President Trump?s Spiritual Advisor Paula White?s Prayer for ?Satanic Pregnancies to Miscarry? Explained
Paula White. (Source: video screengrab)
Paula White, President Donald Trump?s spiritual advisor, has sparked the ire of some segments of the public that believe she recently called for pregnant women to miscarry ? when, in fact, the Pentecostal Christian minister has called for no such thing.
If you?ve read my previous articles on White, you know there is plenty of evidence showing that her fundraising tactics are shady. So any scrutiny she gets on that front is deserved. However, the criticism White has been getting of late over a minute-and-a-half clip selectively showing her praying for ?satanic pregnancies to miscarry? is unfair.
Due to years of reporting on Christian communities and my own personal affiliation with Pentecostal beliefs and practices, I can assure you that White?s prayer reflects jargon commonly used by some charismatic and Pentecostal Christians ? including Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter?s House. Furthermore, the analogy White uses ? ?satanic pregnancies? ? is reflected in the Bible.
The whole thing started when Right Wing Watch published the prayer clip on Twitter on January 24, writing: ?Presidential spiritual adviser Paula White takes authority over the marine kingdom, the animal kingdom, and all ?satanic pregnancies? that seek to harm Trump or the church.?
The clip, excerpted from a January 5 recorded gathering at her Florida church, reveals White saying: ?We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now. We declare that anything that?s been conceived in satanic wombs, that it will miscarry, it will not be able to carry forth any plan of destruction, any plan of harm??
White eventually defended herself on Twitter:
?I don?t normally respond but clearly this has been taken out of context. I was praying Eph 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Anything that has been conceived by demonic plans, for it to be cancelled and not prevail in your life. That is?any plans to hurt people. Let?s be clear what is really going on? this is a disingenuous attempt to use words out of context for political gain. I will just keep praying!?
Ephesians 6, which White cites in her defensive tweet, calls on Christians to have a soldier?s mindset and ?be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.? The likely author, Saint Paul, tells his Christian audience that their enemies are not other human beings. Instead, they are to realize that they are in a spiritual battle against ?the powers of this dark world? and ?the spiritual forces of evil??
Some viewers of the viral clip have taken offense to the idea that White, a mother herself who is likely pro-life, was praying that God would literally abort the literal pregnancies of actual women. To add to the pile of confusion, some media sites also entertained such an interpretation. See: ?It Sure Sounds Like Trump?s Spiritual Adviser Prayed for Women to Miscarry? and ?Trump Advisor?s Prayer for ?Satanic? Miscarriages Is a Wild Anti-Abortion Take?.
Obviously, there may be a bit more to the anger some have been expressing over White?s prayer for ?satanic pregnancies to miscarry? ? such as her spiritual defense of a problematic president. But, as I?ve explained elsewhere:
- White?s reference to ?satanic pregnancies? is tied to a common metaphor some Christians like to use: ?pregnant with a purpose.? The phrase suggests that God has specific plans for a Christian and, like a literal human pregnancy, that divine calling has to be nurtured for it to come to full term and be realized.
- Several years ago, The Potter?s House Pastor T.D. Jakes preached a sermon called ?Don?t Be Blindsided.? In the sermon Jakes states that the Apostle Paul was ?pregnant? with divine purposes for the church at Ephesus. Paul was ?[p]regnant with destiny, pregnant with purpose, pregnant with possibilities, pregnant with creativity, pregnant with ideas, pregnant with concepts,? Jakes says in the sermon. ?Oh, I love to be around pregnant people. They?re always birthing stuff.?
- White-Cain?s own use of the pregnancy metaphor can be traced back to 2015, when she tweeted to followers: ?You are pregnant- Get in position & PUSH.. #Pray until something happens!
- The pregnancy metaphor originates with the Bible. For example, the author of Psalm 7:14 declares: ?The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.? In Job 15:35, one says of the godless: ?They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb prepares deceit.? Elsewhere, in James 1:15, the apostle states: ?Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.?
If one can be ?pregnant? with divine purpose, one can also be ?pregnant? with evil intent ? the latter being what White was going for.
While White?s jargon is jarring to outsiders and others wholly unfamiliar with charismatic Christianese, the actual context of her prayer betrays a mindset of spiritual warfare. Even her reference to ?the marine kingdom, the animal kingdom? may have biblical backing.
Be angry with White (and other White Evangelicals) for her carte blanche support of ?a lying, cheating, thieving, philandering, narcissistic, [and] racist? president. Be angry with her for twisting the Bible to manipulate vulnerable Christians to giver her money. But let?s also be fair.
