I doubt very many of my readers have ever heard of Thabiti Anyabwile. Anyabwile is an evangelical minister who regularly speaks at conferences like Together for the Gospel. He is also an author and his book The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors is one of many books that formed my vision of evangelical theology during my days in Presbyterianism. The Faithful Preacher features the sermons of three African-American ministers from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries: Lemuel Haynes, Daniel Payne, and Francis Grimké.
Recently Anyabwile wrote a piece for The Washington Post wherein he decries the compromises evangelicalism has made with Donald Trump. In context, Anyabwile is writing in light of Justice Kennedy’s resignation, leaving an empty seat on SCOTUS and therefore a win for the Trump administration. Anyabwile writes, “Some Christians appear to have made a Faustian bargain for the mere price of a Supreme Court nominee. The Devil gets the better end of that deal!” Anyabwile is pro-life but he realizes that the abortion issue isn’t the only moral issue facing the United States. He also writes,
The potential nomination of a potential pro-life judge does not, in my opinion, alleviate the concerns I have about the racial injustices this same administration seems to multiply each day. What many evangelicals don’t seem to understand is they’re turning blind eyes to their brethren suffering at the hands of this administration for the long-held hope of overturning Roe. I’m for overturning Roe, but I’m also for protecting black and brown lives from racism and the kind of criminalization that swells our prisons and devastates communities or separates families at the borders.
Whatever else we may think about the abortion issue and evangelicals, Anyabwile seems to be one who understands that there is a lot at stake with SCOTUS and it isn’t just Roe v Wade.
I highly recommend you read the rest of his piece here.
The Amateur Exegete 