1. In November, as Mike Huckabee surged in the polls, a student at Liberty University asked him what was driving his startling success. Huckabee responded, "It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000 people."
2. "Sometimes," the former Arkansas governor told his supporters, "one small smooth stone is even more effective than a whole lot of armor."
3. "We've also seen that the widow's mite has more effectiveness than all the gold in the world."
4. "It's almost like when the prophet was looking for a king. He came down, looked through all of Jesse's sons, went through a whole bunch of them, and said, 'Is this all you got?'"
So, how many allusions did you get?
NPR listeners thought Huckabee was speaking a secret, mysterious dialect. They didn't know what he was talking about, and neither did most of the Christians they found on the Mall in Washington. Fortunately they found Vickie Frey, a member of an evangelical megachurch in Omaha. She supported the hope that there is some biblical literacy left in the church, and got them all right.
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9 comments:
This Lutheran got all four references.
"So, how many allusions did you get?"
Seventy times seven.
:)
I'm a Roman Catholic convert. I got all four too. Don't like him though because he wears his religion on his sleeve and comes across as self-righteous. Not good for a politician or a christian.
Every third grade sunday schooler in every baptist church I've every attended would have nailed these easily. What is with people these days?
Got 'em all. NPR ought to consult with Stephen Prothero. He makes a good case for religious literacy.
"A little boy?" The guy was at least thirty.
Prothero was interviewed in the original NPR story. He confirmed their finding that most Christians don't really know the Bible.
Don't forget that if you have always used a Bible different than the KJV you might not know what a "widow's mite" is even if you know the story.
Isn't "widow's mite" in the culture?
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