But in biblical ethics, taking Scripture as a whole, obedience to God’s moral law, and the pursuit of godly character are far more prominent than calculation of consequences.

When it comes to voting, there are two major problems with Consequentialism. First, no human can predict or fully assess the consequence of any action. Full assessment requires omniscience, which is an attribute of God, not man. Second, consequentialism tends to decay into lawlessness when people do whatever it takes to achieve their desired result. (Opt Cited)

Doriani goes on to say that “character matters. Candidates need qualities like wisdom, justice, love, mercy, even humility.” Mr. Doriani
equivocates a good deal but concludes

… “Who will do the most good for the country?” is valid, but it’s not the only question. One believer may believe it is right to vote for the lesser of two evils. Another may conclude, “I cannot vote for a candidate I consider evil.”

Thoughtful Christians will come to different conclusions on this, but it is clear in Scripture that God’s people often do what is right and leave the results to the Lord of history. (Ibid)

Mr. Doriani may be a nice guy and his writing reflects an attempt at reasonableness. Those points notwithstanding, his thinking is flawed, and his conclusions trivial.

In Jeremiah 29: 7, the Lord instructs the exile in Babylon, “But
seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare
you will find your welfare.” The Lord’s commandment stands in contrast to the false prophets of the day who claimed that they had a vision from God to the contrary. No doubt these prophets claimed the moral high in making their arguments: “How can you support an evil society ruled by a wicked tyrant?” Was the Lord advocating the moral relativism of the Utilitarian philosophy? Hardly; rather He was telling his people to pursue morally right decisions in a fallen world. Do you suppose the exiles of Judah sometimes struggled in determining what that was? Of course; Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were faithful servants of Nebuchadnezzar but opposed his edicts and those of his successors when those edicts ran afoul with God’s law.

Mr. Doriani’s claim we cannot “predict or fully assess the consequence of any action” is simultaneously self-evident and clichŽed. This was true when the Israelites were commanded to pursue the welfare of Babylon but did not prevent the Lord from commanding them to do so.

Voting for King David isn’t an option… move on

The assertion that voting for one of the major candidates may “decay into lawlessness when people do whatever it takes to achieve their desired result” is a straw man argument. Few people whom I have heard and no thinking Christians argue that the ends justify the means. Rather, Christians are trying to determine what the right thing to do is given the circumstances that confront us today. It does no good to say that “Candidates need qualities like wisdom, justice, love, mercy, even humility” (Ibid); we have no such candidates before us – neither candidates from the major parties nor third-party candidates. I wish voting for King David were an option; it isn’t. Get over it, move on.

The question that Christians should move on to is what is the right thing to do. This is not “Consequentialism”, to use Doriani’s favored term, but the realism of moral decisions in a fallen world. To illustrate, an ectopic pregnancy necessarily requires taking the life of baby to spare the life of the mother. Is this “consequentialism”? Of course not! The most godly doctor will perform this procedure because he understands it is the moral thing to do. If he were able to spare the life of the child, he would, and perhaps some day the Lord will bless him with the technological means to do so. But until then, everyone – including the tiny guy in the fallopian if he were more mature – understands that this terrible action is right.

So how then should believers approach this election? By pursuing the welfare of the country. I would argue that this means focusing on policies, platforms and, yes, likely consequences. This does not mean that we jettison character assessment but that we acknowledge that character must be assigned less weight this election cycle and look for how character foretells policy.

I will tell you why I am voting for Donald Trump and let you make your own assessments:

1) Law and Order – The Republican Party acknowledges that laws matter and have generally, even when they disagreed with the law or court rulings, obeyed those laws. Democrats, in general, and Hillary Clinton, in particular, have shown a disregard for the law and have expressed a desire to upend the law as embodied in the Constitution through lawless judicial fiat.

2) Life – Hillary Clinton’s policy positions, her support for Black Lives Matter and her recent decisions with respect to Benghazi reflect a reckless disregard for human life.

3) Females and the So-Called “Homosexual Community” – Democrats embrace all manner of sexual perversions and promote those as rights. The Republican platform will result in fewer sexual assaults because bathrooms will not become “gender neutral.” Furthermore, Republicans are less likely to misappropriate the word “compassion” and abandon homosexuals to the hopelessness of their sin.

4) The Black Community – This is related to Number 1 above. The Republican party and Donald Trump will support law enforcement in the inner cities. This will enable law-abiding blacks to live in much safer conditions. Further, Donald Trump supports school vouchers which enable children to escape failing schools and attend schools of their parents’ choice. To paraphrase a Peruvian friend, “If you teach someone to read a contract, you have greatly increased their prospects of success in life.”

5) The military – See point 2 above.

6) Religious Freedom – Hillary Clinton and the Democrats will continue their assault on Christians. It may seem self-serving to want something else, but that desire is also supported by Scripture (I Timothy 2: 1 – 2).

7) The Economy – I am an economist, I cannot leave this out. The Republicans’ policies are not perfect, but their policies will be much better for the economy as a whole, including lower-income households, than the Democrats’.

I trust I have not been too hard on Mr. Doriani. He makes several points with which I am in strong agreement: 1) Regardless of the outcome of this election, the Lord is in control; and 2) Regardless of its outcome and of how other believers vote, Christians should obey Jesus’ command to love one another.