Belloc and the Bible

[FrankLJ]

Lately, I have seen several references to a supposed statement by Hilaire Belloc that the Bible is a “Pack of lies”. No provenance is ever given. Does anyone here know if such a thing was said, and exactly where, what context, etc. Any help given is appreciated.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Lately, I have seen several references to a supposed statement by Hilaire Belloc that the Bible is a “Pack of lies”. No provenance is ever given. Does anyone here know if such a thing was said, and exactly where, what context, etc. Any help given is appreciated.

All I have found is in 'The Poetry Foundation" they say that Belloc refers to Jesus as a ‘milksop’ and “the bible is a pack of lies”. which two things they put in quotes, BUT they do not FOOTNOTE the quotes or give the location of where this was said, and no context whatsoever. I cannot find any references using that quote anywhere else, so I would take it with a grain of salt. It’s more than likely that the person making the quotes found something on the order of Belloc stating, “persons often claim the bible is a pack of lies. . .” and just lifted the words “the Bible is a pack of lies” because hey, “Belloc said it”.

Yeah, and the Bible also says ‘There is no God." Don’t believe me? Check out psalm 14. Right there it says, "The fool says in his heart, there is no God’.

All somebody has to do is lift out the last four words. . .hey, they’re in the Bible! Sure. . .but they’re not ‘stand alone’.

I’ll bet something of the same sort was done in the so-called Belloc quote.

 

[Bonnie]

I’ll bet something of the same sort was done in the so-called Belloc quote.

And I’d be willing to bet something similar about the “milksop” quote. I wouldn’t be surprised if he complained about Jesus being portrayed as a milksop - which he so often is in art & movies.

 

[Convert1]

Interestingly, I found this written in his biography:

From 1906 to 1910 he was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament for Salford South. During one campaign speech he was asked by a heckler if he was a “papist.” Retrieving his rosary from his pocket he responded, “Sir, so far as possible I hear Mass each day and I go to my knees and tell these beads each night. If that offends you, then I pray God may spare me the indignity of representing you in Parliament.” The crowd cheered and Belloc won the election.

So, if this is true, he thought enough of Jesus to go to Mass daily.