Carson tops Trump among evangelical voters, polls say

For weeks, businessman Donald Trump was the leading candidate with evangelical Christians.

But on Monday, a new Monmouth University poll found retired neurologist Ben Carson removed the real estate magnate from his pulpit, capturing 29% of the evangelical vote to Trump’s 23%. The poll also found Carson has surged to the front of the GOP pack to tie Trump in Iowa, sending a sign that his faith-based approach to politics is resonating.

And in an August CNN/ORC poll, Carson was considered the top GOP candidate who “best represents Republican values.”

“He is appealing to evangelicals because he is not afraid of talking about his faith. And when he does talk about his faith, it’s not a political talking point for him. It is a real relationship with a real God,” Carson’s press secretary, Deana Bass, told CNN in response to the recent poll numbers.

RELATED: Carson ties Trump in new Iowa poll

The Trump campaign declined to comment on Carson’s rise with evangelical voters.

In recent days, though, questions have been raised about how regularly he attends church and Trump was unwilling to discuss his favorite Bible verse.

Given his experience as a retired pediatric neurosurgeon and his Seventh Day Adventist faith, Carson has positioned himself as one of the most vocal presidential candidates in the ongoing abortion debate involving Planned Parenthood. The former Sunday School teacher has also been an advocate for religious liberty, an issue that has attracted him to many social conservatives.

And his religious faith doesn’t only fuel his social views but his approach to fiscal policy. Scripture’s concepts of tithing influence his 10% flat tax plan.

“I want a system that’s based on biblical principles, because it seems to me that God is pretty fair,” he said in Phoenix last month.

That appearance was originally supposed to be held at a city church, but interest was so high that the event was moved to the Phoenix Convention Center – the same place Trump spoke weeks before.

Ben Carson attends the National Action Network (NAN) national convention at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on April 8, 2015, in New York City.

Carson speaks during the 41st annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center on March 8, 2014, in National Harbor, Maryland.

Carson speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Carson is surrounded by supporters as he waits to be interviewed at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington on February 26, 2015.

Carson speaks at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention on January 18, 2015, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A variety of conservative presidential hopefuls spoke at the gathering on the second day of a three-day event.

Carson delivers the keynote address at the Wake Up America gala event on September 5, 2014, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Carson speaks during the 41st annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center on March 8, 2014, in National Harbor, Maryland.

Carson speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton on February 7, 2013, in Washington.

Honoree and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, Carson poses with actor James Pickens Jr. at the Jackie Robinson Foundation Annual Awards Dinner on March 16, 2009, in New York City.

Before his jump into conservative politics, Carson was known for his work as a neurosurgeon. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President George W. Bush on June 19, 2008. At that time, he was the director of pediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

In a story that garnered international attention, Carson was ready to separate a pair of 10-year-old Indian girls, Saba and Farah Shakeel, who are joined at the head in New Delhi, India. Here, he addresses a press conference at the Indraprashtra Apollo Hospital on October 4, 2005.

Carson and a team of 20 specialists approved the procedure after studying the girls' brains; however, their parents were worried about their daughters' lives and did not give doctors permission to operate. The surgery did not happen.

Carson observes the start of neurosurgery proceedings at the Raffles Hospital in Singapore on July 6, 2003. Carson and Dr. Keith Goh, left, performed a complex operation that was unsuccessful to separate 29-year-old twins Ladan And Laleh Bijani, who were joined at the head.

Ben Carson's career in politics

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“Even though the President says we’re not a Judeo-Christian nation, he doesn’t get to decide what kind of nation we are. We get to decide,” Carson told the Phoenix crowd, which was larger than Trump’s.

Bass told CNN that Carson’s lack of political experience is one of the key reasons he’s flourishing in his first bid for elected office.

“We find where ever we go across the country when people hear directly from Dr. Carson, his message resonates. He doesn’t sound like a politician because he is not a politician. People find his authenticity and his solutions for America to be a breath of fresh air,” Bass said.

But whether Carson will be able to dethrone Trump among is to be determined. That, Carson said, is out of his hands.

“All the pundits say it’s impossible,” Carson said. “I just said, ‘Lord, if you want me to do it, if you open the doors, I will walk through them.’”