Mark Twain, Bible Scholar (1866)
Sundays with Mark Twain #70
1866
1866.1.95) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: As is entirely proper, Fitz Smythe gives the credit to detective Lees, and glorifies him to the skies. There is the romance-- all there is of it worth knowing or printing-- yet it is turned into a novel of ten distinct chapters, and occupies more room and flames out with a grander sublimity in the Alta than did the capture of Richmond and the Southern armies, as published in the same paper. How marvelous are thy ways, O Lord!
Scripture: And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. -- Revelation 15:3
Work; Date: Gorgeous New Romance, by Fitz Smythe!; January 11, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660111t.html
1866.2.96) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN” [title of section of correspondence]
Scripture: Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. -- Psalm 112:6
Work; Date: Letter with section titled THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN; January 18, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660123t.html
1866.3.97) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: This is the Sabbath to-day. This is the day set apart by a benignant Creator for rest -- for repose from the wearying toils of the week
Scripture: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:. -- Exodus 20:8-10
Work; Date: Sabbath Reflections; January 28, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660100et.html
1866.4.98) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: ...says spirits cannot feel heat or cold (which militates somewhat against all my notions of orthodox damnation -- fire and brimstone)
Scripture: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, ... -- Revelation 20:10
Work; Date: Mark Twain a Committee Man; February 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660200dt.html
1866.5.99) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: “My name’s Ananias - may have heard of me, perhaps?”
I said, reflectively, “No -no - I think not, Mr. Anan.”
“Never heard of me! Bismillah! Och hone! gewhil - . But you couldn’t have read the Scriptures!”
I rose to my feet in great surprise: “Ah - is it possible? - I remember now - I remember your history. Yes, yes, yes, I remember you made a little statement that wouldn’t wash, so to speak, and they took your life for it. They - they bounced a thunderbolt on your head, or something of that sort, didn’t they?”
Scripture: But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. – Acts 5:1-5
Work; Date: Remarkable Dream; February 6, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660210t.html
1866.6.100) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: You take his mildest lie - take those he tells about Mark Twain, for instance (who is the only newspaper man I have ever come across who wouldn’t lie and couldn’t lie, shame to him,) ...
Scripture: In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; -- Titus 1:2
Work; Date: Remarkable Dream; February 6, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660210t.html
1866.7.101) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The door opened, and the ancient Sapphira, who was stricken with death for telling a lie, ages ago, stood before me. She said:
Scripture: And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife [Sapphira], not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. -- Acts 5:7-10
Work; Date: Remarkable Dream; February 6, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660210t.html
1866.8.102) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: I don’t want the worst characters in hell to be running after me with friendly messages and little testimonials of admiration for Smythe, and blowing about his talents, and bragging on him, and belching their villainous fire and brimstone all through the atmosphere and making my place smell worse than a menagerie.
Scripture: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, ... -- Revelation 20:10
Work; Date: Remarkable Dream; February 6, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660210t.html
1866.9.103) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: If Pontius Pilate was on the police he could crucify the Savior again with perfect impunity -- but he would have to let Barabbas and that other policeman alone, who were crucified along with him, formerly.
Scripture: Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? -- Matthew 27:17
Work; Date: Funny; February 15, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660200ft.html
1866.10.104) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: We climbed a hill a hundred and fifty feet high, and about as straight up and down as the side of a house, and as full of rough lava blocks as it could stick - not as wide, perhaps, as the broad road that leads to destruction, but nearly as dangerous to travel, and apparently leading in the same general direction.
Scripture: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: – Matthew 7:13
Work; Date: THE EQUESTRIAN EXCURSION CONCLUDED; March, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660424u.html
1866.11.105) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The day of rest comes but once a week, and sorry I am that it does not come oftener.
Scripture: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: -- Exodus 20:8-10
Work; Date: Reflections on the Sabbath; March 18, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/Era/18660318.html
1866.12.106) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: I was sprinkled in infancy, and look upon that as conferring the rank of Brevet Presbyterian. It affords none of the emoluments of the Regular Church--simply confers honorable rank upon the recipient and the right to be punished as a Presbyterian hereafter; that is, the substantial Presbyterian punishment of fire and brimstone instead of this heterodox hell of remorse of conscience of these blamed wildcat religions.
Scripture: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, ... -- Revelation 20:10
Work; Date: Reflections on the Sabbath; March 18, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/Era/18660318.html
1866.13.107) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Rather blush to remember that once, when a Wisconsin Legislature had the affixing of a penalty for the crime of arson under consideration, a member got up and seriously suggested that when a man committed the damning crime of arson they ought either to hang him or make him marry the girl! To my mind the suspension bridge man was a Solomon compared to this idiot.
Scripture: And she [the queen of Sheba] said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. -- 1 Kings 10:6,7
Work; Date: FAMILIAR CHARACTERISTICS; May 23, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660620u.html
1866.14.108) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The smell of sulfur is strong, but not unpleasant to a sinner.
Scripture: Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; -- Genesis 19:24 [sulfur is always translated as brimstone in the King James Version of the Bible]
Work; Date: THE VISION OF HELL AND ITS ANGELS; June 3, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18661116u.html
1866.15.109) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: A colossal column of cloud towered to a great height in the air immediately above the crater, and the outer swell of every one of its vast folds was dyed with a rich crimson luster, which was subdued to a pale rose tint in the depressions between. It glowed like a muffled torch and stretched upward to a dizzy height toward the zenith. I thought it just possible that its like had not been seen since the children of Israel wandered on their long march through the desert so many centuries ago over a path illuminated by the mysterious “pillar of fire.” And I was sure that I now had a vivid conception of what the majestic “pillar of fire” was like, which almost amounted to a revelation.
Scripture: And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. -- Exodus 13:21,22
Work; Date: THE PILLAR OF FIRE; June 3, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18661116u.html
1866.16.110) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: If a Sandwich Islands missionary comes across a stranger, I think he weighs him and measures him and judges him (in defiance of the injunction to “Judge not, etc.”) by an ideal which he has created in his own mind - and if that stranger falls short of that ideal in any particular, the good missionary thinks he falls just that much short of what he ought to be in order to stand a chance for salvation; and with a tranquil simplicity of self conceit, which is marvelous to a modest man, he honestly believes that the Almighty, of a necessity, thinks exactly as he does.
Scripture: Judge not, that ye be not judged. -- Matthew 7:1
Work; Date: HOW FUNERALS OF DEAD CHIEFS WERE CELEBRATED IN OLD TIMES; June 22, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660716u.html
1866.17.111) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: I state this by way of explanation. Harris is the Minister of Finance and Attorney General, and I don’t know how many other things. He has three marked points: He is not a second Solomon - he is as vain as a peacock;
Scripture: And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. -- 1 Kings 3:7-10
Work; Date: NIGHT SCENE IN THE PALACE GROUNDS; June 30, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660730u.html
1866.18.112) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Here that gentle spirit worshipped; here he sought the better life, after his rude fashion; on this stone, perchance, he sat down with his sacred lasso, to wait for a chance to rope in some neighbor for the holy sacrifice; on this altar, possibly, he broiled his venerable grandfather, and presented the rare offering before the high priest, who may have said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” It filled me with emotion.
Scripture: His lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make three ruler over ma things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. -- Matthew 25:23
Work; Date: THE HERO OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOOKS; July, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660906u.html
1866.19.113) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Where did these isolated pagans get this idea of a City of Refuge - this ancient Jewish custom?
Scripture: And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities. -- Numbers 35:6
Work; Date: THE RUINED CITY OF REFUGE; July, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660922u.html
1866.20.114) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Brown, I cannot allow this language. These touching expressions of mourning were instituted by the good Bishop, who has come from his English home to teach this poor benighted race to follow the example and imitate the sinless ways of the Redeemer, and did not he mourn for the dead Lazarus? Do not the sacred scriptures say ‘Jesus wept’ ?
Scripture: Jesus wept. -- John 11:35
Work; Date: MORE HEATHEN DEVILTRY; June 30, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660730u.html
1866.21.115) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: I will say a word or two about the Reformed Catholic Church, to the end that strangers may understand its character. Briefly, then, it is a miraculous invention. One might worship this strange production itself without breaking the first commandment, for there is nothing like it in the heavens above or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.
Scripture: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: -- Exodus 20:4
Work; Date: THE REFORMED CATHOLIC CHURCH - THE COURT RELIGION; June 30, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660730u.html
1866.22.116) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The hold forward of the bulkhead had but little freight in it, and from morning till night a villainous old rooster, with a voice like Baalam’s ass, and the same disposition to use it, strutted up and down in that part of the vessel and crowed.
Scripture: And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? -- Numbers 22:28
Work; Date: AT SEA AGAIN; July, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660818u.html
1866.23.117) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The first night, as I lay in my coffin, idly watching the dim lamp swinging to the rolling of the ship, and snuffing the nauseous odors of bilge water, I felt something gallop over me. Lazarus did not come out of his sepulchre with a more cheerful alacrity than I did out of mine.
Scripture: And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. -- John 11:43,44
Work; Date: AT SEA AGAIN; July, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660818u.html
1866.24.118) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: When the good deeds of men are judged in the Great Day that is to bring bliss or eternal woe unto us all, the charity that was in Captain Kangaroo’s heart will be remembered and rewarded, …
Scripture: Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. -- John 5:28,29
Work; Date: AT SEA AGAIN; July, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660818u.html
1866.25.119) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: No photograph ever was good, yet, of anybody - hunger and thirst and utter wretchedness overtake the outlaw who invented it! It transforms into desperadoes the meekest of men; depicts sinless innocence upon the pictured faces of ruffians; gives the wise man the stupid leer of a fool, and a fool an expression of more than earthly wisdom. If a man tries to look serious when he sits for his picture the photograph makes him look as solemn as an owl; if he smiles, the photograph smirks repulsively; if he tries to look pleasant, the photograph looks silly; if he makes the fatal mistake of attempting to seem pensive, the camera will surely write him down as an ass. The sun never looks through the photographic instrument that it does not print a lie. The piece of glass it prints it on is well named a “negative” - a contradiction - a misrepresentation - a falsehood. I speak feelingly of this matter, because by turns the instrument has represented me to be a lunatic, a Solomon, a missionary, a burglar and an abject idiot, and I am neither.
Scripture: And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. -- 1 Kings 4:30
Work; Date: THE KING; July 1, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660801u.html
1866.26.120) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: After the eighth day I have ten days unaccounted for - no notes of them save that the men say they had their two or three ounces of food and their gill of water three times a day - and then the same weary watching for a saving sail by day and by night, and the same sad “hope deferred that maketh the heart sick,” was their monotonous experience.
Scripture: Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. -- Proverbs 13:12
Work; Date: THE BOATS SEPARATE; July 19, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660719u.html
1866.27.121) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Yet there be those among us who fear to trust the precious promise, ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters and it shall return unto thee after many days.’
Scripture: Cast thy bread upon the water: for thou shalt find it after many days. -- Ecclesiastes 11:1
Work; Date: STILL IN KONA - CONCERNING MATTERS AND THINGS; August 24, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18660824u.html
1866.28.122) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: But he ought not to be jealous; he ought not to try to ruin me because I am more virtuous than his is; I cannot help it - it is my nature to be reliable, just as it is his to be shaky on matters of fact - we cannot alter these natures - us leopards cannot change our spots. Therefore, why growl? - why go and try to make trouble? If he cannot tell when I am writing seriously and when I am burlesquing - if he sits down solemnly and takes one of my palpable burlesques and reads it with a funereal aspect, and swallows it as petrified truth, - how am I going to help it? I cannot give him the keen perception that nature denied him - now can I?
Scripture: Can the Ethiopian change is skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. -- Jeremiah 13:23
Work; Date: MISCELLANEOUS; September 24, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18661017.html
1866.29.123) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: JAMES PETERSON was the son of a common weaver, who was so miraculously poor that his friends were encouraged to believe that in case the Scriptures were strictly carried out he would “inherit the earth.”
Scripture: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5
Work; Date: Origin of Illustrious Men; September 29, 1866
Source: Appeared in The Californian
1866.30.124) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Our native boatman, who had faithfully followed us thus far, and who must have been bearing the chief part of the heat and burden of the day, from the amount of perspiring he was doing looked a little discouraged, I thought and therefore we signified to him, in elaborate pantomime, that he might sit down and wait till we came back.
Scripture: Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. -- Matthew 20:12
Work; Date: A NOTABLE DISCOVERY; October 25, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18661025u.html
1866.31.125) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The patience, money and energy required to prosecute the work to a successful completion are fearful to contemplate.
Scripture: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. -- Hebrews 10:31
Work; Date: MARK TWAIN’S INTERIOR NOTES; November 30, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/Bulletin/18661130.html
1866.32.126) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: O Mark! why don’t you try to lead a better life? Read II. Kings, from chap. 2 to chap. 24 inclusive.
Scripture: (Those are scriptural accounts of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, Judge Jehu, the Israelite kings Hezekiah and Josiah, and even the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar) – 2 Kings 2 to 2 Kings 24
Work; Date: A Complaint About Correspondents; 1866
Source: http://www.classicallibrary.org/twain/celebrated/03-complaint.htm
1866.33.127) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: This straggling town shall be a vast metropolis; this sparsely populated land shall become a crowded hive of busy men; your waste places shall blossom like the rose, and your deserted hills and valleys shall yield bread and wine for unnumbered thousands;
Scripture: The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. -- Isaiah 35:1
Work; Date: “Mark Twain’s” Farewell; December 15, 1866
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18661215.html
You can get the entire book (MARK TWAIN, BIBLE SCHOLAR: 919 Bible Quotations, References, and Allusions from Mark Twain’s Writings) here.
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