MediaVideoMartin Bashir

MSNBC Guest Dr. Craig Mitchell Questions Obama's Faith: 'I Don't Know If He's A Christian Or Not' (VIDEO)

WATCH: Another MSNBC Guest Questions Obama's Faith
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MSNBC's Martin Bashir was outraged over guest Dr. Craig Mitchell's refusal to say that he believed Obama is a Christian on Wednesday.

The exchange took place one day after another MSNBC guest questioned President Obama's religious beliefs. Franklin Graham, the son of televangelist Billy Graham, refused to say whether he knew that Obama was a Christian.

On Wednesday, Bashir asked Mitchell, an associate professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, to weigh in on critics' allegations that Obama is "somehow sub-Christian."

Mitchell said that other American presidents have faced those charges, and that people had the right to question Obama. "But you know, people do have their concerns and it’s not wrong for them to express those ideas," he said.

Bashir asked him to identify other presidents who have been questioned over their religious beliefs. Mitchell said that Obama "has a unique set of circumstances." The MSNBC host then asked his guest a blunt question. "Sir, do you believe he’s a Christian?" Bashir asked.

"What I know is that he says he's a Christian, so I have to take him at his word," Mitchell answered.

Bashir was not satisfied with the response, and cited what he said were Obama's public affirmations of his Christian beliefs. "I'm not asking you if you take him at his word," he said. "Do you believe that he's a Christian?"

"I don’t know if he’s a Christian or not," Mitchell said. "I've never met the man. I've never talked with him and a lot of people say that they're Christians. That doesn't mean that they are."

He later said, "All I know is that he says he's a Christian and that's sufficient." When pressed to explain further, Mitchell said, "What I'm saying is I accept the fact that he says he's a Christian and until I actually talk with him, I won't know for sure."

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Before You Go

The Republican Presidential Candidates Talk God And Religion
Mitt Romney on American Chosenness(01 of07)
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In an October foreign policy speech, Mitt Romney said: "God did not create this country to be a nation of followers. America is not destined to be one of several equally balanced global powers. America must lead the world, or someone else will."Photo: Former Mass. Gov. Romney bows his head during his address to the Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island, Mich., Sept. 24. (credit:AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Rick Perry on Forgetting God(02 of07)
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"Father, our heart breaks for America," Ricky Perry said at his August prayer rally, The Response. "We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government and, as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us."Photo: Texas Gov. Rick Perry listens during a prayer at the close of "The Response," a call to prayer for a nation in crisis, in Houston Aug. 6. Perry attended the daylong prayer rally despite criticism that the event inappropriately mixes religion and politics. (credit:AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Ron Paul on the Prince of Peace(03 of07)
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"In the Bible, in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, Christ was recognized to be the prince of peace. He was never to be recognized as the promoter of war. And he even said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be the children of God.' He never said blessed are the war makers. It was the peacemakers that we must honor and protect," Ron Paul said at the Value Voters Summit. "Christ was very, very clear on how we should treat our enemies. And some days I think we quite frequently forget about that."At the 2007 Value Voters debate, Paul said: "Christ to me, is a man of peace. He is for peace. He's not for war. He doesn't justify preemptive declared war. I strongly believe there is a Christian doctrine of Just War and I believe this nation has drifted from that, no matter what the rationals are, we have drifted from that and it's very, very dangerous and I see in many ways being un-Christian. And to justify what we do in the name of Christianity I think is very dangerous and not part of what Christianity is all about. Christ came here for spiritual reasons not secular war and boundaries and geography. Yet we are now dedicating so much of our aggressive activity in the name of God, but God -- He is the Prince of Peace. That is what I see from my God, and through Christ, I vote for peace."Photo: Republican presidential candidate Rep. Paul (R-Texas), answers a question during a Sept. 22 debate in Orlando, Fla. (credit:AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, Pool)
Herman Cain on Moses(04 of07)
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"I felt like Moses when God said I want you to go into Egypt and lead my people out," Herman Cain said. "God has been in this since the beginning ... there are certain things that happen along this journey that they couldn't happen unless God was in it."Photo: Republican presidential hopeful Cain speaks during a dinner sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, April 29 in Manchester, N.H. (credit:AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Rick Santorum on Gay Marriage(05 of07)
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"This is not about gay marriage, it is about changing what is right and wrong and fundamentally changing what people of faith can say and do in society," Rick Santorum said. "The ultimate objective here is to drive faith out of the public square, to drive morality out of the laws of this country, to secularize our society with a different set of values."Photo: Republican presidential candidate Santorum addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 23. (credit:AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool)
Newt Gingrich on Converting(06 of07)
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"People ask me when I decided to become Catholic," said Newt Gingrich, who formally converted in 2009. "It would be more accurate to say that I gradually became Catholic and then realized that I should accept the faith that surrounded me."He went on: "The depth of faith and history contained in the life of the Catholic Church were increasingly apparent to me. ... Slowly, over a decade, the centrality of the Eucharist in the Catholic Mass became more and more obvious to me."Photo: Republican presidential candidate Gingrich addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 23. (credit:AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool)
Mum on Mormonism(07 of07)
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"In a few months, when the smoke has cleared, those of us who are evangelical Christians are going to have a choice to make," said Rev. Robert Jeffress while introducing Gov. Rick Perry at the Value Voters Summit. "Do we want a candidate who is skilled in rhetoric, or one who is skilled in leadership? Do we want a candidate who is a conservative out of convenience, or one who is conservative out of deep conviction? Do we want a candidate who is a good moral person, or do we want a candidate who is a born-again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ?" Rev. Jeffress told a reporter after Perry's speech that Mormonism is a "cult." He later defended his comment saying, "Mormonism has never been considered a part of evangelical historic Christianity."GOP candidates dismissed the comments. A spokesperson for the Perry campaign said that Perry "does not believe Mormonism is a cult."Herman Cain said, "He's a Mormon, that much I know. I am not going to do an analysis of Mormonism versus Christianity for the sake of answering that. I'm not getting into that." Cain added that he was most focused on economic issues. Michele Bachmann said that while the real issue is "religious tolerance," Rev. Jeffress comments were ultimately "inconsequential": "To make this a big issue is ridiculous right now, because every day I'm on the street talking to people. This is not what people are talking about."Photo: Republican presidential candidate Perry gestures as Rep. Bachmann, (R-Minn.), left, and businessman Cain listen during an Oct. 11 presidential debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. (credit:AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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