Phantom Bible passages
CHICAGO – Football legend Mike Ditka was giving a news conference one day after being sacked as the coach of the Chicago Bears when he decided to quote the Bible.
“Scripture tells you that all things shall pass,” a choked Ditka said after leading his team to only five wins during the previous season. “ is, too, shall pass.”
Ditka fumbled his biblical citation, though. e phrase “ is, too, shall pass” does not appear in the Bible. Ditka was quoting a “phantom scripture” that sounds like it belongs in the Bible, but look closer and it is not there.
The Bible may be the most revered book in America, but it is also one of the most misquoted. Politicians, motivational speakers, coaches – all types of people – quote passages that actually have no place in the Bible, religious scholars say.
These phantom passages include: “God helps those who help themselves”, “Spare the rod, spoil the child” and this often-cited paraphrase: “Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden.”
None of those passages appears in the Bible. But people rarely challenge them because biblical ignorance is so pervasive that it even reaches groups of people who should know better, said Prof Steve Bouma-Prediger, a religion professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
“In my college religion classes, I sometimes quote 2 Hesitations 4:3 (‘ ere are no internal combustion engines in heaven’),” he said. “I wait to see if anyone realises that there is no such book in the Bible and therefore no such verse. Only a few catch on.”
Ignorance and confusion
Ignorance is not the only cause for phantom Bible verses. Confusion is another. Consider these two: “God works in mysterious ways”; “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
Both sound as if they are taken from the Bible, but they are not. The first is a paraphrase of a 19th-century hymn by the English poet William Cowper (“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform”).
The “cleanliness” passage was coined by John Wesley, the 18th-century evangelist who founded Methodism, said Prof Thomas Kidd, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas.
He said: “No matter if John Wesley or someone else came up with a wise saying – if it sounds “proverbish”, people figure it must come from the Bible.”
Our fondness for the short and tweet-worthy may also explain our fondness for phantom biblical phrases. The pseudo-verses function like theological tweets: They are pithy summaries of biblical concepts.
Most people have heard this one: “God helps those who help themselves.” It appears nowhere in the Bible, but many people think it does. It is actually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, one of the United States’ founding fathers.
It is easy to blame the spread of phantom biblical passages on pervasive biblical illiteracy. But the causes are varied and go back centuries.
Some of the guilty parties are anonymous, lost to history. ey are artists and storytellers who over the years embellished biblical stories and passages with their own twists.
If, say, you were an anonymous artist painting the Garden of Eden during the Renaissance, why not portray the serpent as the devil to give some punch to your creation? And if you are a preacher telling a story about Jonah, does it not sound better to say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, not a “great fish”?
There are some who blame the spread of phantom biblical verses on Martin Luther, the German monk who ignited the Protestant Reformation, the massive “protest” against the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church that led to the formation of Protestant church denominations.
Said Mr Craig Hazen, Director of the Christian Apologetics programme at Biola University in Southern California: “It is a great Protestant tradition for anyone – milkmaid, cobbler, or innkeeper – to be able to pick up the Bible and read for herself. No need for a highly trained scholar or cleric to walk a lay person through the text.”
But often the milkmaid, the cobbler – and the NFL coach – start creating biblical passages without the guidance of biblical experts, he said, adding: “You can see this manifest today in living room Bible studies across North America where lovely Christian people, with no training whatsoever, drink decaf, eat brownies and ask each other, ‘What does this text mean to you?’’’
“Not only do they get the interpretation wrong, but very often end up quoting verses that really are not there.” – CNN Blog. John Blake is a CNN writer.
New Common English Bible in third printing
NASHVILLE (Tennessee) – The New Common English Bible translation is now in its third printing and totals 500,000 copies in print, including the New Testament-only editions released a year ago.
According to the Christian Newswire, The Common English Bible is the work of 120 biblical scholars from 24 denominations. It is published by Abingdon Press, an imprint of the United Methodist Publishing House.
The Common English Bible is not simply a revision or update of an existing translation. It is a bold new translation designed to meet the needs of Christians as they work to build a strong and meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ. A key goal of the translation team is to make the Bible accessible to a broad range of people. It is written at a comfortable level for over half of all English readers. As the translators do their work, reading specialists from more than a dozen denominations review the texts to ensure a smooth and natural reading experience. Easy readability can enhance church worship and participation, and personal Bible study. It also encourages children and youth to discover the Bible for themselves, perhaps for the very first time. – United Methodist News Service.
Some of the most popular Bible verses
WASHINGTON – Here are some of the most popular verses of the Bible, according to lists supplied by the American Bible Society in New York; Top Verses, an automated program developed in Australia that counts and ranks Bible references across the Internet; and e Christian Post in Washington, which describes itself as a pan-denominational Christian media source.
The verses are taken from the New American Bible translation.
• “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16).
• “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(Jn 8:32).
• “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Ps 23:1).
• “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (Jn 14:6).
• “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth … ” (Gn1:1).
• In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there
were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place
for you?” (Jn 14:2).
• “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.” (Eph 2:8).
• “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.” (Phil 4:13).
• “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19).
• “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will
be saved.” (Rom 10:9).