"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path",(Psalm 119:105) these words, from the authorised version of the Bible, are words that I know well. In fact, it used to be, most of Christendom knew them. But it seems to me, that we have forgotten the Christian foundations of our culture.
Now, I have never been a Shakespeare fan (though, I do appreciate his use of puns), but, one thing about him, is that his works largely consisted of biblical allusions. (According to Joseph Pearce, Shakespeare may have secretly been a Catholic, and provides pretty good evidence to that point, just an aside). One who knows a little Shakespeare knows at least a little bit of the Bible.
I bring this up, because the alleged "president elect" (that's not how that works), Joseph Robinette Biden, referred to the Psalmist as the "Palmist". Hear more about that, here.Biden's palmist
Now, to be fair to Biden, a Palmist IS a real thing, just not the thing he's thinking of. It's also something that I am pretty sure the Bible prohibits that 1 Samuel 28 RSVCE.
And I feel like that IS the issue. Biden should know how to say "Psalm". It's not something he can blame on a childhood stutter, that magically reappeared. (Side note:, as a lifelong stutterer, I find that accusation offensive). For we Catholics, the Psalms ARE the prayer of the Church. It is something that we are very thankful for the Jewish people for blessing us with.
You'll note, I started this with the Psalms. Yeah, because it's one that a lot of people know. God's word IS the foundation for the western world.
Now, when I say "God's word", I do not just mean The Bible. Catholics LOVE The Bible, and we follow its precepts, and we believe it is God's written word. We do not detract from The Bible by saying "God's word in The Bible".
Obviously, when God spoke some of those words (like when God spoke to Moses, like in Exodus 3:4), it had to be spoken BEFORE it was written down.
Back to the point I was making. How many people these days know "an eye for an eye", is from The Bible? (Leviticus 24:20) How many people know that, whilst it exists in other cultures, the reason western culture knows "Do unto others", is because of The Bible? (Usually as a paraphrase of Luke 6:31, though, there are other examples of it it both the Old and New Testaments)
Then we get to the opposite problem. Things that AREN'T from the Bible that we think are Biblical. An example of this is "God helps those who help themselves", which is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, but comes from Algernon Sidney.
If we knew our Bibles, like even people in the Middle Ages knew them (an illiterate society that was still biblically literate), we would not make these mistakes.
If, during the Middle Ages, you went to Mass daily, saw passion plays, and paid attention to the stained-glass scripture, you would know your Bible multiple times over.
The hyper reliance on Scripture alone, instead of LOVE of Scripture, is what, I would argue, lead to a scripture illiterate society.
It's why Biden can say "Palmist". It's why he can openly support the murder of unborn babies. It's why my country (The United States) is in the mess it's in.
A nation cannot be governed without the Bible and strong morality.
And one that quotes The Bible, that calls himself a "Devout Catholic" (Which I find arrogant), one would think, would able to quote the Book of The Bible read at every Mass.
Read your Bible, learn history, learn scripture.
Oh, and saying two Corinthians is a completely acceptable way to say 2 Corinthians.
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