Posted on 04/25/2008 10:27:41 AM PDT by NYer
Washington DC, Apr 24, 2008 / 10:17 pm (CNA).- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing criticism for repeatedly attributing an incorrect quotation to the Book of Isaiah that concerns ministering to creation, Cybercast News Service reports.
The speaker has used the quotation at least five times, often in reference to environmental concerns.
The falsely-attributed quotation most recently appeared in her April 22 Earth Day news release, in which Speaker Pelosi said, The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, '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.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children's children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature.
Biblical scholars, however, are at a loss as to the source of Pelosis quotation.
John J. Collins, Holmes professor of Old Testament criticism and interpretation at Yale Divinity School, told Cybercast News Service that quotation is not one that I recognize.
I assume that she means this is a paraphrase, he continued. But it wouldn't be a close paraphrase to anything I know of."
"The quote does not exist in the Old Testament, neither in the New Testament," said Fr. Andreas Höck, a professor of Scripture who teaches in the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver's St. John Vianney Seminary.
"Even in pieces or bits, [it] cannot be found in the Old Testament," he said.
According to Cybercast News Service, Speaker Pelosi has used the quotation before.
In a December, 2005 message to the U.S. House of Representatives, Speaker Pelosi used the quotation after a reference to the prophet Isaiah. Her message read:
"Mr. Speaker, as we leave for this Christmas recess, let us say, 'God bless you' to the American people by voting against this Republican budget and statement of injustice and immorality, and let us not let the special interest goose get fat at the expense of America's children.
"The gentleman from Washington [state], Mr. McDermott, quoted the prophet Isaiah. And as the Bible teaches us, 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. Let us vote no on this budget as an act of worship and for America's children."
Speaker Pelosi has used the same phrase in at least four statements in 2007: in February remarks before the U.S. House Science and Technology Committees hearings on global warming; in April in congressional remarks before the Easter recess, in which she attributed the quotation to the Old Testament and advocated the reduction of greenhouse gas pollution; in an April speech to the League of Conservation Voters in Washington, D.C. in which she advocating tackling one of humanitys greatest challenges yetglobal warming; and in an October television interview with PBS host Tavis Smiley, in which she said her faith was related to her Democratic values.
Scripture scholars who spoke to Cybercast News Service reflected on whether environmentalism had an explicit scriptural basis.
Mark Goodwin, an associate professor of theology at the University of Dallas, said Pelosis use of the quotation was vague.
'To minister to the needs of creation is an act of worship' doesn't sound right to my ears," Goodwin said. "To minister to the needs of creation'- yes, but not as an act of worship. I'm not sure what she meant by that, and if I were there, I would have raised my hand and asked her to clarify that."
Eric Jenislawski, a theology professor at Christendom College in Virginia, said the Bible teaches in Genesis that man was placed on earth to till it and keep it, but also instructs mankind to fill the earth and subdue it.
Responsible use of the Old Testament, Jenislawski said, cannot divorce the biblical notion of stewardship (that man is obligated to care for God's creation) from the equally important biblical view that the entire natural world was created for man, for him to subdue it and to reign over it.
"Environmentalists who make man subservient to the natural world actually invert the biblical view of man's relationship to the earth," he said.
Maybe it’s in the “book of Revelations”.
Genesis 9
God's Covenant With Noah
1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
“Who made the salad?” “Ceasar made the salad!”
Proverbs 30: 5 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Why is the money line reserved for the last sentence?
Another made up Bible quote....
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
The best part of this was that Pelosi had also quoted Jim McDermott, stating at one point that he was quoting from Isaiah:
“The gentleman from Washington [state], Mr. McDermott, quoted the prophet Isaiah. And as the Bible teaches us, 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. Let us vote no on this budget as an act of worship and for America’s children.”
Now there’s a great source. Who’s a better expert on God’s Word than Baghdad Jim? Like he’d know Scripture if he saw it.
I hate to be picky but aren't the unborn part of God's creation? How is Nancy ministering to them? I don't think he meant by "Creation" just grass, trees, flowers, snail darters, and polar bears...
John 16:3 ping!
Revelation 22FYI, "this book" is the book of "Revelation" that John was writing at the time, not the Bible as a whole.18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Moreover, John could not have been referring to the Bible as we know it today, since the New Testament did not yet exist. The canon of the New Testament would not be formally determined for another 300-350 years.
Revelation 22FYI, "this book" is the book of "Revelation" that John was writing at the time, not the Bible as a whole.18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Moreover, John could not have been referring to the Bible as we know it today, since the New Testament did not yet exist. The canon of the New Testament would not be formally determined for another 300-350 years.
Might be helpful to actually READ the Bible before you actually try to QUOTE it!
Pelozi is so evil, I can picture her skin burning at simply touching a Bible!
Obviously.
Leave poor 'ole Nancy alone!
It’s an actual quote of Caesar himself isn’t it? There’s certainly nothing poetic about it.
She didn’t make it up, it’s from the New Revised Standard Living Liberal Red Letter Bible, with verses related to saving the environment, redistributing wealth and inclusion of all sexual proclivities marked in RED. It’s a brand new translation, correcting the errors of past translations which were marred by judgmentalism, ethnocentrism, homophobia and patriarchal authoritarianism.
I believe the quote is question is from the Book of Job in the New Testament. At least that’s where they moved it after another renowned Democrat Bible scholar, Howard Dean, said it was his favorite New Testament book.
Romans 1:25
25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creatorwho is forever praised. Amen.
Do you mean she did what Barack Obama did when he inferred that support for homosexual marriage was found in the Sermon on the Mount!!! Which therefore, according to Obama, means that the phrases from the epistles of St. Paul are now declared to be “obscure”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.