https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cpac-republicans-close-ranks-behind-trump-iran-war-2026-03-26/
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/03/05/hegseth-brags-of-mass-killing-in-iran/
The Hegseth prayer has received quite a bit of press coverage but unfortunately the media interactions I have encountered are from Liberal/Modernist Theologian-types that are incapable of providing a robust Biblical rejection of his theology.
The Imprecatory Psalms of the Old Testament express the prophetic voice of Christ in coming judgment and on the typological level represent what could almost be considered an anachronism. Or rather, God suspended the common grace mercy he extends over creation and allowing the Judgment to descend - within a temporary and limited scope.
We see this also in the destruction of Canaanites and with other such examples.
The New Covenant people do not live in the age of typology but reality and as such we are called to a higher eschatological ethic. As such, the imprecatory psalms are not appropriate expressions of Christian worship. We defer all vengeance to Christ who will exercise it at His Parousia. In the meantime we are called to love our enemies and pray for those who would spitefully use us.
But that doesn't work when it comes to national policy and the military does it? No it does not. So the Constantinian solution is to create a parallel ethic that allows someone like Pete Hegseth to say that he's obligated as an individual to love his enemies but as Secretary of War he prays for divine wrath to fall from heaven and to work through the missiles and bombs of the US legions. Likewise he prays for judgment and assumes that those who are killed at the hand of US troops are being sent to the eternal punishment to which they were appointed. He speaks of those who deserve no mercy. He glories in death and killing and we can only hope to see him someday in shackles - living out the rest of his days in a cage.
His glorification of violence and the way he sets himself up as the agent of Divine wrath is completely out of line by any theological or ethical metric. He deserved no mercy but apparently he thinks he's the righteous arm of God's judgment. My oh my, is he in for a rude awakening - a Matthew 7 moment if ever there was one.
But the whole approach is erroneous. The ethical-vocational split developed by Constantinianism (and re-affirmed by the Magisterial Reformers) is without Biblical warrant. He's a 'Sunday only' Christian that sets aside his Christian duty on Monday morning when he puts his 'kill hat' on (as it were).
The truth is that while the various Babylons and Romes will have their armies and wage war against one another - Christians are called to fulfill a different calling. Someone might be converted while in uniform but at that point they are to refuse to kill and must suffer the consequences of their actions. That's the New Testament expectation. The modern posture concerning 'rights' and the like is unknown to the apostles. The notion that a believer might be martyred was (to the Early Church) a happy prospect (and a cause for rejoicing) and yet one that is both alien and repugnant to today's individualistic self-empowered Christianity. Needless to say for a Dominionist like Hegseth (the disciple of Doug Wilson) such New Testament notions are gravely offensive and treated with scorn. This is why Hegseth speaks of those who deserve no mercy. It's very simple, the man is lost and exhibits in the most painful terms that he knows nothing of the gospel or the Kingdom of Christ. I would go further in that I believe the man is demonic.
And I think his presence in the Trump Cabinet while celebrated by the Wilsonite sect of the CREC actually represents a blanket condemnation of the denomination. The fact that they not only tolerate but celebrate this filth demonstrates just how far removed from the New Testament these people are and how bankrupt is that denomination and its leadership.
The military chaplaincy is a joke and all military chaplains are compromised and exhibit syncretist thinking and divided loyalties - and so it's fitting I suppose that someone like Hegseth would seek to reinvigorate this group of sell outs and pseudo-pastors. It's in keeping with his perverted understanding of the Christian faith.
We already knew the CPAC Conference would prove to be but another episode of sycophantic praise and justification for Trump's criminality and mass murder. Even the advocates of Just War can't pretend as if this aggression meets any kind of historic criteria. The theology of Just War has nothing to do with Scripture anyway, but even by that flawed metric - you cannot defend what Trump, Netanyahu, and Hegseth are doing. But where are the condemnations? Where were the Christian voices calling out Trump's threats of genocide and the slaughter of an entire civilization?
I don't expect much of anything from outright fascists like Tom Homan who represents a nominal and confused Roman Catholicism. But I am highly disturbed by the antics and Scripture twisting we see with someone like Franklin Graham who views the conflict through the lens of Dispensational theology and nationalist ethics. He's so far removed from Scriptural thinking that it's hard to know where to begin.
But what is troubling to me is that more Christian leaders are failing to speak up and condemn Graham and other phoneys like Ted Cruz. There's a price to pay in standing up to the likes of Graham and few are willing to pay it.
What a bankrupt moment that this gathering which is dominated by supposed Christians gives voice to those who rejoice in death. Witness the apostasy that is CPAC and American Evangelicalism. This is just the beginning. The American Church is at a watershed and there's no turning back. Those who would be faithful have some tough decisions for them.
See also:
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2022/03/imprecatory-prayers-and-biden.html
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