THREE FAKE QUOTES ABOUT SILENCE
“Preach
the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.”—Saint Francis of Assisi
FAKE
FAKE FAKE
See
the following discussion, for example, “What St. Francis of Assisi Didn’t
Actually Say,” National Catholic Register
(October 30, 2015) by Glenn Stanton.
begin
“Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if
necessary.”
It
is always attributed to St. Francis of Assisi—founder of the Franciscan
Order—and is intended to say that proclaiming the Gospel by example is more
virtuous than actually proclaiming it with voice. It is a quote that has often
rankled me because it seems to create a useless dichotomy between speech and
action. Besides, the spirit behind it can be a little arrogant—which I’m sure
our deacon didn’t intend—intimating that those who “practice the Gospel” are in
reality more faithful to the faith than those who preach it.
But
here’s the fact: Our good Francis never said it or anything close.
None
of his disciples or biographers have these very quotable words coming from his
mouth. It doesn’t show up in any of his writings. Not even close, really. The
closest comes from his Rule of 1221 on how the Franciscans should practice
their preaching:
“No
brother should preach contrary to the form and regulations of the holy Church
nor unless he has been permitted by his minister … All the Friars … should
preach by their deeds.”
Essentially,
make sure your deeds match your words. While there’s a nice and good sentiment
in the statement—be sure you live out the grace and truth of the Gospel—the
notion as it is typically presented is neither practical, nor faithful to the
Gospel of Christ. It does not align with St. Francis’ own practice.
His
first biographer, Thomas of Celano, writing just three years after Francis’
death, quotes him instructing his co-workers in the Gospel thusly:
“The
preacher must first draw from secret prayers what he will later pour out in
holy sermons; he must first grow hot within before he speaks words that are in
themselves cold.”
Our
man clearly spent a great deal of time using his words when he preached,
“sometimes preaching in up to five villages a day, often outdoors. In the
country, Francis often spoke from a bale of straw or a granary doorway. In
town, he would climb on a box or up steps in a public building. He preached to …
any who gathered to hear the strange but fiery little preacher from Assisi.” He
was sometimes so animated and passionate in his delivery that “his feet moved
as if he were dancing.”
We
must know that it’s simply impossible to proclaim the Gospel without words and
of course our good Francis knew this as well as any. The Gospel is inherently
verbal, and preaching the Gospel is inherently verbal behavior.
St.
Paul was quite clear in this, asking the Church at Rome (Romans 10:14):
“How
then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they
believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a
preacher?”
end
 |
| Saint Francis of Assisi (1796) by F. Bartolozzi |
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
FAKE
FAKE FAKE
See
the following discussion, “The Popular Bonhoeffer Quote That Isn’t in
Bonhoeffer’s Works,” August 25, 2016 by Warren Throckmorton.
begin
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer is a modern day hero among evangelical Christians. Killed by the
Nazis in 1945 for resisting the regime, Bonhoeffer’s fame among evangelicals
increased after the publication of Eric Metaxas’ acclaimed biography of the Lutheran
pastor. For many Christians who feel compelled to take a stand on principle,
Bonhoeffer has become an inspiration and guiding light. On that point, perhaps
the most repeated and celebrated quote attributed to Bonhoeffer is
“Silence
in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to
speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
These
are bold words and together they have helped strengthen the conclusion of many
persuasive appeals. Though they are powerful, they are not from Bonhoeffer.
According to my research and the Bonhoeffer scholars I consulted, these
sentences can’t be found in any of his writings or speeches.”
…Questioning
the Quote
As
far as I can tell, the authenticity of the quote was first questioned in 2013
by Doris Bergen in a book edited by Clifford Green and Guy Carter titled
Interpreting Bonhoeffer:
“Many
lists of ‘Bonhoeffer quotes’ include a sharper indictment: ‘Silence in the face
of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to
speak. Not to act is to act.’ See also Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor,
Martyr, Prophet, Spy. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010), back flap. However,
this formulation has not been found in Bonhoeffer’s works.”
In
a 2015 issue of the Australasian Journal of Bonhoeffer studies, Erich von
Dietze also cast doubt on the quote.
“While
commonly attributed to Bonhoeffer, the origin of this quote remains uncertain.
The quote has been referenced to Metaxas, E. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr,
Prophet, Spy – A Righteous Gentile vs the Third Reich. (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 2010). However, I have not been
able to find it in this work.”
The
online resource Wikiquotes considers the quote to be “misattributed” to
Bonhoeffer and names an obscure organization newsletter as the possible source.
“First
attributed to Bonhoeffer in Explorations 12:1 (1998), p. 3, as referenced by
James Cone (2004) Theology’s Great Sin: Silence in the Face of White Supremacy,
Black Theology, 2:2, 139-152, footnote 1.”
Explorations
was the newsletter of the now defunct American Interfaith Institute, founded by
the late Irvin Borowsky. Borowsky also founded the Liberty Museum in
Philadelphia. I located the newsletter via the online World Catalog and
received a copy of the newsletter courtesy of the document delivery service at
Grove City College.
On
page three of the newsletter is an article by Borowsky which promoted the
opening of the Heroes exhibit at the Liberty Museum in 1998. One of the
featured heroes is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The description on the exhibit is as
follows:
“He
was a Lutheran pastor who left Germany in 1933 at age 27 to protest the Nazi
regime’s introduction of anti-Jewish legislation. He could have stayed
permanently in England, or later the U.S., but repeatedly returned home to
oppose Hitler from within. Helping Jews to escape to Switzerland during the
war, he also organized church-based resistance. Arrested in 1943, he was hung
for treason in 1945 just days before the end of the Third Reich. According to
Bonhoeffer, ‘Silence in the face of evil
is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not
to act is to act.’” (emphasis in the original)
I
have been in contact with Borowsky’s daughter Gwen who now manages the museum.
Now that she knows the quote isn’t accurate, the exhibit will be changed when
that gallery is remodeled (photo of current exhibit). She has no knowledge of
the source of the quote since the researcher responsible for it has died. I
cannot find it anywhere before 1998.
After
1998, a few citations appear in various data bases but the most prominent is
the one by Union Theological Seminary professor James Cone in his article
“Theology’s Great Sin: Silence in the Face of White Supremacy” published in the
journal Black Theology in 2004. Cone attributed the saying to Bonhoeffer and
cited the Explorations newsletter as his source.
Bonhoeffer:
Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
By
far, the greatest number of references to the quote have come after the
publication of Eric Metaxas’ biography of Bonhoeffer in 2010. On the back flap
of the book, the quote is attributed to Bonhoeffer. In his student guide and
study guide for the Bonhoeffer book, Metaxas attributed the quote to
Bonhoeffer. It also appears in his 2014 book Miracles. He has tweeted the quote
attributed to Bonhoeffer in 2012 and 2013. Several other Christian books cite
Metaxas as the source of the quote.
…the
Bonhoeffer experts I consulted agree that the saying is not in his works. One
of them, Barry Harvey, a professor of theology at Baylor University and member
of the content team for the International Bonhoeffer Society told me via email:
“Not only do I know of no place that Bonhoeffer says this, it doesn’t sound
like him at all.”
end
 |
| Portrait Bonhoeffer (1977) by Alfred Hrdlicka, Vienna, Austria |
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”—Martin Luther King Jr.
FAKE
FAKE FAKE
begin
Snopes
repudiates this attribution by identifying the quote as a paraphrase, not King’s
exact words. See the following discussion, “Did MLK Say ‘Our Lives Begin to End
the Day We Become Silent’?” (January 16, 2017) by David Emery.
begin
Civil
rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said a great many quotable things,
but words have also been attributed to him that were not his own.
…King
never uttered the statement, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter,” though it is abundantly cited as such every year on
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
…while
the exact quote is nowhere to be found in King’s speeches or writings, it does
seem to be a paraphrase of a more complex thought he uttered during a sermon in
Selma, Alabama, on 8 March 1965, the day after “Bloody Sunday,” on which civil
rights protesters were attacked and beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus
Bridge:
“Deep
down in our non-violent creed is the conviction there are some things so dear,
some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they’re worth
dying for. And if a man happens to be 36 years old, as I happen to be, some
great truth stands before the door of his life — some great opportunity to
stand up for that which is right. A man might be afraid his home will get bombed,
or he’s afraid that he will lose his job, or he’s afraid that he will get shot,
or beat down by state troopers, and he may go on and live until he’s 80. He’s
just as dead at 36 as he would be at 80. The cessation of breathing in his life
is merely the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. He died …
“A man dies when he refuses to stand
up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice.
A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. [italics mine]
“So
we’re going to stand up amid horses. We’re going to stand up right here in
Alabama, amid the billy-clubs. We’re going to stand up right here in Alabama
amid police dogs, if they have them. We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!
We’re going to stand up amid anything they can muster up, letting the world
know that we are determined to be free!”
Albeit
shortened, reworded, and deprived of context, the viral passage captures an
essential point King was trying to make, but it is more accurately represented
as a paraphrase, not a direct quote.
end
 |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, detail, Washington, D.C. |
How to Manufacture a Fake Quote
1. Pick a famous person.
2. Familiarize yourself with the themes and
motifs in the works and speeches of the famous person.
3. Identify the peculiarities of their speaking and
writing style.
4. Make up the quote and post it on the Internet.
If it goes viral, you’ve succeeded. Congratulate yourself!
Example
1. Papa Francesco
2. Progressive and reformist themes, e.g. solidarity
with migrants, climate change, participation of women in the life of the Church
3. Inspirational, folksy style
4. Chosen theme is ecumenism, a progressive interest, so the fake quote pushes religious relativism, a corruption of ecumenism:
“All
religions are true, because they are true in the hearts of all those who
believe in them. What other kind of truth is there?”—Papa Francesco
FAKE
FAKE FAKE
—“Fake
Pope News,” Catholic Answers (August
9, 2017) by Trent Horn
