In John Bunyan’s allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, the Slough of Despond is the metaphor used to portray the difficulties experienced by the protagonist, Christian, as his sins and his guilt weigh him down, sinking him deeper and deeper into the allegorical bog. It is a vitally important thing for America and the world to make an effort to understand how deeply our national ignorance and arrogance have carried us into the modern version of the Slough of Despond so that that we can barely see the sky.
After returning from my morning walk today, I checked my email and looked at a message from an old friend. It wasn’t an ordinary message. Not in the least normal, I would say.
The message contained an Amazon listing for a new book by an author with whom I am not familiar: Helgard Muller.
The title of the new book is, wait for it:
President Donald J. Trump, The Son of Man – The Christ
You read that exactly right.
I am not certain what, if any, branch of Christianity or indeed, of sanity itself, is being represented here. A quick look through Google and Bing shows nothing about the author except that there is a Helgard Muller who used to play Rugby in South Africa. Nothing about credentials as a theologian or as a teacher or as a writer. Amazon does show another book by Muller, an 856 page tome,
Let us look at what the author has to say, shall we?
During the presidency of President Donald Trump, it became evident to me that the prophecies about the Son of Man, as predicted by Jesus in the Bible were, to a significant extent, fulfilled at the hands of Mr Trump. The Bible speaks about two different Christs-or Messiahs. Jesus, the Son of God is the one Christ, whereas the Son of Man is the other. Jesus always referred to the Son of Man in the third person. The greatest distinction or significance between the Son of Man and the Son of God (the Lamb) is their respective positions at the throne of God. There are numerous differences between the Son of God and the Son of Man, but overall, people read these scriptures and they do not realize that the Son of God (the Lamb) stands in front of the throne of God, whereas the Son of Man, is positioned on the right hand of God. Jesus spoke about two different killings in the four gospels of the New Testament. People read these scriptures and are unaware that Jesus (the Son of God) predicted his own killing in the first person, as opposed to the several prophecies that He made in respects to the Son of Man who will be crucified. The New Testament speaks about “two Kings;” Jesus, the Son of God, is the “King of the Jews,” whereas the Son of Man is the “King of Kings” who will be a world-ruler, and He will rule all the nations (the tribes) of the earth with a rod of iron. This book will explain in depth how “Donald John Trump’s” full name literally means: “The Ruler of the World, graced by Yahweh (the LORD) and a descendant of a Drummer.” Upon reading this book, the reader will be captivated when they realize how President Donald John Trump fulfilled most of the prophecies as the Son of Man. It speaks about End Time Prophecies and Biblical revelations regarding “President Donald J. Trump, the Son of Man. The Christ.” –Helgard Muller.
The book, published by Outskirts Press asserts that the Bible speaks of two beings: the Son of God and the Son of Man. Then author states, rightly, that Yeshua, the Christian Messiah, speaks in the third person of the Son of Man. 2000 years of theological opinions, debates, arguments and name-calling have not resolved the enigma in the Bible as related to the Son of God and the Son of Man. There is little agreement among scholars.
Do we have an answer?
The new book, instead of discussing this topic in the way a scholarly work would do, uses selected verses from the Bible to make its case that the Son of God and the Son of Man are separate. OK. I get his take. Theologically, there is an argument to be made here. The author is not content however, to rest on his success. No, he goes on to assert that YHWH and God are separate too. We will leave this here for today.
I would like to approach this book like I do any text about the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, but the more I read, the less able I am to take the author’s thesis seriously, or even without laughing out loud.
How does the argument proceed?
The author carefully uses incidents from the Trump presidency to show the fulfillment of scripture. He meticulously quotes from the Bible and draws his conclusions, miraculously, without tongue in cheek. Muller shows that he knows a lot about the Trump administration. He has clearly read at least some of the Bible.
His argument is so far out of sync with any remotely reasonable judgment previously put forth by any theologian or even any preacher that it is difficult not take this book as subtly veiled satire. It is clear, however, that he is serious. That such a book is actually available for sale speaks loudly about the state in which we find our republic.
Striding confidently, we are, with blinded eyes and a blinded faith based on faulty reasoning stumbling into that dismal swamp.
Do I recommend the book?
To the faithful Trump believer, absolutely! It will make you feel better about yourself.
To anyone else, I would rather recommend the author’s other book,
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