Guns, God, and Misused Scripture: A Biblical Response to American Exceptionalism

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2018

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dissecting the language of faith wrapped around gun rights, Mike Erre uses this episode to thoughtfully examine a statement made by NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre that the Second Amendment is a “God-given right” for Americans. Drawing heavily on Luke 22 and Isaiah 53, Mike walks through why that claim not only misuses scripture but also reflects a dangerous fusion of nationalism and theology.

This Mailbag episode also includes deeply engaging questions on divorce in the Bible, Christian creatives navigating “secular” spaces, and a shoutout to Voxology's new Revelation series on Patreon. Plus, Mike explains Andy’s absence and his own transition away from Vox OC leadership while reaffirming the podcast’s commitment to fostering nuanced, honest conversations.

Key Takeaways:
• Misusing Scripture to Justify Gun Rights – Mike critically unpacks how Luke 22 is often taken out of context to support the idea that Jesus endorsed self-defense, and argues that America's “God-given” gun rights aren't biblically defensible.
• How Jesus Approached Nonviolence – A powerful biblical overview of Jesus' radical method of creative resistance and his rejection of retaliation, especially when confronted with injustice.
• Calling Out Christian Nationalism – A critique of conflating American exceptionalism with biblical authority, highlighting how this undermines both theology and public witness.
• Divorce in the Old vs. New Testaments – Exploring Deuteronomy and Matthew 19, Mike reflects on the evolution of divorce laws and what they mean for the Church’s call to justice and grace today.
• Creativity as Cultural Renewal – A stirring response to a listener’s question about what it means to be a Jesus-follower in creative industries like advertising and design, featuring recommended resources on cultural renewal and beauty.

Guest Highlights:
• Listener Ray – A former college ministry member and creative professional whose question opens the door for a future conversation on the theology of creativity.

Resources Mentioned:
• Preston Sprinkle – Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence
• Luke 22:35–38 – The passage frequently cited in self-defense debates
• Isaiah 53 – Prophetic framework foundational to understanding Jesus’ mission
• Matthew 5–7 – Jesus’ teaching on loving enemies and turning the other cheek
• Deuteronomy 24 & Matthew 19 – Key passages in the divorce conversation
• Andy Crouch – Culture Making
• N.T. Wright – Simply Christian (chapter on beauty)

Join the conversation and help reclaim a faith rooted in mercy, justice, and biblical integrity. Subscribe, write a review, and connect with us on Instagram and Facebook to keep the dialogue going.

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you’re into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more at the VOXOLOGY Podcast Website

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, everybody, Mike here and excited to be with you today.
0:19.0	I am still Andy List.
0:20.4	I'll explain that in a second, but got a, got a couple of big announcements.
0:24.9	Um, uh, first of all, the, there's a, a crew of people who have been supporting the podcast, uh,
0:33.2	and participate, painting in it in a very unique way.
0:36.5	Uh, they are Patreon supporters. They financially support
0:39.7	the podcast. There is a group of over 100 of them engaged in a Facebook group that's just for them,
0:47.7	which is super interesting. They're very, very engaged and have all sorts of interesting discussions.
0:54.6	But one of the things that Patreon does, so it's not patron, but Patreon, is that you
1:01.1	give different rewards based on different levels of commitment.
1:04.9	And so one of the things I've been promising for over a year now is a unique revelation podcast.
1:14.5	So a podcast going through the book of Revelation for some of our Patreon supporters.
1:18.9	So we finally, I finally got the first episode out this week.
1:25.6	And, you know, it's just no no excuse other than holy cow it's been crazy
1:30.3	but but so excited to begin begin this journey want to let you know that's out there if
1:36.5	if the podcast has been something beneficial to you and you want to support us you can go to
1:40.7	patreon patreon.com and look up mike Erie, E-R-R-E.
1:47.3	And you can find out all the details there and sign up if you'd like.
1:51.4	And you can begin to unlock that conversation.
1:53.8	We're going to begin in the book of Revelation.
1:55.7	The second issue is where the heck is Andy?
1:58.7	Where has Andy been?
	...

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