Polls suggest Trump isn't the answer to Iowa Christians' prayers

Ben Carson has taken a 9-point lead over Donald Trump in Iowa, a switch driven by evangelical Christians who evidently don't find Trump's plan to be "the greatest jobs president God ever created" enough to win their vote.

Only 18 percent of Iowa evangelicals support Trump, while Carson's backing among that demographic has grown from 21 to 33 percent. "Carson, the moral outsider, beats Trump, the secular, business outsider," explained Republican strategist Alex Castellanos.

Trump's low numbers among Christians is not surprising after several awkward statements he has made about faith. Speaking in Iowa in July, for example, he averred that he has never asked God for forgiveness and referred to communion — which for evangelicals serves as a remembrance of the atoning work of Christ — as "my little wine" and "my little cracker." The church Trump says he attends "a lot" denies that he is an active member.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.