Christian leaders have expressed their opinion about former president Donald Trump’s “God Bless The USA” Bible, which he launched just before Easter.
Trump announced the release of Bibles, named after country music artist Lee Greenwood’s patriotic song, on his social media platform, Truth Social. The books cost $59.99 and have a “slim design” that “invites you to explore God’s Word anywhere, anytime.”
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Donald Trump’s Bible Sales Called ‘Crass’ And ‘Commercial’
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After Trump was criticized on social media for selling unorthodox Bibles, religious leaders from across Christian denominations weighed in on the former president’s controversial business move.
Speak to Fox News DigitalDaniel Darling, director of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Land Center for Cultural Engagement, branded the former president’s decision to sell the Bible before Easter as “crass,” noting that even Christians are “cautious” about mixing secular documents with the Holy Bible.
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“A lot of Christians, even those like me who are very conservative politically and theologically, find his approach a little harsh,” Darling said. “While many Christians are deeply patriotic and revere our national document, they are wary of mixing it too closely within the pages of the Bible.”
Darling went on to state that while Trump may not have intended to offend Christians, selling Bibles the way he did was considered “commercial.”
He also stated that “a Bible supported by any politician is an excess of syncretism and civil religion that degrades the Bible when it is used as a political tool.”
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Christian Leaders Find ‘Trump-ification’ of Scripture Disturbing
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Another Christian leader, Fr. Brian Graebe, a priest with the Archdiocese of New York, told the news outlet that they were not bothered by Trump’s decision to sell the Holy Bible, noting that “the more Bibles that are out there and the more people who read them, the better.”
However, Fr. Graebe finds issue with the Trump-centric “marketing” of the Bible. He said, “I think the worrying aspect here is […] its marketing, its pampering, its Trump-ification.”
Fr. Grabe then asked, “Is Trump’s Bible more Trump than the Bible? I think that’s the main question we have to ask ourselves to see what the ultimate objective is here.”
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When Trump announced the sale of the “God Bless The USA” Bible, it was billed as “the only bible endorsed by President Trump,” a statement that drew a lot of criticism from Christians online.
The inclusion of secular documents, such as the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance, in the Bible also raises concerns.
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Catholic Church Opposes Anything ‘That Unites Sacred And Secular In Scripture’
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Fox News Digital also spoke with Joe Heschmeyer, an apologist at Catholic Answerswho feel that the inclusion of secular documents in the Bible that Trump supports shows a lack of respect for the scriptures.
Heschmeyer notes that the Catholic Church generally opposes “Christian patriotic appropriations that seek to turn the Gospel into fodder for political campaigns or social movements.”
He said, “The Hebrew word for ‘holy’ is Qadosh, which means ‘separated’ or ‘separated.’ The idea is that some places, times, and things belong to God, apart from ordinary worldly use.”
“We’re not going to put soda in the Chalice from Mass, or use the church as a gymnasium, and that’s why we don’t want to do anything that combines the sacred and the secular in Scripture,” Heschmeyer added.
‘Inserting America’s Founding Documents into the Bible Is Not Wrong’
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Amid criticism and mixed reactions, Dr. Peter Kerr, dean and professor at Colorado Christian University’s School of Business and Leadership, said Fox News Digital that Trump’s critics are unreasonable.
Kerr argued that “Putting America’s founding documents into the Bible is not wrong” and that the secular documents included in the “God Bless the USA” bible were written by men who were “followers of God.”
The dean further stated, “As long as people can distinguish the word of God from the word of man, it does not matter if they are published in the same volume.”
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Donald Trump Raises $50M In Palm Beach Fundraiser
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The recent criticism from Christian leaders comes amid the Trump campaign’s push to raise money for his re-election bid.
The former president and the Republican party officially kicked off their massive general election fundraising drive Saturday night in Palm Beach, Florida,
At the event, prominent donors, including his vocal supporters and newcomers, gathered to lend their support to the party’s presumptive candidate.
Trump’s wife, Melania, who has been conspicuously absent from the campaign, was present at the event, which was hosted by billionaire John Paulson.
According to organizers, a total of $50 million has been raised for the Trump campaign and the Republican party. That figure is nearly double the amount raised by President Joe Biden’s fundraiser, held in New York last weekend, which reportedly brought in $26 million.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
