saying "Heil Hitler,"' he said.
'I know President Trump wants a diplomatic solution. But if diplomacy fails, he has the God-given authority to use force to remove an evil dictator.'
