Donald Trump as Jesus Christ?
That may sound incredulous if not sacrilegious, but that's the subject of "The Gospel: King Trump Version," a newly released satirical book that replaced Jesus in the Bible with the words and actions of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
It was written by Jomo Johnson, a founding member of the Black Lives Matter branch in Savannah, Georgia and a minister formerly associated with the conservative Presbyterian Church in America, The Christian Post reported.
The book is published through Amazon and available on Kindle and in paperback.
What's the book all about?
"What this Gospel does is the same thing Christian Trump supporters did during the election: take Jesus out in order to put Trump in," a summary of the book states on Amazon.com. "The book puts the campaign actions and sayings of Donald Trump in the biblical format of the Gospel of Mark, as a witness against all those who claim the name Christian while also voting for Trump. And as the Republican National Committee wrote on Christmas to their followers, "Herald Your New King."
Speaking to The Christian Post on Tuesday, Johnson said the book uses the Gospel of Mark, minus the biblical characters, in recalling the events during Trump's campaign.
"It follows actions, sayings, statements, and things that Trump has done throughout the campaign and beyond, kind of in place of the Gospel," Johnson explained. "It broke down the Gospel of Mark, kind of the same literary form and same sequence and same challenges. It is Trump replacing Jesus in the Gospel and the implications of that."
One of Trump's controversial statements fictionalised in the book is the one he made in 2015 when he wondered if he should have to ask God for repentance or forgiveness even if he never makes mistakes.
The book text reads: "He [Trump] took a mirror which he placed in front of himself. Taking the mirror in his hands, he said to them, 'Whoever can look in this mirror and see no need to apologize, repent, or ask forgiveness, is the greatest. Can any of you do that?'"
When the people watching him put their heads down, Trump comments, "That's what I thought. That's why I'm running for President and you're not.' He then dropped the mirror and left the room."
Johnson said he wrote the book after finding out that many evangelicals voted for Trump, apparently ignoring or dismissing the highly questionable statements he made during the campaign that critics say degrade women, minorities and immigrants.
Exit polls showed that about 81 percent of evangelicals voted for Trump last November.
Johnson said the evangelical vote "seemed to be a continuing trend of American Christianity that kind of replaces the Gospel with pieces of the capitalistic gospel."
He said he wrote the book "not as a comedy" but to deliver an "indictment against the Church more so than Donald Trump."
