Phantom Bible Verses

03/15/2013CLAY GENTRY

Recent surveys by both Gallup and the Barna Group[i] reveal that bible
literacy in America is at an all time low. For example, Fewer than half of
all American adults can name the four gospels. Many professed
Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples.
According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60% of Americans
can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. Worse yet, Barna’s
work revealed that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc
was Noah’s wife. Another survey of graduating high school seniors
revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were
husband and wife. A majority of respondents to one poll believed that
the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. Since bible
illiteracy is so prevalent what passes for bible teaching and bible verses is
distorted. Because of this, there is a plethora of proverbial sayings that
are called Phantom Bible Verses.

What is a Phantom Bible Verse?

A phantom bible verse is any saying that sounds biblical in wording

and/or concept, but in fact is not biblical on one and/or both accounts.
Because bible illiteracy is so prevalent, people really don’t know the truth
from error. We can categorize Phantom Bible Verses into five groups:

Condensed Verses: “Pride goes before a fall” is not in the Bible. It’s a
distillation of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty
spirit before a fall.” Another example would be, “Spare the rod, spoil the
child.” Again, it’s a slightly condensed form of the biblical
proverb, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is
diligent to discipline him” (Proverbs 13:24). Condensed Phantom Bible
Verse capture the essence of the verse, in a tweet like form, just not the
wording.
Summarized Verses: A close cousin to Condensed
Verses is Summarized Verses. Again, these are not sayings found in the
Bible, but they do capture biblical principles quite nicely. For instance,
“You’re to be in the world but not of the world” encapsulates the teaching
found in John 17:11, 16 and Romans 12:1-2. Or how about this venerable
favorite, “God will never give you more than you can handle” which
captures one application of 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Embellished Verses: These verses are embellishments added to well
know Bible stories such Adam and Eve eating an apple, when in fact it
was an unnamed fruit (Genesis 3:1-7) or Jonah being swallowed by a
whale instead of a “great fish” (Jonah 1:17). Perhaps the granddaddy of
them all, the three wise men visiting baby Jesus in the manager. The wise
men brought three gifts but their number of men is never mentioned
(Matthew 2:1-11). This kind of Phantom Bible Verse stems from man’s
desire to explain the unexplained, or add detail when part of the picture is
missing.
Misquoted Verses: “Money is the root of all evil” is a misquotation of 1
Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” We
might also add, “The lion shall lay down with the lamb” is a Phantom Bible
Verse. It is a misquotation of Isaiah 11:6which states, “The wolf shall dwell
with the lamb.” These subtly changes can be rather benign, as with Isaiah
11:6, or they can be rather serious by altering the meaning of Biblical
teaching, as with the example of 1 Timothy 6:10.
Forged Verses: This kind of Phantom Bible Verse will be the subject of
this lesson. In my opinion these are the most dangerous kind of verses
that we have looked at thus far, because the wording sounds biblical, as
does the meaning. Furthermore, these verses are generally accepted by
those in the world and those who profess to be Christians. With that in
mind, let’s examine for of these Unbiblical Phantom Bible Verses:

“Forgive and Forget.”

Origin: An old saying popularized in Shakespeare’s King Lear and Miguel

de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. The present day version has been
condensed and reversed from, “Let us forget and forgive injuries” (Don
Quixote) and “Pray ye now, forget and forgive” (King Leer).

Meaning: The implications of this saying is that in order to forgive, one

must also forget the wrong infringe upon them. How often have we ill
advised an injured person to, “forgive and forget”? Or, on the flip side,
how many times have you heard someone declare, “I’ll forgive but I’ll
never forget!”? Or even still, how many people have decided they won’t
forgive someone because they knew they could never forget?

The Truth: The truth is God never joined forgiveness of a wrong with the
forgetting of the wrong. Notice the absence of forgetting from such
passages as:
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will
you father forgive you your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)
“Then Peter came up to and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often will my
brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven time?’ Jesus
said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who
wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one
was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he
could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and
children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell
on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you
everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released
him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he
found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and
seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his
fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me,
and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he
should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place,
they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master
all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him,
‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded
with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I
had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,
until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to
every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from you heart!’”
(Matthew18:21-35)
“You should rather turn to forgive and comfort… or he may be
overwhelmed by excessive grief.” (2 Corinthians 2:5-11)
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in
Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32; cf. Colossians 3:13)
To condition forgiving with forgetting is to add to God’s word, to go
beyond what He requires (cf. Proverbs 30:6). Now you might say, “But
we’re not supposed to keep a record of wrongs. Isn’t that talking about
forgetting?” (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV). No, that’s talking more about
being resentful, than forgetting (see ESV; NASBtranslations of this verse).
If sins are to be forgotten in conjunction with being forgiven, then Paul
erred in bringing up Peter and Barnabas’ sin of hypocrisy in Galatians
2:11-14. The forgetting of sin, or better yet, not remembering sin, is an
ability that only God possesses, it’s one of His divine attributes (Psalm
25:7; Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12; 10:16-17). He never requires us to
purposefully forget, because we can’t. The more we try to forget, the
more we remember. Now it doesn’t me we can be resentful, or hold a
grudge, or be bitter (cf. Ephesians 4:31-32). This is not a license to sin
(cf. Romans 6:1). I’m simply saying, let’s not be fooled by this Phantom
Bible Verse, God requires us to forgive as we have been forgiven by Him,
but He never demands we forget.
“Moderation in all things.”

Origin: Aristotle from his work the Doctrine of the Mean. His desire was to
find the middle ground between excess and deficiency. An example
would be courage as the middle ground between rashness and fear.

Meaning: However, it’s original meaning and application is lost in our

modern world. Now “moderation in all things” is generally applied to
indulging in bad or unhealthy activity so long as one does it in
moderation.

The Truth: Now you might be saying to yourself, I know this isn’t in the
bible per se, but the concept is because my KJV says in Philippians
4:5, “Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” And
Paul told the Corinthians to be “temperate in all things” (1 Corinthians
9:25). Let’s take the Philippians passage first. A better translation is found
in the NKJV which reads, “Let your gentleness be known to all men.”The
idea is “gentleness” or “patience” as used in 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 3:1-
2; James 3:17and 1 Peter 2:18. In regards to the Corinthians passage, Paul
indeed is emphasizing self-control in not committing sin, which is in fact
the opposite of how “moderation in all things” is used by people today.
The truth is, no where does the God allow for moderation in all things,
whether it’s sinful or otherwise. A little sin, even in moderation, is like “a
little leaven [which] leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians
5:9). Is it okay to lust, so long as it’s done in moderation? Is it okay to use
foul language, or take the Lord’s name in vain, so long as it’s done in
moderation? Is it okay to ________________ and you fill in the blank with
your sin of choice. Is it okay to do that so long as it’s done in moderation?
Well the answer to these questions is no. The flipside of this coin is, do
we to show moderation in love, joy, forgiveness, compassion, etc. etc.?
Well no, rather, we give ourselves wholehearted to these things. Let’s not
be fooled by this Phantom Bible Verse, God doesn’t allow moderation in
all things. If it’s evil, don’t dabble in it. If it’s good, give yourself totally to it.
“To thine own self be true.”

Origin: From Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Polonius, the older counselor of

Prince Hamlet’s uncle, King Claudius, is in the midst of dispensing advice
to his son Laertes (who was about to leave Denmark and return to
France) when he speaks forth the famous line: “This above all things: to
thine own self be true.”

Meaning: I’m confident Polonius’ intent, or its Elizabethan meaning, is

different than its modern interpretation. Today, “To thine own self be true”
means: be loyal to yourself by being who you are, or following your heart,
or doing what you think is right. Perhaps because it has a King Jamesy
kind of ring to it, it’s believed to be a bible verse.

The Truth: Of all the sayings we are looking at in this lesson, I do believe
this one, unlike the others, has a sliver of truth. I need to know who I am,
and not be someone I’m not, especially in areas of my personal strengths
and skills. Nevertheless, in the modern world we live in, “To thine own self
be true” is the motto of a narcissistic society. Where people are
encouraged to be whatever their twisted minds will allow them to be. Just
last week I read a news story about a 6 year old transgendered boy, that
is, he is a boy who lives as a girl[ii]. His parents are suing their child’s
school because he was not allowed to use the girl’s restroom. According
to the parents, as early as 18 months their son expressed a desire to be a
girl and as the behavior persisted they allowed it. Why, because they
have believed the lie, “To thine own self be true.” I don’t want to be true to
myself because I’m sinful flesh. I don’t want you to be true to yourself,
because you too are sinful flesh. Our Lord doesn’t say, “Be true to self”
He says just the opposite:
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a
man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a
man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).
Listen to the words of Paul,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Notice the example of the Corinthians:
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the
greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you
were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Today the Corinthians would be told to embrace who they are and their
lifestyle. However, they didn’t believe the lie, “To thine own self be true.”
Therefore, they accepted to call of Christ and renounced their allegiance
to self, and died to their own self wills, and gave themselves wholly to
Him. Until you and I follow this example, we will not be pleasing to God.
That’s the truth. Friends, don’t buy the lie of this phantom bible verse,
believe our Lord’s truth.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Origin: For American, this phrase was coined by Benjamin Franklin, but it
has its roots in ancient world, even being the moral of a story in Aesop’s
collection of fables, namely Hercules and the Waggoner. In the story a
waggoner has become stranded in a ravine. When he cries out to
Hercules for help, Hercules responds,

“Put your shoulders to the wheels, my man. Goad on your bullocks, and
never more pray to me for help, until you have done your best to help
yourself, or depend upon it you will henceforth pray in vain.”

In essence Hercules was saying, “Don’t pray to me for help until you’ve
done all you can do for yourself, because, you might be able to take care
of it yourself and not need me.”

Meaning: This is the motto of self-reliance. Meaning, you’ve got to get the
ball rollin’ before God will even think about helping you. The irony of this
is that Benjamin Franklin was deist. He didn’t believe that God even
played a role in man’s life. Therefore, when he said, “God helps those
who help themselves” at best he was saying man earns God’s favor and
at worse he was saying, God has no part in helping man because man
can help himself. I would defer to the latter.

The Truth: Sadly, as a boy, this concept shaped my understanding of

salvation more than anything else. It came through the medium of the
1974 film Where the Red Fern Grows. In the movie young Billy wants a
couple of coon dogs. He tells his grandfather, that he’s been praying for a
couple of dogs but since God had given him any dogs he concluded God
didn’t want him to have any dogs. The camera then zooms on the face of
the grandfather as he says, “if you want God’s help you’ve got to met him
half-way.” That was burned into my mind and my heart. I can recall as a
young man preaching, “that if you want God’s help in anything, you’ve got
to met Him half-way.” And you know what sadder still, people in the
audience were shaking their heads yes! I am so sorry I ever preached
anything like that. For reference, here’s the clip. To see what I’m talking
about watch the first 1.15 minutes.

The Barna Group says the phrase “God helps those who help
themselves” is one of the top well known Bible verses, problem is it’s not
in the Bible. Moreover, 75% of teenagers thinking this is the central
message of the bible. A similar study by Barna found that 68% of “born
again” Christian agree with and think the statement is biblical.
Nevertheless, it’s not biblical in content or in principle.

Rather than emphasizing man’s need to work his way to God, the bible
emphasizes God’s grace and mercy that reaches down to man. Listen to
what Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-10:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once
walked, following the course of the this world, following the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our
flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in
mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by
grace you have been saved – and raised us up with Him and seated us
with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming
age he might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. For by His grace you have been saved through
faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of
works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before hand, that we
should walk in them.”
Did you hear what Paul said? We were dead. We were pitiful. We were
helpless to do anything for ourselves. When God looked down upon us he
was moved with pity because of our helpless state. For if we have
received anything from God as a result of works, and then we can boast
before God and others about how awesome we are. Does that sound
familiar? Jesus addressed this kind of attitude in the Parable of the
Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14):
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to
the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The
Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God I thank you that I’m not
like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ But the
tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.’”
If God truly helps those who help themselves, then Jesus didn’t get the
message. According to Benjamin Franklin the Pharisee had the inside
tract and the tax collector didn’t have a prayer (pun intended). If this were
the case then the tax collector needed to get his life right and then come
to God for salvation. But praise God, Jesus said it was the one who was
justified wasn’t the one who worked his way to God. Rather, it is the one
who, in his humble and weakened state, cries out to God for help. God
doesn’t help those who help themselves… He helps those who surrender
to Him.

In the Old Testament, it is recorded for us by the prophets that the nation
of Judah was destroyed and the people were in slaved “for a lack of
knowledge” (ref. Isaiah 5:3; Hosea 4:6). As we have mentioned, bible
literacy is at an all time low in America. I have to wonder if it is also at an
all time low among God’s people. I hope this lesson challenged you to
reexamine God’s word, and you believe God’s word teaches. It would a
terrible thing for the Divine to say… “___________________ (insert your
name) was destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” Get into God’s word
today. I’m here to serve you and if I can help you with any spiritual need
email me at clay@claygentry.com. God bless and remember share the
good news of Jesus with someone today.

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