National Bible Week
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, it is great to be here today to recognize National Bible Week and, especially, along with my colleague, Doug Lamborn from the great State of Colorado. I appreciate his willingness to organize this this evening and to call attention to a book that has had more impact on world history than any other book I think that has ever been written.
I just want to say that here in this Chamber we are reminded, as we look around, of the influence the Bible has had. I look around the room here and see the reliefs of many lawgivers that were depicted around the top of the ceiling that shows that there were men over the ages that have contributed to the making of laws; and it is, of course, to remind us of what our job here is, to make great laws.
But what strikes me is the one that is over the main door that leads into the House Chamber here in the Capitol, and that is a relief of Moses. The relief of Moses that is behind me is different from the other reliefs there. He is neither looking to the left nor to the right. He is looking straight down, actually, on you, Mr. Speaker.
I don't think it is any coincidence when they designed this room that they had that in mind; that Moses was the great lawgiver because he gave the laws that came from God.
Of course, above the Speaker's chair are the words ``In God We Trust.'' So it is on and on throughout the Capitol building itself you see--we remember that the Bible has such a significant part.
But there is one painting here in the Capitol building that I want to call your attention to, in closing, that a lot of people don't really think about, and that is the signing of the Constitution.
They have seen this painting, but it is here just a few steps from where I stand right now, and it was painted in 1940. The artist was commissioned to design a painting showing the signing of the Constitution in Philadelphia.
In that painting you will see several of the delegates, and most of the delegates are actually depicted in that particular painting. In that particular painting, you have George Washington that is presiding over the signing of the Constitution. You can see Ben Franklin prominently depicted there, and several other of the Founding Fathers that you can see depicted.
But on the far right, at the bottom, you will see one of the delegates there, who was Delegate Robert Morris from Pennsylvania. Unless you look closely at that painting, you may not notice, but he has his elbow on the table and right beside his elbow is a book that is open.
If you are like me, you may have passed by that painting on many occasions but never noticed what that book was about because you just think it is maybe some law book that was open there during that particular time.
But quite honestly, if you look closely at the painting, you can see that it says, ``Saint Matthew, Chapter 5.'' I can't help but believe that during the discussions that day, when they were drawing up the Constitution and signing it, that that particular book of the Bible had a very significant impact, importance upon the discussion that was made there.
Because of that, I have read through Chapter 5 of Matthew and tried to really sort of figure out what it is that maybe they were talking about that particular day. But I can only guess that one of the verses in Chapter 5 that they may have been paying attention to in particular was the verse that says, don't hide your light under a bushel, and let your light shine before men.
They wanted the United States of America to be a light to the rest of the world. They wanted it to be a city on a hill that would not be hid; and that is exactly what I believe that our Nation has done over the last 250 years.
So Mr. Speaker, it is great to have a chance to talk about the Bible, National Bible Week, and I congratulate my colleague, Congressman Lamborn, for his work here. I thank him for us being able to draw attention to this book that has really changed the life of so many and, literally, millions of people around the world.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source