The Bible in the News: Give and Take

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Faced with the loss of family members and personal property, Job nonetheless seems to remain resolute when he declares: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

This seeming equanimity in the face of colossal loss would appear to be the origin of the “patient” Job. As readers of the entire Book of Job know, he was in reality far from patient. What do contemporary purveyors of popular culture have to say?

While reminiscing about an event 20 years ago—the victory of St. Peter’s team over Cardiff in a January 1993 game (“the greatest upset in any kind of rugby”)—the correspondent for the South Wales Echo was not at all reluctant to employ theological language. Thus, the feature is titled “Day that the Heavens Smiled on St. Peter’s” and includes a reference to “divine intervention” in the first sentence. David and Goliath, and even the pope, make an appearance. Alas, this once-in-a-lifetime victory was followed only a month later by a defeat that took St. Peter’s out of contention for the cup, leading the reporter to opine: “One scribe observed that ‘The Lord, He giveth, the Lord, He taketh away.’ But nothing can ever take away the memory of what really was a miracle witnessed 20 years ago.”

Another rugby-related report from Scotland on Sunday is briefer but only slightly less dramatic. After it became apparent that Phil Godman, “the Edinburgh fly-half,” would not recover in time to play in some important matches, another athlete needed to be brought in. Or, succinctly stated, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; one man’s disaster is another player’s prayer.” Indeed, as these stories recount, it is difficult to separate rugby from religion (or vice versa, in the view of some).

Scotland also shows up in this sports-related announcement (recorded in the Sunday Mail ): Although ScotRail was adding “an extra 11,000 seats on trains next Saturday from Edinburgh to Glasgow [for a match],” they “have announced no alcohol will be served on these trains.” To this news, the reporter responded, “The Lord giveth …”

In addition to sports writers, those covering religion have also had frequent recourse to this Biblical phrase, although—alas—the giving and the taking have not generally been favorable to the churches or other religious institutions involved. This can be seen, for example, in an account from The Times of London. Again, the story’s title, “Church Faces Ruin as the Lord Giveth—and Solicitors Taketh Away,” indicates what’s to follow: “Parishioners of one of England’s oldest churches thought their prayers had been answered when an anonymous wellwisher left them £67,000. The money was needed to pay for repairs to the roof of Holy Trinity in the village of Milton Regis, Kent, which can trace its origins back to 597 A.D. … But now the church has been told it has to give the money back, because it was actually intended for another Holy Trinity Church, in Sittingbourne, about a mile away. The mix-up appears to have been the fault of solicitors handling the bequest who confused the two churches.” Undoubtedly, those solicitors were guilty of numerous infractions of Biblical law. Now what’s the penalty for that?

Or it could be a friendly banker—as in a story from the South China Morning Post. Under the subheading “Lord giveth, bank taketh away,” we read this sad tale: “Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are being sued by several groups of Irish nuns led by the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, who lost at least 5 million [Euros] (49.76 million [Hong Kong dollars]), or 80 per cent of the funds that they had invested with the bank.”

If you can’t trust your minister or your banker, whom can you trust? The government, of course! Not so, according to another brief notice in the South China Morning Post: “Local Anglican Church told to pay 180 million [Hong Kong dollars] in tax … the Lord giveth, Inland Revenue taketh away.” As is true of so many other news stories, here also it is the Lord who gives (or giveth), but some entirely different entity that takes (or taketh) away.

Faced with the loss of family members and personal property, Job nonetheless seems to remain resolute when he declares: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). This seeming equanimity in the face of colossal loss would appear to be the origin of the “patient” Job. As readers of the entire Book of Job know, he was in reality far from patient. What do contemporary purveyors of popular culture have to say? While reminiscing about an event 20 years ago—the victory of St. Peter’s team over Cardiff in a […]