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“For our new president, we beg of you the wisdom Solomon sought when he knelt before you and prayed ‘for an understanding heart so I can govern the people and know the difference between right and wrong,” he said. O’Donovan, former president of Georgetown University in DC, quoted 1 Kings 3:9 and James 1:5 as he prayed. ( Biden’s cabinet nominees are mainly Catholics, Jews, and nonwhite Christians Pete Buttigieg, an Episcopalian, is the only white Protestant among them.)

It was the first inauguration ceremony in nearly fifty years to not include a white Protestant leader. The ceremony also included prayers from two members of the clergy: Jesuit priest Leo O’Donovan and African Methodist Episcopal preacher Silvester Beaman-a smaller lineup than the six clergy that spoke at Trump’s 2016 inauguration. But Biden sounds the right note by giving voice to the yearning of every human heart, not just during these trying and troubling times, but at every time and in every place where God has rescued us from death into life,” he said.īiden repeatedly brought up the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, including asking Americans to join him in a moment of “silent prayer” to remember the lives lost. “At the moment, for us as Americans, this is aspirational language. Smith, whose book You Are What You Love is based on Augustine’s teaching, also celebrated Biden’s reference. Biden is a Catholic, and Augustine is probably the most important theologian for Catholics apart from the apostle Paul himself, but he’s also really important for Protestants.”īut she points out that Augustine also taught that an appeal to common loves, even good ones, is not enough to foster a virtuous society that requires love of God above all else. “It’s also kind of a brilliant move to invoke Augustine. “It’s apropos for him to use this quote because Augustine’s talking about people as a nation,” said Han-luen Kantzer Komline, an Augustine scholar at Western Theological Seminary. He taught that “the soul takes on the character of what it loves,” writing, “to see what a people is like, we should look at what they love.” The church father shared this view in City of God, where he presented love, not law, as the thing that binds a society together. “Biden was honest in the speech, acknowledging that unity would not be found in agreement on every policy proposal, but in shared purpose and affection.”Īs Biden listed America’s common values, like opportunity, security, liberty, dignity, respect, honor, and the truth, he quoted a teaching from Augustine-“a saint of my church”-that “a people are a multitude defined by the common objects of their love.”

“It drew on the deepest sources of meaning Biden could draw on, including faith,” said Wear, who served under President Obama. Michael Wear, founder of Public Square Strategies LLC and a previous White House staffer, called the inaugural address “a soulful appeal for a substantive unity” and the best speech of Biden’s life.

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real,” but told Americans that “history, faith, and reason show the way of unity.” In his first remarks as president, Biden continued to use the “soul” language that was the mantra of his campaign, saying, “My whole soul is in this, bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, and I ask every American to join me in this cause.” He acknowledged that, “speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. In his inaugural address calling for national unity, President Joe Biden turned to Christian teachings, including the Psalms and Saint Augustine, to acknowledge the pain of the current political moment and his desire to bring Americans together around common values.ĭespite the adjustments made to this year’s ceremony, the event offered the typical display of American civil religion-prayers and appeals to national aspirations-with nods to Biden’s Catholic faith throughout.