{"id":360,"date":"2018-11-07T12:03:20","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T17:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=360"},"modified":"2020-09-17T10:59:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T14:59:06","slug":"controversial-billboard-ad-appeared-portray-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2018\/11\/controversial-billboard-ad-appeared-portray-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"This Controversial Billboard Ad Appeared to Portray Donald Trump as Second Coming of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_88\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-88\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-88\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2018\/05\/1.png\" alt=\"Gage Skidmore\/Wiki Commons \" width=\"720\" height=\"494\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-88\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gage Skidmore\/Wiki Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A pre-election billboard in St. Louis created quite a stir this week. The sign appeared to claim that President Donald Trump is the Second Coming of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>The billboard featured Trump along with the biblical verse, \u201cThe Word Became Flesh\u2026\u201d and appears to support the notion that Trump is divinely ordained to further Christianity in America.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cWord Became Flesh\u201d reference is from John 1:14 which says, \u201cThe Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The signage also read \u201cMake the Gospel Great Again,\u201d a clear play on Trump\u2019s campaign pledge to \u201cMake America Great Again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When CBS affiliate KMOV4 asked local area residents what they thought of the billboard, reactions were strong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to make of it,\u201d resident Sherri Chisholism said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what message it was trying to send but I felt like it was somewhat offense, I didn\u2019t know if they were trying to equate Donald Trump to Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some people are also calling it heresy like this Twitter user.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">From a friend &#8212; a billboard spotted outside of St Louis. I don&#8217;t like using the word &#8220;heresy,&#8221; but I think I&#8217;ll make an exception in this case. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FqaPnBXGHT\">pic.twitter.com\/FqaPnBXGHT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Diana Butler Bass (@dianabutlerbass) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dianabutlerbass\/status\/1058950301271486465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Since catching media attention the facebook group &#8220;Make the Gospel Great Again&#8221; is claiming to be behind the ad but they say they were not equating Jesus with President Trump. Their response on social media said:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our billboard IS NOT equating Jesus with President Donald Trump. Salvation comes only from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not any man. But God does send his messengers to us, and just as King David liberated the faithful in his day, President Trump is doing this today through his protection of the unborn, defense of our land against foreign invaders and standing up for Israel. He surrounds himself with champions for Christian Rights \u2013Mike Pence, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. Compared to the disaster of a president we had in Obama, how is this not the \u201cword become flesh\u201d for Americans? As Christians we must not\u00a0\u00a0stand against God\u2019s will despite the persecution we face for doing so.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The billboard has sense been pulled as it didn&#8217;t meet the requirement for political ads according to DDI Media who owns the ad.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time Trump has been linked to Bible prophecy and even the Second Coming. Fox News host Jeanine Pirro said Trump\u2019s decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem fulfilled biblical prophecy and carried biblical significance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonald Trump recognized history. He, like King Cyrus before him, fulfilled the biblical prophecy of the gods worshiped by Jews, Christians and, yes, Muslims, that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state and that the Jewish people deserve a righteous, free and sovereign Israel.\u201d Pirro wrote in an opinion piece.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has also been compared to the Antichrist.<\/p>\n<p>While Trump has claimed to be \u201cChristian\u201d and a \u201creligious person\u201d there are many who are not convinced about his faith.<\/p>\n<p>When he has talked about Scripture or faith publicly in the past, his words have not landed for many. During a 2016 rally at Liberty University, Trump\u2019s words fell a bit flat when he referenced \u201cTwo Corinthians\u201d before reciting a New Testament verse from \u201cSecond Corinthians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then, when asked theological questions, Trump often speaks in vague terms. Asked \u201cWho is God to you?\u201d by the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trump answered \u201cGod is the ultimate,\u201d then went on a brief spiel about how he got a great deal on the golf course before circling back to his original definition. \u201cSo nobody, no thing, no there\u2019s nothing like God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Trump hasn\u2019t always been vocal and descriptive related to his faith, or conversion experience, some would say his actions tell the story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A pre-election billboard in St. Louis created quite a stir this week. The sign appeared to claim that President Donald Trump is the Second Coming of Christ. The billboard featured Trump along with the biblical verse, \u201cThe Word Became Flesh\u2026\u201d and appears to support the notion that Trump is divinely ordained to further Christianity in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[63,231,233,232,234,235],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-donald-trump","tag-donald-trump-bible-prophecy","tag-donald-trump-in-bible","tag-donald-trump-second-coming","tag-make-america-great-again","tag-make-the-gospel-great-again"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This Controversial Billboard Ad Appeared to Portray Donald Trump as Second Coming of Jesus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2018\/11\/controversial-billboard-ad-appeared-portray-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Controversial Billboard Ad Appeared to Portray Donald Trump as Second Coming of Jesus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A pre-election billboard in St. Louis created quite a stir this week. The sign appeared to claim that President Donald Trump is the Second Coming of Christ. The billboard featured Trump along with the biblical verse, \u201cThe Word Became Flesh\u2026\u201d and appears to support the notion that Trump is divinely ordained to further Christianity in&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2018\/11\/controversial-billboard-ad-appeared-portray-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ News Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-07T17:03:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-17T14:59:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lesli White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2018\/05\/1.png\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This Controversial Billboard Ad Appeared to Portray Donald Trump as Second Coming of Jesus","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2018\/11\/controversial-billboard-ad-appeared-portray-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This Controversial Billboard Ad Appeared to Portray Donald Trump as Second Coming of Jesus","og_description":"A pre-election billboard in St. Louis created quite a stir this week. The sign appeared to claim that President Donald Trump is the Second Coming of Christ. The billboard featured Trump along with the biblical verse, \u201cThe Word Became Flesh\u2026\u201d and appears to support the notion that Trump is divinely ordained to further Christianity in&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2018\/11\/controversial-billboard-ad-appeared-portray-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus.html","og_site_name":"Christ News Today","article_published_time":"2018-11-07T17:03:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-17T14:59:06+00:00","author":"Lesli 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