Christian author Philip Yancey questions evangelical support for Donald Trump

Best-selling Christian author Philip Yancey has expressed his concern about the enthusiastic support given by the evangelicals to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

In a recent interview with Evangelical Focus, Yancey pointed out Trump's problematic characteristics and questioned the reasoning behind the evangelicals' enthusiastic endorsement of the candidate.

"I am staggered that so many evangelical Christians would somehow paint a man who is a bully, who made his money by casinos, who has had several wives and several affairs, as someone that we could stand behind," said Yancey

"I can understand why maybe you choose these policies that you support, but to choose a person who stands against everything that Christianity believes as the hero, the representative, one that we get behind enthusiastically is not something that I understand at all," he adds.

The author noted that the church's close association with the state has caused problems for Christians in the past because the church was judged by the state's flaws.

"There are countries in Europe where the church is set back for decades and decades, because they have been stained by how they sold their soul for power," he stated.

Yancey also noted that the situation in the United States is becoming more like the early church as the culture grows more secular. He explained that the church stood out in a pagan society like the Roman Empire because it was radically different.

Some Evangelical leaders have been increasingly outspoken in their support for Trump, but there are still leading evangelicals who are standing firm in their opposition to the Republican nominee.

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has explained in the past that he cannot vote for a candidate who has boasted of his adulterous affairs.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention, cited Trump's racist remarks as one of the reasons why he refuses to vote for the real estate mogul.

In contrast, Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress has been outspoken in his support for Trump. He characterized the Christians who refuse to vote for the Republican nominee as "weak," "namby-pamby" and too "proud."