
Donald Trump
With the presidential match-up apparently set now between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Republican candidate is opening up a bit more about his faith in Jesus.
"Who do you say Jesus is?" was the question posed to Trump Wednesday by noted columnist and author Cal Thomas.
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"Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence," responded Trump.
"Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind."
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Meanwhile, Trump, who famously quipped last year that he had never asked God for forgiveness – sparking a brouhaha among Christians and evangelicals who promote confession, repentance and prayer as forefront of the faith – said he has changed his mind.
Thomas noted, "You have said you never felt the need to ask for God's forgiveness and yet repentance for one's sins is a precondition to salvation."
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And Trump's answer?
"I will be asking for forgiveness," he said, "but hopefully I won't have to be asking for much forgiveness."
He then went on: "As you know, I am Presbyterian and Protestant. I've had great relationships and developed even greater relationships with ministers. We have tremendous support from the clergy. I think I will be doing very well during the election with evangelicals and with Christians."
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Trump then spoke of the persecution of Christians taking place across the globe:
"In the Middle East – and this is prior to the migration – you had almost no chance of coming into the United States. Christians from Syria, of which there were many, many of their heads … chopped off. If you were a Muslim from Syria, it was one of the easiest places to come in (to the U.S.). I thought that was deplorable. I'm going to treat my religion, which is Christian, with great respect and care."