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After weeks of turmoil, House Republicans elected Rep. Mike Johnson on Wednesday as the new speaker of the House, an act the Louisiana congressman suggested was ordained by God.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear: that God is the one who raises up those in authority,\u201d Johnson said in his first speech after being elected speaker in a 220\u2013209 vote. \u201cHe raised up each of you. All of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson, an evangelical Christian, peppered his remarks with religious references. He recounted the history of how the motto \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d was placed in the House chamber\u2014a rebuke of communism, which many associated with atheism\u2014and highlighted the Declaration of Independence\u2019s use of \u201cCreator.\u201d He also noted the presence of Moses on the wall of the House chamber.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough adversity, it makes you stronger,\u201d he said, referencing the three-week period in October that it took Republicans to elect a new speaker to replace the ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy.<\/p>\n
In a later speech on the Capitol steps, Johnson framed his leadership goals by citing Romans 5:3\u20134.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was reminded of the Scripture that says \u2018Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we need in this country is more hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson has been tied<\/a> to multiple Baptist churches over the years and currently attends Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Baptist Message<\/a>. He is also a former lawyer and communications staffer with the Alliance Defense Fund, which later became known as Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal firm.<\/p>\n According to CNN<\/a>, Johnson penned a number of editorials while working at ADF, including ones in which he decried homosexuality as an \u201cinherently unnatural\u201d and \u201cdangerous lifestyle\u201d that could lead to the collapse of \u201cthe entire democratic system.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson has continued to voice support for conservative Christian viewpoints while in office, even hosting a podcast with his wife, Kelly, a licensed pastoral counselor, aimed at providing an \u201canalysis of hot topics and current events from a Christian perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Among other things, Speaker Johnson has repeatedly rejected many broadly held interpretations of the separation of church and state.<\/p>\n \u201cThe founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around,\u201d he said during a September 2022 episode of the podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n He went on to argue that \u201ca free society and a healthy republic depend upon religious and moral virtue,\u201d arguing that society would crumble without it.<\/p>\n His views echo the writings of David Barton, a controversial Texas activist<\/a> who has spent years railing against the separation of church and state. On Wednesday, Substack writer Warren Throckmorton pointed out<\/a> that Johnson lauded Barton during a 2021 talk<\/a> to a group of state legislators organized by WallBuilders, an organization founded by Barton.<\/p>\n \u201cI was introduced to David and his ministry a quarter century ago, and it has had such a profound influence on me and my work and my life and everything I do,\u201d Johnson said at the time.<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s victory was celebrated by Brent Leatherwood, head of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Johnson served on the commission\u2019s board from 2004 to 2012.<\/p>\n \u201cMike Johnson, a name familiar to many Southern Baptists, has been tapped to lead the chamber, and I want to offer my personal congratulations to him,\u201d Leatherwood said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n He later noted that his first Capitol Hill meeting as head of ERLC was with Johnson and lauded him as someone who \u201ccarries an abiding devotion to our convention of churches, subscribes to the principles that are dear to so many Southern Baptists and has deep pride in our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s views are likely to clash with that of many of his colleagues on the other side of the aisle. His election comes the same day as a House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs hearing, which included a discussion of Christian nationalism between Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, who said he was raised Southern Baptist, and Amanda Tyler, who heads the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.<\/p>\n During their exchange, Frost recalled recent remarks by Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who declared that \u201cthe church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church.\u201d<\/p>\n