‘Jesus Is The Only Way’

Following his sentencing for involvement in the January 6th Capitol riot, ICED EARTH guitarist Jon Schaffer discussed his newfound faith in a Riffs From The Couch interview.

When asked about the role of his relationship with Jesus Christ in navigating his ordeal and the impact of those circumstances on his faith, Schaffer stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Well, I would say that as brutal as it’s been in the big picture, it’s been the biggest gift of my life to go through this, not only for the cause, but for the fact that it is what led me to Christ.

“My life’s journey has been incredible — I mean, you can’t make this stuff up — and so it’s, like, it took that to break my stubborn… I was very stubborn, very, very hardheaded and very driven,” he continued. “But I realized that all the things that I’d been writing about [in my songs] and the sort of the warnings and stuff through the catalog and various projects, and that I feel like God was working through me and I didn’t even know it. And so when I was locked up in solitary, the only book that I could get was a Bible. And even that request took about three weeks to get it.

“And I started reading and… ‘Cause I was a Christian when I was a kid. Then I went to a religious school and things changed for me after that experience. And I’ll get into more of that in my testimony. But if it wasn’t for this, I am certain that I was on a path to destruction and that it took this and this time, these years of solitude, to understand and learn, and I’m still learning. I have a lot to learn. I think there’s a lot to the Bible. But I look at the Bible as a… We’re in a fallen state, and the Bible is like the operator’s manual to help you not just live, but thrive in the fallen state. And Jesus is the only way — that is absolutely clear to me now. And this has come in various steps of my…

“I’ve always been awake to corruption and held very strong views against government corruption and what’s happening and this level, but when you start to understand it from a biblical standpoint, then it gets real and that’s when the dots start connecting,” Jon added. “And I just feel like — without getting too deep in the weeds about everything that happened — if it wasn’t for what happened, I would not have been saved and called by Christ. And I feel like this is the beginning of a new chapter. I don’t know what that looks like, and that’s okay, ’cause he’s in the driver’s seat.”

For his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, Schaffer was sentenced last October to three years of probation, 120 community service hours, and $1,200 in fines. Although initially charged with six crimes, including violent acts against police, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of Congress and armed trespassing. Schaffer was later among those pardoned by President Donald Trump.