Ralph Drollinger is probably the tallest Bible study teacher you never
heard of, at least until recently—and he may be one of the most detrimental to
the health of the nation. In the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:15 ends with the words “rightly explaining the word of truth.” It is highly questionable, however,
whether Drollinger rightly explains the Bible.
 |
| (From a 4/10/18 online article by Andrew Seidel) |
Drollinger’s Capitol Ministries
In 1996, Ralph Drollinger (b. 1954), who is 7’2” tall and a former NBA
player, started a new organization in his home state of California. Its goal
was “to create disciples of Jesus Christ in the political arena throughout the
world.”
As a Christian, I certainly can’t fault that goal. But it is important
to understand the kind of disciples he and his organization were/are trying to
create.
Ten years ago, in 2010, Drollinger established his first national
ministry in Washington, D.C., where he began a weekly Bible study for U.S.
Representatives. Five years later he began a separate ministry to U.S.
Senators. Then in 2017 he created a ministry to members of the White House
Cabinet.
In addition, according to the Capitol Ministries website, they have “also created discipleship Bible studies to the political
leaders of 24 nations on four continents.”
In their “comprehensive doctrinal statement,”
Capitol Ministries declares,
We teach that the Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1 Cor. 2:13; 1 Thess. 2:13), verbally inspired in every word (2 Tim. 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed. We teach the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture, which affirms the belief that the opening chapters of Genesis present creation in six literal days (Gen. 1:31; Ex. 31:17).
But, does the world really need more “disciples” who adhere to biblical
inerrancy, including belief in a literal six-day creation?
Drollinger’s Bible Studies
Drollinger’s Bible studies on Capitol Hill has an impressive list of “sponsors.”
The Cabinet members who are sponsors include Vice President Pence, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo, as well as Ben Carson and Betsy DeVos. Former Cabinet
member sponsors include Rick Perry and Jeff Sessions.
Eleven Republican Senators are listed as Bible study sponsors,
including Joni Ernst from Iowa, Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi, James
Lankford from Oklahoma, and David Perdue from Georgia.
Then there are 41 Representatives who are sponsors. The two most widely
known are Kevin McCarthy, currently the House Minority Leader, and Louie
Gohmert, the outspoken Congressman from Texas.
Although who actually attends each Bible study is not made known, the
weekly schedule is 7 a.m. Wednesdays for the Cabinet, 8:00 a.m. Tuesdays for
the Senate, and 7:45 a.m. Thursdays for the House.
There is no indication that DJT has attended any of the Bible studies,
but Drollinger sends a copy of his printed studies to him and reportedly sometimes
receives back comments written in his felt tip marker pen.
On March 23, Drollinger’s Bible study was titled, “Is God Judging America
Today?” An online article the next day (see
here) was very critical of what Drollinger said in that study—and on March
27 Drollinger issued a questionable rebuttal titled “Lies,
Distortions and Inaccuracies.”
Drollinger’s Detrimental Influence
Questions about
Drollinger’s Bible studies are not just recent. A 10/05/17
article in Newsweek magazine refers to Drollinger as the “next most
prominent godly voice in Trump’s White House” after Paula White.
That article points
out that in “Entitlement
Programs Viewed Through the Lens of Scripture,” an August 2016 Bible study,
Drollinger asserted that the Bible “is clear” that caring for the poor is the
responsibility of the family and the church, not the government.”
Newsweek also
published “White House Bible Study Led By Pastor Who
Is Anti-Gay, Anti-Women and Anti-Catholic,” a 4/11/18
article even more critical of Drollinger. That headline
doesn’t seem to be inaccurate—and it could have included anti-environment as
well.
All of
Drollinger’s Bible teaching is, no doubt, based on “the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture.” But
that is the problem—and I address that issue in “Fed Up with Fundamentalism’s
View of the Bible,” the fifth chapter of my book Fed Up with Fundamentalism
(2007, 2020).
To a large extent, sadly, Drollinger seems to be wrongly “explaining
the word of truth.”
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Spot on. Drollinger, from his relatively unknown seat as Trump's right-hand man, is working hard to move America away from democracy and toward theocracy. Thank you for highlighting his role with the current administration.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bruce, for your comments. It was good to hear from you again.
DeleteDrollinger has argued that he is not working for a theocracy, but his argument in that regard seems unconvincing to me. I referred in the article to his "questionable rebuttal" of the articles criticizing his ideas. What he wrote in his defense is questionable to me because it seems that his main response is No, that is not what I meant/said. But if he didn't say/mean what he is criticized for, why didn't he make that clearer in the original document(s)?
Shortly after 7:00 this morning, Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago sent these comments by email:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, as always for your observations.
"Mr. Dollinger's Bible study is certainly scary and unfortunate, but it is also evidence of the failure of the Church to adequately educate its members. Judy and I once attended a Bible study at a synagogue with our Jewish friends. The synagogue does a far better job of educating its members in the rudiments of Jewish faith and traditions as well as the basics of the Bible. Most, if not all, of the laity in attendance know Biblical Hebrew and they were very familiar with the Hebrew scriptures.
I cannot say the same for Christians, and sometimes I am appalled by their lack of Biblical knowledge. As a result, we have Mr. Dollinger and others teaching what I regard as a twisted view of the Bible and of Christian faith."
Thanks, as always, for your comments Eric.
DeleteWhile what you say about the appalling lack of Biblical knowledge is a problem for large segments of the Christian population of the country, probably most of the people on Capitol Hill who attend Drollinger's Bible studies have considerable knowledge of the Bible. But the problem, as I see it, is in their interpretation of the Bible, which tends to be based on literally accepting the Bible at face value. Accordingly, they know, for example, that Genesis speaks of Creation occurring in six days, so they accept that as being literally true and disparage "modern science" that contradicts what the Bible says.
A few minutes later, I received the following comment from Thinking Friend Bob Hanson in Wisconsin:
ReplyDelete"Thanks again, Leroy. These are facts you wish you didn’t hear but need to. We are in some deep trouble, brother, with this leader; very serious."
Yes, Bob, I think there are serious problems when the President and members of his Cabinet as well as Senators and Representatives being constantly influenced by Christians such as Paula White and Ralph Drollinger--and part of the problem is that a vast majority of the nation's citizens are not aware of those preachers/teachers and their influence.
DeleteAnd then this brief, but pertinent, comment from Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky:
ReplyDelete"How dreadful for our country!"
Local Thinking Friend Ken Grenz comments,
ReplyDelete"I am just now into reading Jeff Sharlet’s 'The Family,' another rather right wing religious organization. These groups do a great amount of much under the radar damage. In addition to his book Sharlet has more recently made a movie, but though being around for a long time, The Family remains relatively unfamiliar to people. Opus Dei is a Catholic group that also stalks around Capitol Hill. This group evangelized Sam Brownback into Catholicism.
"Thanks for your posting about this guy’s group. I’ll watch for more."
Thanks, Ken, for bringing up "The Family." Although there seems to be considerable similarity in their goals, Drollinger denies having any connection with or giving any support to The Family.
DeleteIf you or other readers of this blog missed my Sept. 30, 2019, post about The Family, here is the link to that article:
https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-family-is-frightening.html
Bruce Morgan, another local Thinking Friend, writes,
ReplyDelete"I note that the 'sponsors' are among the scariest and least trustworthy political leaders in Washington."
[Corrected; first posted at 10:41 on April 15.]
DeleteThanks, Bruce, for your observation, which I think is accurate. In addition to the untrustworthy sponsors, Tom Price is on Capitol Ministries' Board of Directors. As you may remember, he was Trump's first Secretary of Health and Human Services, but he resigned after seven months because of apparently accurate charges that he had been using department funds for private travel. Reportedly, in 2018 the HHS inspector general urged the HHS to recoup at least $341,000 from Price for wasteful expenditures.
I don't know how Price, or Drollinger, justified that sort of ethical impropriety, but, nevertheless, Price is still on the Board of Capitol Ministries.
Here is a brief comment from Dub Steincross, another local Thinking Friend.
ReplyDelete"Never heard of the 'D' person and his ministries--thankfully. He is to religion what the virus is to health."
It is surprising that like "The Family," Capitol Ministries has not been widely known--but perhaps we citizens need to know what is going on in the name of Christianity on Capitol Hill and to share our knowledge with others.
DeleteI am pleased to be able to share these thoughtful comments by Thinking Friend Michael Olmsted in Springfield, Mo.
ReplyDelete"We all risk the danger of reading the Bible through a lens of our family traditions, denominational ideas, and desperation to make the world around us fit our longing for comfortable explanations. The Bible, like God and our Savior does not pander to what we think is right. Jesus' life and teachings do not make for easy answers or the evasion of his call to care for 'the least of these.' And the Old Testament, which knows nothing of denominational structures and politics but much about the potential of religious preferences and aberrant interpretations, makes it very plain that God's people are to care for the marginalized, foreigners, and suffering. No escape clauses in that calling … which was a major theme in Jesus' teachings and example.
"I often wonder if those who so loudly trumpet the INERRANCY of Scripture are mostly frightened by any questions and debates, fearing any honest self examination. I remember a Sunday night gathering of college friends (as we all returned from our various churches) talking about the sermons we heard. One friend was particularly excited by his pastor's sermon that day because he had pointed out that the church has no obligation to care for those in need outside their fellowship … that the Bible teaches we are to only care for the family of faith! The rest of us were shocked and pointed out that from the beginning of Israel's history as God's people they were to care for others outside the family of faith, a significant mark of their difference from the world and its religions.
"At his inauguration, the current president referred to the glimmer of sunshine as a sign of God's approval of his election. It was only one self-centered moment alerting us to the fact that some people can only see God as their personal servant instead of the God who gives himself to the undeserving, the outcasts, the broken, the lost. I believe the Bible is God's written word that confronts my selfishness and failures … and gives me the hope of a new life, a different life, based on grace."
[First posted at 3:31 on April 15; corrected now.]
DeleteThanks, Michael, for your helpful comments.
I don't get the sense that Drollinger's position is of a "prosperity gospel" such as Paula White seems to push, but neither do I sense that it seeks to challenge hearers to confront their selfishness and to give themselves more fully to help "the underserving, the outcasts, and the broken."
First, Drollinger is another embarrassment for Christianity. I have not heard of Drollinger before. However, he is consistent with the other individuals “stalking” Washington and the WH. In my past life Drollinger would fit in with denominational leadership and current individuals working the Hill.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago, Rainer (president LifeWay publishing) did a project to answer the question of why large churches were successful. One take away according to his research, was congregants wanted someone to tell them what and how to believe. The more simplistic and fundamental the leaders message the better opportunity for church growth and success.
My point, many people do not want to do the hard work of Bible study and it is easier to accept “passion” of incompetent leadership than dig out biblical truth.
Thanks for your comments, Frank -- and I agree with your point.
DeleteThis afternoon I have received more comments by email; this one is from Bob Leeper, a local Thinking Friend:
ReplyDelete"Leroy: I enjoy your weekly challenge to engage our thinking process.
"I recall many years ago, as I had then been evolving away from my fundamentalist holy-roller country church background, I took the stance that there was NO HARM to people like my little mother and folks like her to deeply believe and have faith in their ultimate home in heaven. It did me nor them any harm. But at the same time, it scared me deeply if anyone in government started actually believing all that stuff!!! Especially if they started basing any of their world-changing decisions on deep belief in fundamental teaching, it would indeed be deadly.
"NOW, this DROLLINGER gentleman seems to have wormed his way into the foundational institutions of our nation; and thus impacting their world-view. This is more scary than having Trump in front of the TV microphone. Thanks for spotlighting this dangerous movement.
Thanks for your comments, Bob--and your point is well taken. On March 27 The New York Times published an article by Katherine Stewart (link at the end) titled "The Religious Right's Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response," and Alex Azar and Ben Carson, two "cabinet sponsors" of Capitol Ministries are cited.
Deletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/coronavirus-trump-evangelicals.html
And then this from Thinking Friend Dick Horn in Texas:
ReplyDelete"Mr. Drollinger sounds like he still has his Scofield Bible including the notes. One would have hoped that this would have been thoroughly discredited by now. Sounds like we have returned to the 1950's.
"At least by providing the names of some of his students, you give some insight and understanding their attitude toward the poor and concern for the environment. In my opinion he is wrongly explaining 'the word of truth,' no 'seems to be' to it.
"As always an excellent article well written and carefully detailed."
Dick, I appreciate your definite statement about Drollinger wrongly explaining "the word of truth," and that is my belief also. But I try to write my articles in a non-dogmatic way, that is, in such a way as to engage those with whom I disagree and those who disagree with me on important matters--and you and I have former colleagues who were in Japan at the same time we were and who would mostly agree with Drollinger and his understanding of the Bible. Of course, I don't suppose there are many, of any, of those who read what I write anyway.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of reading poll results showing that most Americans cannot name the four gospels, even though most Americans call themselves Christian. When I went to search for a link to the research, I found an amazing 2016 article by Albert Mohler, President of SBTS. While I have rarely agreed with him on much of anything, it was poignant to read his lament of biblical illiteracy. The "good news", at least 82 percent of Americans "know" that "God helps those who help themselves" is in the Bible. If only they could remember in which gospel! See link:
ReplyDeletehttps://albertmohler.com/2016/01/20/the-scandal-of-biblical-illiteracy-its-our-problem-4/
Thanks for your comments, and the link, Craig. But as I said to Eric above, I think the problem with those who attend Drollinger's Bible studies, unlike the general public, is not that they don't have biblical literacy but that they use a wrong, outdated method of interpreting the Bible.
DeleteThis posting and the comments added are all important and insightful, but is this an example where knowledge is not power? While I did not know the details, I had the feeling. This seems like a modern day Billy Graham, so it is not new. My concern is what can you do with it? If it motivates voters to seek a new direction in the next election, that would be good. The risk is any attempt to use this to motivate voters will definitely be successful in motivating Trump voters, since they will see it as another attack on the Bible. The good news is Democratic Party leaders believe primaries are showing motivated voters, but they may be overlooking that they still have to unite the voters. I don't think another simpleton with bad policies is needed to do that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dennis, for your thought-provoking comments.
DeleteWhile, true, those who are dyed-in-the-wool supporters of DJT are not likely to be changed by articles critical of his favorite Bible study teacher, still there are many who will benefit, I think, by acquiring fuller knowledge of the influence of the Christian Right on Capitol Hill.
For some time now under their name in their publications, The Washington Post has printed the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness." To shed more light on the movement toward theocracy in the U.S. perhaps will have some benefit in keeping democracy alive in this country.
Yesterday I failed to post the following important comments by local Thinking Friend Bill Ryan:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy. I can't help but wonder where in Washington are representatives of main-line denominations, which at one time were strong enough to be influential. And what about the Roman Catholic and various Jewish and other faith communities, regarding influence to counter the Drollinger effort."
Thanks for raising an important point for consideration, Bill.
DeleteThere certainly doesn't seem to be any mainstream group in Washington comparable to Capitol Ministries, but the National Council of Churches has just issued a statement in opposition to DJT's attempt to cut off funds for WHO (see the link below) and from time to time I see similar NCC statements that are in opposition to the Trump Administration.
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/us-must-not-suspend-funding-to-who-says-ncc/
And William Barber and his Poor People's Campaign is planning for a "moral march on Washington" on June 20. (See this link: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/)
So, while this may not be a lot, it is something.
I also received this interesting email from Thinking Friend Tom Trullinger from Worth County, Mo. (where I was born and grew up):
ReplyDelete"One goes back a ways in my family tree and can find the Dro spelling prior to or along with the Tru spelling. A first cousin has 3 boys that all measure 7' or slightly over.
"Be that as it may be, as scary as his biblical inerrancy theory goes, it suggests to me, Occam's Razor. One need not disprove inerrancy when any other choice requires fewer assumptions.
"Love and enjoy your articles immensely."
Thanks for writing, Tom. It was good to hear from you again -- and it never crossed my mind that Trullinger and Drollinger could have at some point been the same Swiss/German name--and that family line sure seems to have some tall genes in it!
DeleteAnd then these comments came last night from Thinking Friend Dan O'Reagan in Louisiana:
ReplyDelete"Drollinger is just a layman. I cut laymen some slack, and am just glad that they are even studying the Bible. If they study long enough and hard enough, maybe they will stumble on the "rightly divided truth." Bernard Ramm helped me with his interpretation of Genesis One, and his idea of 'Cosmic Days,' not solar or lunar days.
"I have an idea. I will pay for you to send him a copy of 'Fed Up,' with the appropriate chapter marked out for him, and see what happens."
Dan, actually, I read that Drollinger has a M.Div. degree from The Master's Seminary in California and that he is (or was) a "disciple" of John McArthur, who is now Chancellor Emeritus of that school founded in 1986 to train men [and most probably only men] for pastoral ministry.
DeleteThanks for the suggestion, and offer, to send a copy of my "Fed Up with Fundamentalism" to Drollinger. I will give it some more thought--but I seem to recall someone saying something about not casting pearls before swine.