One of the free-wheeling discussions at a Southern Indiana Writers meeting:
SOMEBODY: I don’t know what scripture this televangelist was quoting, but it didn’t come from any version of the Bible I ever read.
SOMEBODY ELSE: “The devil can cite scripture for his purpose.”
A BAPTIST MEMBER:
The devil got it right.
This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s weekly blog hop, One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner or just like them, follow this link.
A WRITING PROMPT BASED ON MY POST: Have someone misquote something.
MA
Dan Antion
June 13, 2018 at 11:06amVerily I say unto you – you do this one-liner thing pretty well.
Marian Allen
June 13, 2018 at 11:26am😀
Deborah
June 13, 2018 at 4:09pm+1 Dan! Ye, she surely does!
?
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
June 13, 2018 at 6:01pmMISquoting someone when you write is tricky, because the reader has to catch the quote AND that you’re misquoting for it to have the right effect; otherwise the reader just thinks you don’t know what you’re doing.
Scripture is perfect for that, as the writer/speaker usually is relying on translations even if they are relying on them accurately, and is not usually a native speaker of, say, Aramaic.
I have often noticed that this effect can really exaggerate the difference between what I thought the quotation was and what the speaker/writer says it was.
The best scam artists will then add chapter and verse – the questioner has to go away to check.
I’ve got to track down the ‘gospel of prosperity’ base in scripture – that can’t be what Jesus meant. He died a pauper.
joey
June 13, 2018 at 6:16pmCan’t click Like here, I just wanna say I like your comment.
Marian Allen
June 14, 2018 at 10:01am“what I thought the quotation was and what the speaker/writer says it was.” Yeah, also, I had to look up the “devil can cite scripture” to learn it was from Shakespeare, not the Bible! lol!