***POST-ELECTION INSIGHT***
For Immediate Release November 9, 2016
CONTACT:
Jen Retallick, Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 100, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215.815.7716, 610.584.1096, ext. 102
Donald Trump Will Begin an Era of Freedom Preservation, Sanctity of Life Protection and a Supreme Court That Will Represent the People
Evangelical Leader and Southern Evangelical Seminary President Dr. Richard Land: Trump Must Surround Himself Now with Solid, Influential Advisers Who Will Help His Administration Make History
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—It was a history-making, nation-shaping election, and the people have chosen Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Evangelical leader and Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES, www.ses.edu) President Dr. Richard Land released the following statement today.
“The results are in,” Land said. “We’ve elected Mr. Trump, and approximately half of America is relieved, while the other half is depressed. By all accounts, the majority of Americans were not, and are not, happy with the choice they faced and had to make. The president-elect will be the least popular to ever take office. So what do we do as Christians? First, we need to remember our heritage as Christians, not just as Americans. The Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 2:13-18 that out of Jew and Greek, God created one new man, and that the Church was to reconcile both.”
On today’s installment of his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” heard on nearly 800 stations, Land told his listeners that there are two words for ‘new’ in Greek. One, ‘neos’ means ‘new’ merely in a point of time, such as a new screwdriver that is just like the million screwdrivers that were produced before it. Then, the Greek word ‘kainos’ means ‘new in quality’—a new kind, something that never existed before. ‘Kainos’ is the word the Apostle Paul used to describe the new man that is created in Christ Jesus—new as in ‘never existed before.’
“The great early Christian preacher John Chrysostom used this example,” Land continued. “He said it would be as if God took a statue of silver and a statue of lead, melted them down, poured them together and created a new statue of gold. We are a new kind of man, created by our being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. We are to be the reconcilers, to go forth and seek to reconcile all those who are estranged—all those who are estranged from each other and estranged from God. We can begin reconciliation among our brothers and sisters in Christ. We know that there are those who voted for Donald Trump, those who voted for Hillary Clinton, those who voted for someone else and those who didn’t vote at all. We start by modeling reconciliation with brothers and sisters in Christ, understanding whose we are—we belong to Jesus.
“Last night was one of the hinge points in American history,” Land concluded. “The American people rose up in their collective wisdom and said, ‘Enough is enough. We want our country back.’ Mrs. Clinton’s extreme position on abortion was a major contributing factor. Eighty-one percent of white Evangelicals voted for Trump. This is higher than the vote for any previous candidate. It is still government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’ As a Christian, I believe that God in His mercy has decided to postpone His judgment of America and give us a temporary reprieve to turn back to Him. I pray we will do so.”
Throughout the election season, Land served as a member of Trump’s executive, non-endorsing board to provide advisory support on moral issues.
SES is a leader in apologetics education—teaching students to defend their faith and talk intelligently, passionately and rationally about what they believe and why they believe it. Many courses focus on societal issues from a Christian worldview, delve into scientific apologetics or contemplate creation research.
SES explores ethical issues through its “Ethics in Emerging Technology” program; for more information, visit www.ethics.ses.edu. At SES’s apologetics blog, www.WhyDoYouBelieve.org, Land and other SES voices address the most pressing issues of the day.
Land is featured in his nationally syndicated daily radio commentary, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” which airs on nearly 800 stations nationwide, including nearly 200 on the American Family Radio Network, 100 on the Bott Radio Network and almost 400 on the CSN radio network. “Bringing Every Thought Captive” is also podcast daily on the free SES mobile app and airs locally in the Charlotte, N.C., area every weekday. The “Bringing Every Thought Captive” television program, hosted by Land, airs on the NRB Network Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and midnight EST. “Bringing Every Thought Captive” also reaches nearly 2 million households in the Chicago area on the Total Living Network. For details about stations, times, downloads and more, click here.
Land has taught as a visiting or adjunct professor for several seminaries and has authored or edited more than 15 books. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in England and his bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) from Princeton University. Land also earned a Master of Theology (Honors Program) degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received the Broadman Seminarian Award as the Outstanding Graduating Student. Dr. Land was the 2013 Watchman Award recipient from the Family Research Council for his leadership on moral and cultural issues. He also received the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth from Biola University in 2010. Land served previously (1988-2013) as president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s official entity assigned to address social, moral and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families. In 2014, he was appointed as a Senior Research Fellow of the ERLC’s Research Institute, and in 2015, he was named in the top 15 of Newsmax’s “Top 100 Christian Leaders in America.”
Southern Evangelical Seminary invites visitors to its web site to join the more than 20,000 people who have already downloaded the SES Apologetics App for Windows mobile devices and Android and Apple phones and tablets. Those with the app can get the very best news and information in Christian apologetics, including articles, audio, video, blogs and more from today’s most able defenders of the Christian faith—William Lane Craig, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, William Dembski, Frank Turek, Hugh Ross, Gary Habermas and other well-known speakers, authors and teachers.
Southern Evangelical Seminary has been ranked as one of the top graduate programs for General Christian Apologetics by TheBestSchools.org’s “Top 10 Graduate Programs in Christian Apologetics.”
For more information on SES, visit its web site at www.ses.edu or its Facebook page, follow the SES Twitter feed, @sesapologetics, or call (800) 77-TRUTH. For more information about SES’ “Ethics in Emerging Technology” program, visit www.ethics.ses.edu.
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For information on SES or to set up an interview, contact Jen Retallick, 610-584-1096, ext. 100, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096, ext. 102.
Southern Evangelical Seminary is a leader in apologetics education—teaching students to defend their faith and talk intelligently, passionately and rationally about what they believe and why they believe it. The Christian college and seminary offers a wide variety of bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. Programs can be completed through residence in the Charlotte area or online. The award-winning education at SES is distinctively Christian and focused on evangelism and world-engaging defense of the Christian faith—Christian Apologetics.
