Hi Friend,

Misattributed quotes to famous figures, such as Abraham Lincoln, are common. It’s been said that if all the statements attributed to him were compiled into one work, there would be more quotes than he could have said in his lifetime. We are forced to conclude that Lincoln did not say all the things people have attributed to him. How does that happen?

One of the first rules I learned on my college debate team was that quoting a famous person adds credibility to an argument. Great American patriarchs are the favorite. But what if there are no supporting quotes? Some debaters will craft an eloquent expression and attribute it to Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln.

An honest person wouldn’t do such a thing—but honesty isn’t required in debates. This lack of honesty is especially evident among politicians seeking office. A second essential lesson for any debater: not every quote is trustworthy.

A recent example highlights this point: an atheistic group, ‘Backyard Skeptics’, erected an anti-Christian billboard and attributed the following quote to Thomas Jefferson. "I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature. It is founded on fables and mythology." This raises questions about honesty and the reliability of such quotations in public debate.

True to my experience in debate, the quote is made up. Experts at Monticello, a research institution and library supported by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., claim that the quotation is not that of Jefferson. The institution has that specific quote listed with many others on its list of "spurious [Jefferson] quotes."

It shouldn’t be surprising that "truth" is not a virtue highly valued among atheists. People who believe that there is a God, and He made a law against "bearing false witness," have an inside track on honesty.

When Jesus came to the end of His life on earth, He stood before Pilate, a politician—a profession not known for its honesty. Jesus said to him, "…I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (John 18:37)

Pilate’s reply has been echoed by politicians everywhere.

"What is truth?" (verse 38)

Pilate stood face to face before the One, Jesus, who is Truth—"I am the truth and the life," (John 14:6)—knowing that the charges against Jesus were false. Yet Pilate remained incapable of standing with Truth against injustice.

Pilate will live forever in infamy as the man who did not know Truth when it was staring him in the face.

What does it take for a man to believe the truth? Jesus gave an allegory about two men who had died—a beggar, Lazarus, and a second man who was very rich. As the parable goes, the rich man wanted to return from the dead to convince his family to believe the truth. The story reads like a Greek literary fable, where the rich man appeals from the grave to be allowed to return to his family, as they would believe the testimony of a relative who had returned from the dead. Jesus, who wants all men to be saved, responded pragmatically, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." (Luke 16:31).

The implications of that are astounding—there are people who will be resurrected from the dead and see Jesus Christ sitting on His throne, yet still not accept Him as God.

I wonder if Pilate changed his mind after Jesus was resurrected. When 500 witnesses attested to the fact that Jesus was alive after Pilate consented to His murder, did he regret his weak-kneed capitulation to the politically correct crowd? In some ways, Pilate is a type of 21st Century man. After all, if a person can see a newborn baby naked and not know what sex it is—will that person ever admit that Jesus is God—even if they are staring truth in the face?

Ironically, there is great hope in all this. While Jesus said that there is less hope for the Pharisees in the resurrection than for the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is easy to overlook the hope for sinners. There is more hope for a sinner who knows he is unworthy than for a government official who thinks he knows more than God.

Until next time,