A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education. - Theodore Roosevelt
It's a rather silly statement, coming from a graduate of
Harvard - but it might indicate something about the quality of a Harvard
education in 1880. Or it might point to the quality of the home schooling
Roosevelt received before attending Harvard.
I tried to find the source of this quotation to put it
into context. But, I could not find a primary source. The earliest attribution
I could find was the 1941 book, Stepping Stones: The Complete Bible Narratives
by John Thomas Clark.
This could lead one to suspect that it was an invented
quotation. However, it is in character. Roosevelt was deeply religious and
frequently used biblical quotations and allusions in his speeches and writings.
One astounding anecdote*
I encountered while trying to source the quotation was as follows:
On June 2, 1902, during the height of an extremely tense
diplomatic showdown with Britain and Germany over their forcible recovery of
debt service in Venezuela, several key military advisors were summoned to the
White House.
Upon entering Roosevelt’s office they found him pouring
over a well worn Bible and an exhaustive concordance. After a long and
uncomfortable silence during which the president failed to acknowledge their
presence, one of the generals cleared his throat and addressed the great man:
“You asked for us, sir?”
Without looking up from the books before him the
president responded, “Well don’t just stand there, men. I need help. I can’t
remember why I hold to the Monroe Doctrine. I know that it’s got to be in here somewhere.”
Still not quite comprehending what it was that he wanted
them to do, the men moved toward his desk whereupon the president handed each
of them a Bible of there own to peruse.
“Get to work, men,” he told them. “I can’t act without
warrant. I can’t pronounce without precedence of precept.”
Looking in the Bible to understand why he supported the
Monroe Doctrine???!!! Looking in the Bible for a precedent for applying the
Monroe Doctrine???!!! He would have done better to have taken a course or two in
American History in university.
If true, this anecdote illustrates just how wrong the
idea is that a thorough knowledge** of the bible is superior to a college
education.
Notes:
*The Theodore Roosevelt Center website makes no mention
of this tale in its discussion of the Venezuela Debt Crisis. Perhaps the anecdote is invented.
Perhaps the Theodore Roosevelt Center chose not to include it. It should be
noted, however, the closing quotation - “I can’t act without warrant. I
can’t pronounce without precedence of precept” - is also widely attributed
to Roosevelt.***
** I'd originally intended this article to suggest that a thorough
knowledge of the bible would require an education, formal or informal,
far greater than that provided by any college education. In that sense, the
quotation may be true. However, there are very few people - even amongst those
with doctorates in theology - who can legitimately claim such a thorough
knowledge of the bible. In any event, that version of the article did not get
written - it looked like just too much work to identify all the fields of study
required so as to obtain a genuinely thorough knowledge of the bible.
*** Subsequent to all the above, I found the anecdote
originally comes from Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism Of
Theodore Roosevelt by George Grant. George Grant is "an
evangelical educator."
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