Santorum: 'I Wasn't Suggesting the President's Not a Christian

GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum on Sunday hit back at claims that he does not believe President Barack Obama is a Christian, following controversial statements he made about the president's religious values the day before.

Speaking to supporters in Ohio Saturday, Santorum said Obama's agenda is based on "some phony theology. Not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology."

"In the Christian church there are a lot of different stripes of Christianity," he added. "If the president says he's a Christian, he's a Christian."

Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Santorum clarified his remarks: "I wasn't suggesting the president's not a Christian. I accept the fact that the president's a Christian."

He told host Bob Schieffer he was simply referring to the president's world view of environmentalism "that elevates the Earth above man," including the "politicization of the whole global warming debate."

"This is just all an attempt to centralize power and to give more power to the government," Santorum said. "It's not questioning the president's beliefs in Christianity, I'm talking about, you know, the belief that man should be in charge of the Earth and should have dominion over it and be good stewards of it."

Asked about his use of the word "theology," Santorum reiterated his belief that Obama is a Christian.

"I've repeatedly said I don't question the president's faith, I've repeatedly said that I believe the president's  Christian, he says he's Christian," Santorum said. "But I am talking about his world view and the way he approaches problems in this country and i believe they're different than most people in America."

Santorum discussed Obama's religious beliefs during the 2008 campaign cycle, saying he belonged to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church to achieve a "political objective":

The former Pennsylvania senator has come under particular scrutiny in recent days in the area of religion. A staunch Catholic, he is vocal in his opposition to contraception and has been particularly outspoken regarding the administration's mandate that it be covered by employers. He was also forced to distance himself from a key backer's joke that girls used to keep aspirin "between their knees" to not get pregnant.

Earlier on Saturday, MSNBC aired a clip from a 2008 Santorum speech to a group of college students in which he said "mainline Protestantism" is "gone from the world of Christianity."

"We all know that this country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic. But the Judeo-Christian ethic -- sure the Catholics had some influence -- but this was a Protestant country," said Santorum. "And the Protestant ethic, mainstream, mainline Protestantism, and of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is a shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it."