Clashing versions of Christianity on full display as Trump’s second term begins
On one side are claims to divine power; on the other, calls for divine mercy

Two versions of Christianity on display during President Donald Trump’s inauguration activities this week could hardly have been more different.
On one side was the Christianity of U.S. Christian nationalism1, which might be seen as a muscular version of the faith, one which glories in what it sees as a divine mandate to use political power. This version was evident in the remarks and prayers made by Trump himself and several of his invited guests, especially during his inauguration ceremony.
The second could be heard in the prayer and sermon given by the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop who spoke at the Service of Prayer for the Nation at the Washington National Cathedral. This version might be seen as the merciful version of the faith, one which calls not only for love of neighbor but also for love of enemy.
The contrast between the versions is so stark that it’s hard to see how they can even be called branches of the same religion.
And the irony is that while the muscular version of Christianity is the one that claims to have a high view of the Bible, one that sees the Bible as the infallible word of God, it was Budde’s prayer and sermon that drew on some of the most common themes of the Bible.
Budde based her sermon in part on the Sermon on the Mount, the Biblical presentation of some of Jesus’ most radical teachings. If the Sermon on the Mount was anywhere to be heard anywhere else during the inauguration proceedings, it was buried deep in events that did not receive public notice.
So different is Trump’s religion from Budde’s that he called upon her and her church to apologize. (She later refused to do so.)
Speeches and prayers given at inauguration events on Monday made clear that it has become a tenet of U.S. Christian nationalism that it was God who saved Trump from an assassin’s bullet last year so that he could lead the country to greatness. Trump himself suggested as much.
Christian leader Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, came close to saying so directly in his prayer:
Father, when Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life, and raised him up with strength, and power, by your mighty hand.
Graham also compared Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance to the Biblical Moses.
His words weren’t quite as blatant as what has been uttered at numerous Trump rallies, including one this past Sunday where one of the celebrity speakers thanked God for “choosing President Donald Trump as a vessel for your nation” and another inserted Trump’s name into an excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer:
Your kingdom come, Lord. Your will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven. In America, as it is in Heaven. In the life of President Donald Trump, as it is in heaven.
That sentiment of Trump as God’s chosen was evident throughout the ceremonies that Trump or his staff were in charge of. Trump and his supporters see themselves as armed with divine power, and, by God, they’re going to use it to vanquish their enemies and save America.
But Trump wasn’t in charge of the Christian church service at the cathedral; its agenda was set months before the outcome of the election was known.
And it was at that service where the themes of the Bible could be heard.
Budde taught from the Sermon on the Mount:
Jesus of Nazareth exhorts us to love not only our neighbors but to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, to be merciful as our God is merciful, to forgive others as God forgives us.
She expounded inherent human dignity, an idea implied by the Creation account of Genesis 1 as well as the scriptures of other faiths:
The first foundation for unity is honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all the faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of our one God.
And she alluded to the teachings of prophets in the Bible who called on mercy to foreigners (referred to as strangers in older English translations of the Bible):
Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
Budde might have avoided controversy if she had left it at that. But she applied the words of Jesus‘ call for mercy to the modern day. Among her most quoted words came when she addressed Trump directly:
In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared. Now, there are gay, lesbian, and trans children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, vardaras and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
For Budde, the divine gift we must act on is mercy. For the Christians who surround Trump, the divine gift is power — in this case, a type of power that offers little sympathy to the marginalized people that Jesus showed compassion toward.
The contrast is jarring. It’s no wonder that Christians supporting Trump and Christians agreeing with Budde are unable to see the other side as true to the faith.
I am not using the term as pejorative but as a description of a movement that fuses elements of Christianity with nationalism. In the words of the Encyclopedia Britannica: “Advocates of Christian nationalism consider their view of Christianity to be an integral part of their country’s identity and want the government to promote — or even enforce — the religion’s position within it.”