Gairney Bridge

Yes, we all know politicians like to quote the Bible from time to time, especially if it’s a political season. It seems that the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is no exception. See if you can guess where this passage, one of her favorite Biblical quotes, is found (hint: think of the prophets):

To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.

Have a guess? Give up? Pelosi says it’s found in the book of Isaiah. You won’t find it there, however. The problem, you see, is that the quote appears nowhere in the Bible. And Ms. Pelosi has quoted in on a number of occasions (often in defense of Earth Day, incidently). I hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to be hearing about a Quadra-Isaiah now.

I guess we all can make mistakes, though. How many of these gems have you heard people claim were in the Bible?

• God helps those who help themselves.
• Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish and he eats forever.
• Cleanliness is next to godliness.
• God works in mysterious ways.
• Spare the rod and spoil the child.
• The lion shall lie down with the lamb.
• Money is the root of all evil.
• This too shall pass.

In fact, none of them are (see these and more examples here).

I remember once when I was teaching a Wednesday night Bible study, and I used a topical example of a politician (I forget whom, but I believe the topic he was defending was homosexual marriage) who decided to quote the Bible. He referenced Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” I pointed out that this verse is often misused and quoted out of context (Jesus Himself teaches His followers to be discerning, to watch out for false prophets, etc., just a few verses later). One of the older gentlemen in attendance asked if I thought this kind of misquoting was “because of all the new Bible translations.” I pointed out to him that I thought that was precisely not the case, since the politician in question was quoting from the King James Version!