Results 1 to 20 of 45

Thread: Biden and the Bible

Threaded View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    1,744
    Thanks
    139
    Thanked 609 Times in 445 Posts
    Rep Power
    12

    Default Biden and the Bible

    In his speech addressing the attack on the Kabul airport President Biden said:

    “Those who have served through the ages have drawn inspiration from the Book of Isaiah, when the Lord says, “Whom shall I send…who shall go for us?” And the American military has been answering for a long time: “Here am I, Lord. Send me.” “Here I am. Send me.”
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...ional-airport/

    Biden’s appeal to Biblical authority is curious, particularly as he doesn’t seem to understand the import of his reference. Taken by itself, Biden uses the language to praise the American military for answering the call to service. But neither combat nor humanitarian aid is the subject of the text. Instead, Isaiah is being sent as a spokesman for God, a prophet:

    Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
    And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
    9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
    “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
    10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.[a]
    Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage...+6&version=NIV

    “Go and tell…” Not go and fight, not go and rescue, but go and tell this people God’s message. Isaiah is told to be God’s prophet, to speak on God’s behalf. To listeners familiar with the full text of Isaiah Chapter 6 Biden’s quotation struck a discordant note, as being a misreading of the text.

    How did this happen, that the speechwriters or Biden got this wrong?

    One possibility is that it was a simple mistake. In searching for a catchy phrase someone remembered “Here am I. Send me.” Plugging that phrase into a search engine provided the source and citation and it was plugged into the text of the speech. No one thought to read the verses before and after the quotation to understand it. Neither the team or the President had familiarity with phrase to catch the mistake. It went to the teleprompter and then to the world.

    Assuming it was a mistaken use of the text, citing the Bible was not. Referring to the “Book of Isaiah” makes it clear that it was a knowing reference to the Bible. Why would the President rely on the authority of the sacred text of Jews and Christians to bolster his message?

    Another possibility is that it was a knowing misuse of the text. If so, that changes consideration for the reference to the Bible from the Biden team not knowing it was taken out of context to knowing and not caring about the portion of the audience that would.

    In either case, Biden’s use of Isaiah’s call to be a prophet of God seemed discordant to me.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to kazoolaw For This Useful Post:

    724Seney (August 28th, 2021)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •