The primary biblical warrant that evangelical Christians use to justify support for Donald Trump is the figure of Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who conquered the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C., thereby freeing the Israelites to return home from exile. But an examination of ancient sources reveals the flaws in their argument.
Trump may be an “imperfect vessel,” as Christian Zionist leader Mike Evans has told the Christian Broadcasting Network, but God likewise used an idolater like Cyrus to save God’s people. Trump has been compared to Cyrus by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro and countless others.
But neither the Bible nor other ancient sources give any indication that Cyrus was a person of low moral character. To the contrary, all the biblical sources that mention Cyrus praise him. In Isaiah 45:13, God says, “I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his paths straight.”
The Bible passages that mention Cyrus regard him as a liberating hero, and the Greek historian Xenophon reported on Cyrus’ reputation for bravery in battle. Harvard University professor Richard Frye wrote of Cyrus, “He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity, and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring.” No claims of bone spurs excused him from military service.
Cyrus distinguished himself as a statesman, never trying to subvert the Persian Empire’s system of government by illegitimately clinging to power. Rather than chaos, Cyrus was known for creating a stable political infrastructure — including an innovative postal system — that lasted long after his death. Cyrus was a hero to Thomas Jefferson, who saw him as the first ancient ruler to respect and tolerate local religious customs in his realm. The Cyrus Cylinder — unearthed in 1879 and described by United Nations Secretary-General U Thant as “an ancient declaration of human rights” — describes how Cyrus, after conquering Babylon, abolished forced labor, aided displaced people, and restored Babylonian temples and cult sanctuaries, despite not sharing their customs.
Cyrus was a one-woman man; he and his wife, Cassandane, were devoted to each other. When she died, Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout his realm. Cyrus was never overheard bragging about sexually assaulting women. When Trump was, 26 women came forth and accused him of such conduct. Trump’s response was to claim that all 26 women were lying. Cyrus, by contrast, was known for his honesty. No independent fact checkers found him making an average of 21 false statements per day during his administration.
A list of things Trump has done and said that Cyrus did not would be much too long for this essay, but the point should be clear by now. There is no evidence that Cyrus was “wicked and ungodly.” Surely, he was not a saint — he was a conqueror and empire builder — and surely God can use imperfect people for good ends. But Cyrus was not a “sleazebag,” to use Trump’s favored term for those, such as Michael Cohen, who soiled themselves by associating with Trump and no longer wish to do so.
Modern historians tend to think the ancient sources exaggerated Cyrus’ virtues for pedagogical purposes. Xenophon’s biography of Cyrus, for example, idealized Cyrus as a lesson to Athenian elites on the characteristics of the model ruler in order to encourage good governance. Today, by contrast, Trump supporters paint Cyrus — without any evidence from the Bible or other ancient sources — as a reprobate in order to excuse Trump’s vice.
The Bible does not regard Cyrus as some all-purpose license for Christian hypocrisy. The point of the story of Cyrus is not to break all the commandments you want, as long as you’re pursuing power for God’s people. The point of Cyrus as a figure in the Bible is rather: Even foreigners can be good people and instruments of God’s purposes. This is far from the messages about foreigners that Trump sends out.
As a Christian theologian, I would ask my fellow Christians to refrain from twisting the biblical text and the historical record. The figure of Cyrus can inspire fidelity, public service, good governance, tolerance of other faiths and openness toward foreigners. Cyrus should not be used to exempt Christian politicians and Christian voters from having to act like Christians.
William T. Cavanaugh is a professor of Catholic studies and director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University in Chicago.
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