But few people who claim to be evangelical Christians can match Ken Paxton forselective literalism. Paxton, the Texas attorney general and Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, hascriticized his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, for misunderstanding and misusingthe Bible. “His views are antithetical to Christian, historicalChristian views,” the attorney general said about Talarico. They are not Christian views. Yes, Talarico’s Christian theology has affinities with the Social Gospel, the notion thatJesus is capable of redeeming not only sinful individuals but also, through the agency ofhis followers, sinful social institutions.