Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Susan Wright on the Right

Home
Politics and Religion
Christian College to Produce Pro-Trump Film, Based on Dubious “Prophecy”

Christian College to Produce Pro-Trump Film, Based on Dubious “Prophecy”

Last updated on: May 27, 2018 at 10:06 am by Susan Wright

Christian College to Produce Pro-Trump Film, Based on Dubious “Prophecy” 2018-05-27T10:06:44-04:00 Susan Wright

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Full disclosure, for some of my new readers: Liberty University is my alma mater (Psychology major).

And you can’t fully grasp how I cringe when I tell people that, these days.

Seriously. I could have attended Gardner-Webb for half the money and none of the embarrassment.

I chose Liberty University because I wanted a “Christian education.” I wanted to be a champion for Christ, as Liberty advertises.

I have nothing but good things to say about the instructors and my classmates from Liberty. They were absolutely awesome. This was all pre-Trump campaign, however. I don’t know how the staff may have been twisted since Jerry Falwell Jr. hopped the Trump Train and even posed with his new master in front of a Playboy Magazine cover in his Trump Tower office.

I also know that during the primary season for the 2016 election, Liberty University students who voted went overwhelmingly for Florida Senator Marco Rubio, so they weren’t really feeling the chancellor’s zeal for the vulgarian reality TV star.

Several student groups have come out against Falwell Jr’s efforts to turn the school into an all-Trump, all the time platform.

Before the election, a group of students joined together to pen a declaration of separation from Falwell’s support of Trump. They didn’t want the school, as a whole, to be linked to a candidate who was caught on audio boasting of his misogyny and abuse of women.

Falwell had that shut down, refusing to allow the letter to run in the school newspaper.

After the election, a group of Liberty graduates decided to send their diplomas back to the school, in a symbolic gesture of rejection of what Falwell is doing to the reputation of the school.

I absolutely sympathize with both of those groups. Falwell is a mercenary and a tedious toady of a man.

He chases power, and is quick to remind people that he’s a lawyer, not a preacher, like his dad, Jerry Falwell, Sr. or his brother, Jonathan Falwell.

And while I still see so much about Liberty that puts it ahead of the curve, in comparison to other schools (that on-campus shooting range is pretty sweet), Falwell’s executive decision to make it the platform for Trump to continue to poison the well of America’s evangelical movement is alarming.

Which brings me to my main topic: Two million dollars invested in a student film to promote Donald Trump as a prophetic new king for the United States.

Pure propaganda.

The Liberty University Cinematic Arts department are producing an 85-minute ode to Trump. What’s more, it will see a release to about 1,000 cinemas, nationwide, in early October.

The movie is called “The Trump Prophecy.” It’s part of the department’s spring semester film project. It is being produced by Rick Eldridge and ReelWorks Studios.

Based on a “prophetic vision” of a retired firefighter by the name of Mark Taylor. Taylor claims that in 2011, while watching Donald Trump on Fox News, he heard the Spirit of God reveal to him that Trump would be president.

Dude… That was probably Steve Doocey.

In 2017, with Trump already in office, Taylor released a book called, The Trump Prophecies: The Astonishing True Story of the Man Who Saw Tomorrow… and What He Says Is Coming Next.

It’s kind of a long title, and a long way of saying Taylor is fully aboard the Trump Train. He’s just the kind of liar ardent voice those promoting Trump as an icon for the new age of evangelical Christianity rush to support.

Is it any wonder this man has been a featured guest on the show of charlatan Jim Bakker?

The movie will promote the idea that a movement of prayer made it possible for Donald Trump to be elected.

And if people were praying for an adulterous scam artist to be president, rather than a trustworthy, proven man (or woman) of character and firm faith, then the American church is truly lost.

“I hope it reflects an understanding that when people come together in prayer, how valuable that is not only for the people that are praying but for what they are praying for,” the film’s director, Stephan Schultze, the executive director of Liberty University Cinematic Arts Department, told The Christian Post on Tuesday.

“They have come together in the recognition that those prayers have value and build community and build a strong bond that allows for a president like Donald Trump to be elected. It created a bond within the Christian community.”

There’s absolutely a bond among those in the “Christian community” who support Trump. Unfortunately, it appears that bond is more in dedication to a fallible, corrupt man, Donald Trump, than any spiritual bond of unity with Christ.

Speaking of bonds…

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” – 2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV

Donald Trump said repeatedly, before these “Christians” put him in office that he had no relationship with God. He said he didn’t need it.

Actual Christians know that any man who says he is without sin is a liar, and no truth is in him. This is per God’s Word, so why yoke themselves to this corrupt, unbelieving man through their vote and fanatical support?

So is the release of the movie a month before midterms done with political intent?

Schultze insists there’s no political motive behind the timing of the release.

The project isn’t going completely unnoticed or without those who object.

Over 1,800 people signed in support of a Change.org petition calling for the university to cancel the project, claiming that it will only hurt the university’s reputation and make it harder for students to find jobs in “more liberal work environments.”

“Mark Taylor claims to have received prophecies directly from God that do not align with the Bible’s message,” the petition reads. “Please support this petition if you think Liberty University should focus on reflecting God’s message rather than Mark Taylor’s message.”

And that’s a really good point.

Do Taylor’s prophecies line up with Scripture?

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world.” – 1 John 4:1 AMP

Christians rushing off after everyone that claims the word, “prophet” is the very reason we have widows being bilked out of their meager savings by cowards promoting End Times survival buckets.

Discernment, people. It’s a thing.

Others have questioned the prophetic claims of Taylor, who said last year that he believes that Trump will release cures for serious diseases like Alzheimer’s in a second term.

I can’t even…

John Fea, a professor of American history at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, who has been critical of prophetic claims pertaining to Trump, told CP that Taylor is just one of several Pentecostal “prophets” who claim to have predicted a Trump presidency.

“These so-called prophets — Mike Bickle, Lance Wallnau, Frank Amedia and the late Kim Clement come to mind — represent an ever-growing wing of American evangelicalism,” Fea wrote in an email. “Journalist Steve Strang has provided an outlet for their prophecies through his popular Christian magazine Charisma.”

Fea claims that the “prophets,” have “built an entire approach to political engagement around their prophecies.”

“Not all evangelicals believe in prophecy, but even if you do believe that God speaks to individual people about politics, it is very dangerous to design public policy and choose political candidates based on such prophecies,” Fea argued. “These so-called prophets have no real religious or spiritual authority beyond themselves and the megachurch empires that they have created and over which they preside.”

“Perhaps tonight I will have a dream or a vision that Donald Trump is really the Antichrist,” Fea continued. “It seems to me that my dream has just as much prophetic validity as fireman Taylor.”

Absolutely, and if it doesn’t happen, you can always cover it up with another “prophecy.”

And let’s get it straight. I’m a Pentecostal Holiness believer. I believe in prophecy. I believe in the power of “praying in tongues” and in the Rapture. I believe in the full manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

I am the very person these “prophets” have in mind as their target audience, yet, I’m not about emotion over a firm, Biblical foundation.

Stay drenched in the Word more than just Sunday morning, and it gets a little easier to tell the difference between when somebody is likely the real deal or just using your professed faith as a way to pad their bank accounts.

Steep yourself in what the Bible says and you won’t likely be stuck comparing Donald Trump to King Cyrus, as a way of deflecting criticism of Trump’s adulteries, abuse, and publicly-confessed rejection of God.

Read more. You’ll see there are other kings to compare Trump to, like Ahab or Nebuchadnezzar.

What if the American church needs to be chastised and shaken out of their sleep?

For far too long, American evangelicals have fought to have their faith pulled down to be made equal to politics, rather than insisting that their politics be elevated to meet their faith.

No, I’m not talking about a theocracy. Those don’t work. Theocracies are trickle down faith, and produce no fruit in a society, only oppression and hard hearts. A society rooted in real faith happens when that faith grows from the ground, up, with families instilling it in their children. Those values are carried into the workplace, into the schools, into the communities, as a whole, and even into the voting booth.

Yes. Vote your principles. If your principles are rooted in a Bible-believing, Christ-centered faith, men like Donald Trump won’t be using the Christian church as a stepping stone to worldly power.

More than that, those who promote these corrupt heresies under the guise of “prophecy” will fail.

Shame on Liberty University.

Previous Post

May 26, 2018

Televangelist Promotes Fearful Future for Trump as a Way to Sell Survival Gear

Next Post

May 27, 2018 FBI to Investigate Houston Abortion Doc Accused of Murdering Newborns

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz