Three Fake Quotes about Silence

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.

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 “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?”

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Link: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/gstanton/what-st.-francis-of-assisi-didnt-actually-say

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.

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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.”

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Link: https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2016/08/25/the-popular-bonhoeffer-quote-that-isnt-in-bonhoeffers-works/

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

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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.

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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.

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Link: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mlk-our-lives-begin-to-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

See: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/fake-pope-news

—“Fake Pope News,” Catholic Answers (August 9, 2017) by Trent Horn