President Donald Trump read aloud from the Bible in a national broadcast on April 21 for America Reads the Bible, a weeklong event. It was 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, a passage about God's people humbling themselves, praying and turning from wicked ways so that God might heal their land.

Under different circumstances, a politician reading from the Bible might not warrant much attention. But this particular passage, in this particular context, is worth examining ‒ not as a matter of partisan politics, but as a case study in how the sacred gets stripped from texts when they get used and misused as props for political agendas. 

Before anything else, it's worth understanding what Trump's chosen Bible passage actually includes: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The verse is not a universal promise floating free in history, available to be downloaded by any nation at any moment in time. It is a specific communication, addressed to specific people, at a specific historical juncture.

The Bible is not being read. It is being brandished.

In this story, God is speaking to King Solomon after the dedication of the first Temple of Jerusalem. The audience is ancient Israel. When God says "if my people" in that verse, the antecedent is clear: It refers to Israel, a community defined by a particular........

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