For centuries, both American Christians and our nation as a whole valued and promoted the teaching of Scripture. The Bible was taught in public schools. It was honored by our leaders. And rightly so. The Bible is the foundational text of Western Civilization, and by extension, the United States of America.

The Bible is also hailed as an “anchor” in the lives of individual Christians and the local church. In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul exhorts Christians to mature in their faith, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:14).

But with the rise of Darwinian evolution, the rapid onset of secularism, and the onslaught of the progressive cultural revolution of the latter half of the 20th Century, there is no question that the Bible has now been demoted from its place of priority in American life to something more often viewed with deep skepticism, if not outright hostility. 

And as the Bible has slowly but surely been pushed out of “polite society,” our anchor has been uprooted. This widespread lack of biblical knowledge is now devouring America’s Christian heritage, hollowing out the Church, and eroding the theological bedrock of self-governance. 

Without knowing the full counsel of God, believers can’t spot wolves in sheep’s clothing—leaving them prey to distortions that sound pious but sabotage the Gospel.

Biblical illiteracy does not manifest itself only through outright atheism, but also in seductive reinterpretations that retain the veneer of Christianity while evacuating its core doctrines. These distortions, often paraded under the banner of “progressive” or “inclusive” faith, repurpose Scripture as a malleable tool for ideological ends, severing it from the historic orthodoxy that has sustained the Church for two millennia. Such maneuvers are not novel; they echo the Gnostic heresies of old, where esoteric “insights” supplanted apostolic teaching. 

Today, they manifest in figures who wield biblical language to advance agendas antithetical to the Gospel’s call to repentance, holiness, and submission to Christ’s lordship.

How Progressive Politicians Weaponize a Counterfeit Faith and Prey on the Biblically Illiterate 

A prime modern example? James Talarico, the Texas state representative and self-proclaimed Presbyterian seminarian, whose viral pronouncements exemplify this counterfeit Christianity. Talarico has positioned himself as a prophetic voice against “Christian nationalism,” decrying it as “fundamentally un-Christian,” a “perversion” of faith, “unbiblical,” and “heretical.”

He insists, “There is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism,” framing it as “the worship of power—social power, economic power, political power—in the name of Christ,” which he deems “antithetical to the teachings of Jesus” and “a betrayal of Jesus.” At its core, he claims, it is “idol worship,” where “the opposite of faith is control.” These assertions, while resonant in progressive circles, betray a profound selective reading of Scripture, one that elevates human autonomy over divine sovereignty and reduces the Kingdom of God to a secular social program.

Talarico’s rhetoric escalates when he accuses traditional believers of moral duplicity: “Christian Nationalists walk around with a mouth full of scripture and a heart full of hate.” He lambasts conservatives for “forcing schools to post the Ten Commandments while nominating a candidate for president who has violated almost all of them,” and warns of “sleepwalking toward theocracy” via initiatives like Project 2025, which he roots in this alleged nationalism. Yet, his own exegesis reveals a deeper subversion. 

On marriage, he asserts that “the Bible is all over the place,” citing Galatians 3:28 as “pretty woke for the first century.” He downplays scriptural condemnations of homosexuality, claiming “consensual same-sex relationships are never mentioned” in the Bible, and that the religious right has “convinced a lot of Christians” to prioritize “abortion and homosexuality”—issues “that aren’t really discussed in Scripture” and which “Jesus never talked about.” This elision ignores clear passages in Leviticus, Romans, and 1 Corinthians, as well as Christ’s affirmation of Genesis’s creational order for marriage (Matthew 19:4-6).

Even more audacious is Talarico’s biblical defense of abortion. He invokes the Annunciation in Luke 1, arguing that the angel Gabriel sought Mary’s “consent” before the Incarnation: “The story of Mary is my favorite story in all of scripture…We only have Jesus because a woman consented to creating him. The story of Jesus begins with a single, simple, extraordinary act of feminism.” He elaborates, “Creation is a sacred act; a revolutionary act. But creation can’t be done without consent; it can’t be done by force.” Mary, he says, responded, “If it is God’s will, let it be done. Let it be, let it happen,” affirming that “creation has to be done with consent. You cannot force someone to create.”

He further suggests Genesis teaches life begins at breath, not conception, and that “the idea that there is a set Christian orthodoxy on the issue of abortion is just not rooted in Scripture.” This eisegesis twists Mary’s fiat—a humble submission to God’s will—into a pro-choice manifesto, ignoring the Psalmist’s declaration that God knits us together in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16) and the prophetic witness to prenatal life (Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41-44).

Talarico’s soteriology compounds these errors, positing a works-based salvation divorced from faith in Christ. Citing Matthew 25, he claims, “Jesus… tells us exactly how you and I are going to be saved, by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick. Nothing about going to church, nothing even about being a Christian.” He extends this to suggest non-believers can be “more Christ-like” than Christians: “I have met so many Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics who are more Christ-like than some of the Christians I serve with in the Texas legislature.” Even God, in his view, is “nonbinary.” Such statements echo Pelagian heresy, prioritizing ethical deeds over regenerative grace and universalism, which blurs the exclusive claims of Christ (John 14:6).

His critiques of conservatives often invert scriptural priorities. He lambasts those who “want a ‘Christian Nation'” but oppose healthcare for the sick, food for the hungry, or wage increases for the poor, quipping, “They want to base our laws on the Bible until they read the words of Jesus.” He asks, “What would Jesus do if he visited the United States Senate?” implying opposition to conservative policies. Accusing figures like Speaker Mike Johnson of hypocrisy for claiming a biblical worldview while allegedly cutting healthcare, he demands, “If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.” Similarly, “You can’t call yourself a Christian and deny health care to the sick. You can’t call yourself a Christian and cut food stamps for the poor. You can’t call yourself a Christian and reject the stranger seeking asylum.”

He condemns Republicans for “selling out the sick and the hungry to cut taxes for the rich,” suggesting Jesus would “flip over the tables of injustice.” On education, he decries Bible-infused curricula as “unconstitutional, un-American, and deeply un-Christian” for elevating Christianity. And he insists, “The only people Jesus condemned were those who used religion to hurt others. I refuse to let Christian Nationalists twist a religion of love to justify their hate.”

This is not the faith of Augustine, Aquinas, the Reformers, or your Baptist grandparents. Theirs was a robust theology centered on sin, redemption, and sanctification. This is a syncretistic amalgam, blending Gospel fragments with progressive politics, where “love” becomes license and “justice” a euphemism for state-enforced equity. As J. Gresham Machen warned of liberal theology a century ago, it is “a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9)—one that accommodates the zeitgeist rather than confronting it.

In other words, it is a “trans” Christianity. It is a faith that has undergone a spiritual version of “gender reassignment” surgery. Outwardly, Talarico presents as a Christian (or tries to). But the hidden reality right beneath his surface-level, cosmetic, and polished rhetoric is a sulfuric, demonic inversion of everything the Bible actually teaches.

Christless Conservatism Cannot Defeat “Trans Christianity”

What’s the answer to the threat of false political prophets like James Talaricos and the trans “Christianity” he preaches? It is the full counsel of God’s Word, both known and applied to all of life and politics.

Yet, the critique must not spare the Right. A Christless conservatism, which invokes only biblical principles for cultural preservation while marginalizing the Cross, offers no enduring remedy. Many conservatives champion order, virtue, liberty, and dignity—noble ideals rooted in Christian anthropology—but treat Christ as an ancillary figure, useful for electoral mobilization yet dispensable in policy. 

This pragmatic moralism, devoid of evangelical zeal, can often mirror Talarico’s error in reverse: it subordinates faith to nationalism, risking the idolatry he decries. It reduces the Gospel to a cultural buttress, echoing the civic religion of ancient Rome rather than the transformative power of Calvary.

Consider how this manifests in contemporary alliances: conservatives often rally behind leaders who espouse “Christian values” while eschewing personal repentance or the exclusivity of Christ as Savior. They decry societal decay—abortion, family breakdown, moral relativism—yet pursue remedies through legislation alone, without the accompanying call to spiritual renewal. This approach, while politically expedient, lacks the regenerative force of the Holy Spirit, turning faith into a mere ideological scaffold. As Francis Schaeffer warned in his critiques of cultural Christianity, such a posture forfeits the prophetic edge, allowing secularism to infiltrate under the guise of patriotism.

True renewal demands holistic integration of faith and practice: personal piety informing public witness, with Christ’s Kingship over all spheres (Colossians 1:15-20). A Nation “under God” is not theocratic tyranny but a bulwark against tyranny, provided it submits to Scripture’s full counsel—embracing both the moral law and the mercy that fulfills it.

It ultimately begins and ends in the pulpit—for indeed it was the Black Robe Regiment, those fiery colonial preachers, who molded the soul of America by preaching liberty as an outgrowth of gospel truth, not mere political theory. 

The American Church must reclaim this mantle, equipping believers to discern wolves like Talarico’s revisionism and the Right’s dilutions. The Church’s prophetic voice in the public square depends on it: proclaim the Gospel undiluted, repent of accommodations, and rebuild on Christ’s rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

In this Information War, counterfeits will crumble; only the truth endures. But to seek and enforce the truth, we must indeed know the truth. And if we want to know the truth, we need to know our Bibles.