Florida Senator Marco Rubio had a pithy tweet for Politico, who argued in a piece Sunday that Rubio has been tweeting the “Republican” part of the Bible.
Joel Baden, who teaches the Old Testament at Yale Divinity School, wrote in the Politico piece that Rubio’s insistence on tweeting Bible verses from Proverbs shows he is only interested in confirmation of his own Republican views.
Marco Rubio is tweeting the most Republican part of the bible https://t.co/fBnowNmlBa via @POLITICOMag pic.twitter.com/QMO8errGVg
— POLITICO (@politico) July 9, 2017
“Proverbs is notable in that is presents a fairly consistent view of the world: The righteous are rewarded, and the wicked are punished…Proverbs is probably the most Republican book of the entire Bible,” Baden argued.
“Concentrating exclusively on the parts of it that affirm one’s own perspective is a form of confirmation bias,” he continued.
Rubio responded to the piece in a tweet, pointing out that the Bible was written thousands of years before modern day political parties came into existence.
“Proverbs is the Republican part of the Bible?” he asked. “I don’t think Solomon had yet joined the GOP when he wrote the first 29 chapters of Proverbs.”
Proverbs is the Republican part of the bible?I don’t think Solomon had yet joined the GOP when he wrote the first 29 chapters of Proverbs. https://t.co/2bGhkGwoqH
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 9, 2017
Others jumped on the Politico piece for making the Bible partisan and for classifying Proverbs–a book on wisdom and the meaning of life–as a “Republican” book.
The Bible is not Republican nor Democrat. It’s so much greater than any political party… it’s inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16) https://t.co/qWFvhpdhf0
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) July 9, 2017
You do understand you’re branding the most famous wisdom book in the Bible as Republican, right? https://t.co/BB9SZiyIDO
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) July 9, 2017
I didn’t realize there was a Democrat and Republican part of the Bible… https://t.co/axjJxJnPG2
— Caroline Craig (@CeeJayCraig) July 10, 2017
There is no Democrat or Republican part of the Bible. It stands alone
— Dwan R. Borens (@DBorens) July 9, 2017
There’s a Republican part of the Bible? I guess the Quran is DEMOCRAT then? pic.twitter.com/EPAda7piJu
— Mrs_Pinky85 (@mrs_pinky85) July 9, 2017
I don’t know if this is an insult to the Bible (guilt by association) or praise for the GOP for being aligned with biblical wisdom.
— Joe Carter (@joecarter) July 9, 2017
“jihad has a deep religious meaning you ignorant rubes can’t understand”
[15 seconds later]
“There are Republican parts of the Bible” https://t.co/z37GzOhG5D— PoliMath (@politicalmath) July 9, 2017
The Bible is not republican or democrat. Gods word is for everyone, not just the political bubble you choose to put him in.
— David Morland (@MrTweezyMan) July 9, 2017
Baden also argued in the piece that Rubio needs to read other parts of the Bible beside Proverbs, but a quick scan of Rubio’s Twitter account shows that he tweets verses from other books as well.
You should have checked his TL before writing this-he does tweet from other books. Just one example https://t.co/sgDUs0A6LX
— Lisa (@LisaAMoyer) July 9, 2017