Clinton's Aides Against Temptation

President Clinton has asked at least two ministers to serve as spiritual advisers, pray with him weekly and help him resist temptation.

Mr. Clinton called the ministers for their help on Labor Day when he was preparing for independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report.

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White House officials confirmed that the ministers include the Rev. Tony Campolo, a liberal Baptist from Pennsylvania known for advocating Christian acceptance of homosexuality. Another is the Rev. Gordon MacDonald, pastor of a nondenominational Christian church in Lexington, Mass. MacDonald has admitted having an extramarital affair.

MacDonald alluded to a third minister in a Sunday sermon, but that person has not come forward.

In a statement, Campolo addressed whether Mr. Clinton had selected the ministers as political damage control.

"There are those who will say that Gordon and I are being used and manipulated," Campolo said. "Should this be true, it would not be the first time that Christians have been taken in. But we would rather be men of faith who believe that God is working in the life of the president than to join that army of cynics...who cannot accept a plea for forgiveness at face value."

Campolo's statement was released by Eastern College, a small school in southeastern Pennsylvania where he teaches sociology. He described President Clinton as a "fallen brother."

"We want to understand what went wrong with him personally that led to the tragic sins that have so marred his life and the office of the presidency," the statement said.

Campolo, who met Mr. Clinton at a White House breakfast on volunteerism in 1993, said he has confronted the president about his sexual behavior, but added that those conversations are "no one's business."

Both ministers declined requests for interviews about their arrangements with the president. MacDonald's church, Grace Chapel, posted his Sunday sermon (including comments about the president) on its Web site.

MacDonald admitted his affair 12 years ago. He resigned his position and left the ministry. He returned to the ministry two years later and wrote a book about his experience, Rebuilding Your Broken World.

"I bring an understanding of what it is like to face the public scrutiny when one has sinned," MacDonald said in his sermon.

Mr. Clinton told MacDonald that he had read the book twice, and the president invited him to the White House, MacDonald said. He said he spent several hours speaking with the Clintons on Thursday before spending the night in the Lincoln Bedroom.

The following morning, the president confessd at a prayer breakfast that he had "sinned" and delivered his extensive public apology for the Lewinsky scandal.