A evangelical pastor who runs a Bible Study attended by several members of the Trump administration‘s cabinet has implied that homosexuality could be one of the causes of the coronavirus epidemic in the US.

In a blog post “Is God Judging America Today?”, Ralph Drollinger wrote that “America is experiencing the consequential wrath of God” — that is, the inevitable punishment for violating Biblical precepts on godly behaviour.

A detailed theological argument distinguishing between different types of wrath, the post concludes that “those individuals who are rebuked by God’s forsaking wrath are largely responsible for God’s consequential wrath on our nation”.

The forsaken include gays and lesbians, “given over” as they are by God to “degrading passions”, as well as environmentalists, since “clearly indicative of God’s forsaking wrath is when the abandoned serve the creature rather than the creator”.

Among the cabinet’s “sponsors” of Mr Drollinger and his regular Bible Study are education secretary Betsy DeVos, secretary of state Mike Pompeo, and housing and urban development secretary Ben Carson.

Former energy secretary Rick Perry attended the sessions too; in an interview, he described Mr Drollinger as a “brilliant, knowledgeable bible instructor”. According to him, the group has previously been hosted by agriculture secretary Sonny Purdue.

In his post on divine judgment, Mr Drollinger appears confident that, thanks in part to his teaching, US political life will soon benefit from the rise of a new evangelical-minded generation who will be able to change the course of the nation.

“If my calculations are correct, and I believe they are, there are more believers in Congress and the executive branch now than at any other time in modern American history! And they are beginning to reach a tipping point!”

Other Evangelical pastors have drawn criticism for their response to the coronavirus pandemic. One, Rodney Howard-Browne, was shown on TV telling a congregation: “I know they don’t want us to do this, but just turn around and greet two or three people. Tell them you love ‘em, Jesus loves ‘em, amen.

“This has to be the safest place … If you can’t be safe in church, you in serious trouble.”

Mr Drollinger has forecast the dire consequences of LGBT+ tolerance before. In an earlier blog post, he warned of the certainty that allowing same-sex marriage will incur divine wrath.

“All members of the government, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, be ye warned herein by what God says to you today via His Word: “OUR NATION’S OBEDIENCE OR DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAWS IN TERMS OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE REPRESENTS A TIPPING POINT WITH ENORMOUS, ENORMOUS CONSEQUENCES”.

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However, while relying heavily on Leviticus to reach his conclusions, Mr Drollinger was also at pains to say he does not advocate executing gay men by stoning: “Corporal punishment, or putting to death a man who lies with a male, is not a tenet found recurring in the age in which we live, the Church Age of the Bible; the [New Testament] does not reiterate this practice for this day and age. However, the New Testament most certainly does reiterate and uphold the present prohibition of homosexuality.”