Christianity is little more than a massive corporate-like enterprise, with the Pope as the earthly member of its board. Christ’s headquarters in heaven "is not a place for questions" because questions "only lead to doubt." When Matthew refuses to cooperate, he is returned to Earth and, as if his life weren’t bad enough, made to suffer like Job.

That brings Satan to center stage. In a scene reminiscent of the biblical account of Satan’s temptation of Christ, Satan tells Matthew, "Faith wants you to be docile. It wants you to be ignorant so you can be exploited." Satan also preaches that modern government and politics serve only the rich and powerful and to further disenfranchise the average individual. He encourages and helps Matthew to stand up for the common man.

Ultimately, he mobilizes an unlikely force - those made fat by fast food restaurants. The U.S. government is overthrown because, as the clueless and moronic president tells the country, "Crowds of the obese are rampaging through the streets, seizing government buildings, and enacting what many are calling the fattest coup in history."

By this point, however, the book’s machinations tend to become quite tangled and it all begins to feel too contrived. As Matthew’s true destiny is revealed, the focus becomes the final struggle between Heaven and Hell, yet the story devolves to the point where Armageddon comes off as a gory B horror movie involving humans, angels, demons, and zombies.

Ultimately, Moses is often too unsubtle and the book too circuitous, failings that may come with the territory of self-published books. Moreover, one of the core messages — and the reader's interest — may get lost in the overly tumultuous closing chapters.

Still, the book rises above the level of most self-published works. More important, it will strike a responsive chord with those tired of the increasing dominance of religion in society and its growing role in politics, as well as those who see a political system attuned toward the self-interest of politicians and the powerful rather than helping the average citizen.

This is satire and farce that not only portrays the corruption and misuse of societal institutions, but also excoriates those institutions for what they have done to the principles upon which they claim to be based.