Someone who calls himself a “Christian” must, at a bare minimum, have some allegiance to the teachings of Christ. And this allegiance must, of course, be greatest on matters of the greatest importance, especially the question of life after death. 

On this criterion, President Obama is guilty of an epic fail. 

He said something, in his own autobiography, The Audacity of Hope, that makes it impossible for us to think of him as a Christian. He may call himself one, but just because I call myself a 1963 Jaguar XKE doesn’t make me a car. 

By the way, the president hasn’t even called himself a Christian lately. He’s trotted out his second-string spokesman to say it for him. 

Now everybody says we should take the president at his word when he talks about matters of faith. Fine. I completely agree. Unfortunately for the president, based on his own words, it is impossible for any neutral observer to call him a Christian. This isn’t even a judgment call. 

In a telling excerpt from his memoir, he writes about being asked by his daughter a question regarding what happens when we die. Talk about teeing it up for a Christian father! Here is the ultimate question in all of life, and his daughter wants to know what he, a self-proclaimed follower of Christ, believes. 

Here are the words of Christ himself on the subject: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). 

Here, in our pseudo-Christian president’s own words, is his answer to the question of the ages: "I wondered whether I should have told her the truth, that I wasn't sure what happens when we die, any more than I was sure of where the soul resides or what existed before the Big Bang." 

This is an answer that no Christian could possibly give. It’s an answer that could only be given by someone who does not believe in Christ, his mission, and his teaching.  It’s an answer an agnostic could give, an answer an atheist could give, or an answer a spiritual inquirer could give. It’s even an answer a Muslim could give since a Muslim can’t know he’s going to paradise unless he blows up some infidels. But this is not an answer a Christian could give. 

Now we can’t be sure exactly what Mr. Obama meant when he confessed ignorance regarding “what existed before the Big Bang,” but the Scripture leaves no doubt on that score: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”( Genesis 1:1).  

So a Christian knows the answer to this question also. What existed before the Big Bang? That’s easy: God. The answer is found in the very first words in the Bible. 

So the president completely biffs it on the question of the origin of the universe and the question of life after death, despite the fact the Christian Scriptures give clear and unambiguous truth statements on both. 

Let’s summarize: 

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” ~ Jesus Christ 

"I wondered whether I should have told her the truth, that I wasn't sure what happens when we die, any more than I was sure of where the soul resides or what existed before the Big Bang." ~ President Barack Obama 

Is President Obama a Christian? Nope. 

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)