“What an honor to hear the Bible read aloud in a public square,” evangelical pastor Choi Ahn wrote in an X post.
President Trump reads from the Bible amid religious backlash and feud with Pope
President Donald Trump read a Bible verse as part of a week-long national scripture reading.
President Donald Trump is receiving mixed reactions for reading from the Bible on national television, one week after criticizing Pope Leo
On Tuesday, April 21, President Trump read the Old Testament scripture 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 during a pre-recorded broadcast of America Reads the Bible, a week-long Bible reading event held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The ruling was announced after President Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself looking like Jesus on Truth Social on April 12th. The president later deleted the post and claimed the photo was of him as a doctor. Later, during public comments from Pope Leo, he shared a new AI-generated photo of himself embraced by Jesus.
Like many of President Trump’s actions, the reading has divided opinion, with some outraged by the president’s Bible reading in the Oval Office and others encouraged by the message of Christianity coming from the White House.
President Trump’s Bible reading divides the internet
“Of course, Satan, read the Bible. True Christians will not be fooled by you, and we pray that you will ask for forgiveness, repent of your sins, and do what Jesus said in His Word,” investigative journalist Jamie Satterfield wrote in an April 21 X post.
“I hope President Trump doesn’t read the Pulp Fiction sermon,” wrote another X user. The post was made in connection with a prayer given by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a Pentagon service on April 15th, which many believed was similar to the fictionalized version of Ezekiel 25:17 that Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winfield quotes before killing a character in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
But some people are encouraged by the president’s Bible reading.
“What an honor to hear the Bible read in a public square,” evangelical pastor Choi Ahn wrote in an April 22 X post. “Many Christians around the world face persecution just for sharing their faith publicly,” and added, “Thank you, President Trump, for having the audacity to read the Bible. What a moment to witness.”
Paul M. Neuberger, founder and CEO of the Christian networking organization C-Suite for Christ, wrote in a blog post written in advance of the reading that Bible reading offers Christians an opportunity to stand in the light rather than in the shadows.
“This is not a political moment. This is a spiritual crossroads. The lines are drawn not by men, but by the Word of God. And every person, every leader, every believer will choose where they stand,” Neuberger wrote. “For the reality is simple and unchanging: a nation that honors God will stand, and a nation that rejects God will fall.”
What does 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 say?
The full text of scripture Trump read was from the King James Easy Read Bible, published by Whitaker House.
11 So Solomon completed the house of the Lord and the house of the king. And Solomon succeeded in all that he set in his heart to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house.
12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said, “I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.”
13 Even if I close the sky so that it does not rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among the people.
14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land.
15 Now my eyes will be opened and my ears will listen to the prayers that are made in this place.
16 For now, I have chosen this house and consecrated it. So that my name will be there forever. And my eyes and my heart will be there forever.
17 And if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, and obey all that I have commanded you, keeping my statutes and my judgments;
18 Then I will establish myself on the throne of your kingdom, just as I swore to your father David. “No one will fail you as ruler of Israel.”
19 But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and commandments, which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them;
20 Then I will uproot them from my land, which I have given them. And I will drive out this house, which I have sanctified to my name, from my eyes, and make it a proverb and a byword among all nations.
twenty one And this house is expensive, so everyone who passes by will be surprised. As he says, “Why has the Lord done this to this land and this house?”
twenty two And he will answer, “Because they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took hold of other gods, and worshiped them, and served them; therefore God brought upon them all these evils.”
Greta Cross is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Story ideas? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
