People watching Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday (20 January) noticed that as her husband took the oath of office, Melania Trump held two Bibles by his side. But he never put his hand on either book. It would appear to have been a moment of absent mindedness on his part.

Whose Bible?

But the scenario of Trump and his Bible has raised once again the question of exactly what copies of the Word of God Melania was holding out to him. One has been confirmed to have been the Lincoln Bible, the book first used to swear in the 16th president in 1861 – also chosen by Trump to be used at his first inauguration in 2017 (and previously by Barak Obama at both of his inaugurations).

The other religious text in the first lady’s hands, according to a press release by the inaugural committee, was given to Trump by his mother in 1955 to “mark his Sunday Church Primary School graduation at First Presbyterian Church, in Jamaica, New York.”

But to a great many people, the real heroes of the Lewis revival are Christine and Peggy Smith.

But exactly where this Bible came from has been the source of considerable speculation for nearly the past decade. And it has led to the resurfacing, in recent days, of a five-min video-clip, 'Donald's Bible', which first went viral in 2020, and which has created great excitement, especially among Republican Christians in the States.

It began as a popular story in 2017, and makes the fascinating claim that the Bible Trump’s mum gave to her son all those years ago was a well-worn Bible written in Gaelic and lovingly pored over on a daily basis by two elderly sisters involved in one of the most famous religious revivals of the twentieth century.

The thoroughly inspiring video can be viewed here:

The Story of Donald's Bible and the Hebrides Revival - YouTube

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Q54eQ_16s

The Smith sisters

The revival in question is one which dramatically began on the Scottish island of Lewis exactly 75 years ago – the famed Hebrides revival of 1949-52. Many will know that spiritual awakening spread through the West of Scotland island through the direct gospel preaching of Duncan Campbell, an evangelist serving with the Faith Mission.

... they knew full well how to be useful in the spiritual realm, spending much of their time bowed in intercession before the Lord, engaging in spiritual warfare and pleading with Him to rend the heavens and visit their district once again with showers of divine blessing.

But to a great many people, the real heroes of the Lewis revival are Christine and Peggy Smith. Indeed, virtually everyone who knows anything at all about the Lewis revival knows about these two praying sisters. Housebound due to infirmity and therefore of little further ‘use’ to society, they knew full well how to be useful in the spiritual realm, spending much of their time bowed in intercession before the Lord, engaging in spiritual warfare and pleading with Him to rend the heavens and visit their district once again with showers of divine blessing.

Such beautiful, endearing story has acted over the decades as a powerful lesson that no one is worthless in the kingdom of God; everyone has a significant role to play. No matter how weak or worthless we may feel, by surrendering our lives to God, we will be powerful instruments in His hands. ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness … For when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Cor 12:9). The 'Donald's Bible' video informs us that Christine and Peggy donated their ‘Hebrides Revival Bible’ to their niece, who in turn bequeathed it to her son, Donald Trump. Additional details soon got added to the narrative – paving the way for the video.

What’s in a name?

It’s an intriguing story for sure. And at first glance it seems quite possible. It’s no secret that Trump’s mother, Mary Anne Smith Macleod, hailed from Lewis. Her own mother’s maiden name was indeed Smith – she lived from 1867 to 1963. This would have been roughly contemporaneous with the lives of Christine and Peggy Smith.

Did he live without a forename for the first four years of his life?

But sadly, the story’s not true. In fact, it’s riddled with problems. There are hundreds of Smiths in the Western Isles, and the names Christine and Peggy Smith do not match with Trump’s relatives. Further, Lewis is a relatively small, well-connected island where people know genealogy well, and we are dealing with just two generations. People on Lewis who knew Christine and Peggy Smith insist that they were not directly related to Mary Anne. Also, Mary Anne Macleod came from the east Lewis village of Tong, just north of Stornoway; the Smith sisters, on the other hand, lived in Barvas, on the west side of the island.

The teenage boy that the video claims Duncan Campbell became dependent upon during the revival was Donald MacPhail from Arnol. He is incorrectly referred to in the video as Donald Smith. There is no evidence to suggest that Donald MacPhail was a cousin of Mary Anne, as the video claims. In any case, MacPhail’s life of faith and intercession could not have inspired Trump’s mother to name her son after him; the Lewis revival began in 1949 and MacPhail became a Christian the following spring, in May 1950. Donald Trump, however, was born in 1946. Did he live without a forename for the first four years of his life?

Further, Trump’s own uncle was called Donald; so was his maternal great grandfather. There was no need for Mary Anne to look to some religious revival on the other side of the world for someone to name her son after. In fact, Mary Anne left Lewis in 1930 (not 1936 as the video claims), before Donald MacPhail was even born. That means she also emigrated long before the 1949-52 revival ever broke out on the island. Although she returned to her native Lewis in later years, it is quite possible she never knew of the spiritual revival of Duncan Campbell fame. (Besides, there were countless other Donalds on Lewis – what select source is privy to her naming her son after one particular Donald over another?)

Well-worn after a lifetime of use, and full of hand-written notes and markings as it probably was, it would almost certainly have been their most prized possession.

Prized possession

Even if Christine and Peggy Smith were Mary Anne’s aunts, no one has provided a reason for them choosing to donate their Gaelic Bible to Mary Anne rather than one of their many other nieces and nephews (Mary was one of ten children). Besides, their Bible would probably have been the last thing the godly sisters would have parted with. Well-worn after a lifetime of use, and full of hand-written notes and markings as it probably was, it would almost certainly have been their most prized possession.

Rather than post a heavy Bible to their niece in the States in any case (the siblings were not wealthy), it would have been far more convenient to send a postal order so she could buy a new one. (The Smith sisters would never have regarded their Bible as a ‘Revival Bible’ in any case; nor would they have seen it as in any way special simply because they owned and read it during a time of spiritual awakening. To them it was simply their Bible.)

Mammoth fabrication

And that leads to another problem. Mary Anne did give her son a Bible when he was young. Rather than being in Gaelic (a language quite unfamiliar to Donald), it was an English translation; and it was a Revised Standard Version. The RSV was first published only in 1952, by which time the Lewis revival had virtually drawn to a close. Trump’s Bible was presented to him at First Presbyterian Church in the Queen’s district of New York in 1955, when nine-year-old Donald graduated from Sunday school there. (Indeed, he swore in on this Bible when inaugurated as President in 2017). Trump proudly refers to this as the Bible his mother gave him – he has made mention of no other.

But it seems clear that the 47th President of the United States of America kept no ‘Hebrides Revival Bible’ in the Oval Office.

Everybody loves a good story, and ‘Donald’s Bible’ is one that many have found inspiring. But it seems clear that the 47th President of the United States of America kept no ‘Hebrides Revival Bible’ in the Oval Office. On the contrary, as with his mother, it’s quite possible that Donald Trump has never even heard of the Lewis revival, let alone of his would-be great aunts.

The entire story, sadly, is a mammoth fabrication.

Endnote
More information on Trump’s Bible, the Smith sisters and the Lewis revival of 1949-52 is found in the book ‘Island Aflame: The Famed Lewis Awakening that Never Occurred and the Glorious Revival that Did’, Christian Focus 2024.