The Bible Does Not Say That.
“Thou shalt be a registered Republican.” — definitely not one of the Ten Commandments
The Holy Bible is made up of 66 books, and… a lot of words. (Though translation counts differ, the 17th-century King James Version clocks in at an impressive 783,137 words.) Though this enormous amount of text contains many phrases and proverbs that have made their way into American vernacular, there are a few oft-quoted “Bible verses” that don’t actually appear anywhere in the Bible.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways.”
How often have you heard this phrase repeated after something unexpected or even miraculous happens? Would it surprise you to know it’s not actually a Bible verse?
Well, okay, it probably wouldn’t surprise you too much, since you’re reading this post and have a preconceived notion of what you’re about to learn, after all.
At any rate, the line was actually penned by the 18th-century poet William Cowper. It appears in his 1773 poem, “Light Shining Out Of Darkness.” The poem was later renamed after its first line, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” set to music, and is still sung in churches today. It draws on principles in Romans 11:33, Psalm 77, and Psalm 62, but the famous first line does not directly quote…
