Ellis has also represented Pastor John MacArthur in his legal battles against the state of California and serves with Liberty University’s political think tank, Standing for Freedom Center, formerly the Falkirk Center. The think tank’s renaming came after hundreds of current and former students petitioned Liberty to cut ties with it, in part because of certain fellows’ support of Trump. The petition expressed concern about multiple fellows at the center, including Ellis.
MSNBC host Joy Reid took aim at Ellis, saying that as a “pastor and a scholar,” Warnock has more credibility when speaking about Christianity than Ellis does as an attorney.
This lady is literally calling the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s church — a heretic. This actually happened today. Madame, I’m gonna take @ReverendWarnock‘s take, as a pastor and a scholar on the Word over yours, if you don’t mind. https://t.co/xia6HjwDCG
— Joy-Ann Pro-Democracy & Masks Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) April 4, 2021
In a back and forth with Ellis, Reid said she had read the Bible in its entirety and that she would look to a pastor “as an expert on the Gospel” over someone who “who defended the right’s literal golden calf.”
One preacher who seemed to critique Sen. Raphael Warnock’s credentials as a pastor defended him as a better political leader than his former opponent, Kelly Loeffler, saying, “Being a theologically Orthodox Christian is not a requirement for a political office.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock has framed himself as someone who stands up for the downtrodden. In a campaign speech, the pastor said, “I’ve spent my life and my ministry trying to fight for people without a voice, the people almost at the bottom.” Many believers, however, have taken issues with Warnock’s pro-choice stance.
In December, more than 24 Black ministers urged the reverend to reconsider his views on abortion. In a letter, the ministers said, “You have publicly expressed your views that abortion is an exercise of ‘human agency and freedom’ that is fully consistent with your role as a shepherd of God’s people. We believe these statements represent grave errors of judgment and a lapse in pastoral responsibility, and we entreat you to reconsider them.”
