Bible fight!

A lot of bloggers are writing about a CNSNews.com story from a couple of days ago to the effect that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "made up" a Bible verse:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is fond of quoting a particular passage of Scripture. The quote, however, does not appear in the Bible and is "fictional," according to biblical scholars.

In her April 22 Earth Day news release, Pelosi said, "The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children's children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature."

Cybercast News Service repeatedly queried the speaker's office for two days to determine where the alleged Bible quote is found. Thus far, no one has responded.

Distinguished biblical scholars, however, cast doubt on the existence of the passage.

OK, it's not nice to make up Scripture, even in support of Earth Day. But it's hard for me to believe Pelosi would actually think no one would fact-check her on the Bible. I wonder if she or somebody on her staff is just a little unclear on the rules for quote marks. Her "passage" is a paraphrase of a lot of verses in the Bible that say the same thing about being good stewards of the Earth.

Here are just two: "I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination." (Jeremiah 2:7) And: You shall not pollute the land in which you live.... You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites." (Numbers 35:33-34)