In 2015, Yale Divinity School Professor John Collins heard a presidential election ad urging listeners to vote according to “biblical values.” In the ad, the Reverend Franklin Graham announced he would be traveling to all 50 states to hold prayer rallies and call the nation to God. Collins was so troubled by it that he launched a course that year titled “What are Biblical Values?” It's also the theme of the Sprunt Lectures he will deliver at Union Presbyterian Seminary.
The easy and unfounded application of scripture to political viewpoints is as prevalent today as at any time in history. It’s not uncommon to see election ads touch on right to life issues and the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. Collins says the problem is when it comes to a host of social and political issues, the Bible has much less to say than is generally supposed.