Friday, November 30, 2007

Sayings NOT in the Bible

I frequently hear people say things like, "The Bible says..." Only, the Bible doesn't say! Here are a few of my favorite sayings that AREN'T in the bible:

"God helps those who help themselves."
"Money is the root of all evil."
"Cleanliness is next to godliness."
"God moves in mysterious ways."
"Pride goeth before a fall."
"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust."
"The Bible is the Word of God."
The "sinners" prayer
And my all-time favorite:
"Jesus said, 'You must be in the world, but not of the world.'"

So where do these come from?

God helps those ... Benjamin Franklin (a Deist)
Money ... a misquote of 1 Tim 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils" (NRSV)
Cleanliness ... a mishmash of a host of verses about clean and unclean things
God moves ... hymn by William Cowper
Pride cometh ... misquote of Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (NRSV).
Ashes ... Derived from Eccl 3:20, "
all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again."
Word of God ... while the Bible does refer to "the words of God" and sometimes "the word of God", and Jesus is called "the Word", the Bible never refers to itself as the Word of God.
The "sinners" prayer ... although commonly prayed at altar calls on t.v., there is no such thing in the Bible.
You must be in the world ... a mishmash of John 17:11 and John 16:33,
"I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33 NRSV) "And now I [Jesus] am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one." (John 17:11. NRSV)

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