Al Mohler reverses course, rejects blasphemy laws after controversy

(RNS) — A prominent Southern Baptist theologian now says that he was wrong to endorse the idea of blasphemy laws in a recent book and during a book tour talk at an Idaho university.

“On this score, to state the matter plainly, I think I blew it,” R. Albert “Al” Mohler wrote in an op-ed Monday (Sept. 14) for World Opinions, a Christian editorial site where he is editor.

“As a Baptist, I would never want to coerce religious belief — period,” Mohler said in the op-ed.

Mohler, longtime president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, is co-author of “5 Views on Christian Nationalism,” a new book from Canon Press, an evangelical publisher founded by controversial Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.

During an Aug. 7 event at the University of Idaho, Mohler said Christianity played a key role in the American founding. He lamented that the U.S. Constitution, unlike the Declaration of Independence, makes no mention of God.

“That is a huge problem with the U.S. Constitution,” he said.

The event, sponsored by Canon Press, featured Mohler and Wilson, along with author and pastor Joe Rigney, a leader at Christ Church in Moscow, where Wilson is pastor. Another…