What the Saints Never Said

by Trent Horn

Preach the gospel always; when necessary, use words. In What the Saints Never Said, Trent Horn (Why We re Catholic) takes over forty of these well-known but dubious sayings and attempts to track them to their true source. In so doing he finds some that are close to what was really said, many that were mis-attributed or twisted beyond their original meaning, and more than a few that were just plain made up! By setting the record straight, Trent does more than show you the true origins of these seemingly harmless he roots out the poison pills contained in them theological errors and implications that can lead us away from the fullness of Christian truth. In their place he offers choice selections from the richness of authentic quotes from Scripture, saints, and scholars that will draw you closer to that truth.

Genres: Catholic, Nonfiction, Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Faith

148 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2018

About the author

After his conversion to the Catholic faith, Trent Horn pursued an undergraduate degree in history from Arizona State University. He then earned a graduate degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy from Holy Apostles College.

Trent is a regular guest on the radio program Catholic Answers Live, a lecturer who speaks across the country on issues related to the Catholic faith, and the author of two books, Answering Atheism and Persuasive Pro-life.

Reviews

[Jeff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my many annoying habits is that I am a bit of a “quote nazi”, that is I look for opportunities to point out that something quoted was never actually said by the person cited. I keep pages full of not only quotes, but also misattributions.

Social media is especially bad at passing on misattributed quotes or just plain fake quoted. Meme are really bad concerning this. I have found it to be almost a certainty that any time something is quoted and placed on a picture background and then posted – that it is wrong. Quite annoying when I find I like a quote and then try to get the source. I am almost always disappointed to find the quote was not valid.

So when I found that Trent Horn of Catholic answers had released [What the Saints Never Said: Pious Misquotes and the Subtle Heresies They Teach You][book], this was an instant buy. Although that it pretty much the case regardless of topic when it comes to Trent Horn.

This book goes farther than just to point out that a quote from a saint is actually not one. His methodology has multiple facets in identification. Making distinctions between quotes we have no citations of, ones that were almost certainly never said, or ones that came from a different source. In doubtful, but popular quotes, he delves into the substance of the quote and why they fail theologically or logically. I really enjoyed this analysis. Especially considering quotes that at first blush seem to portray some truth in a winsome way. That on further analysis fail at doing this and are in fact misleading.

So besides adding to my collection of quotes that are misattributed, it was the analysis that I enjoyed the most.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the last year I have read 12 books by Trent Horn, I have appreciated all of them, and I loved 'Why We're Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love' and this book is just as good and am important read. The introduction to this book alone will cause you to question your own memory, and quotes that are considered famous. Horn starts with this:

"The villain clad in black raises his fist at the hero and says, "Luke, I am your father!" The dashing captain unfolds his communicator and gives the order, "Beam me up, Scotty." A mysterious jungle man sets down the woman he's rescued and she teaches him to say, "Me Tarzan, you Jane." What do these three things have in common?

You might say they're lines from famous movies: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek, and Tarzan the Ape Man respectively. But then you remembered this is a book about fake quotations and you changed your answer: they're misquotations from famous movies.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker accuses Darth Vader of killing his father. Vader responds, "No, I am your father"-not "Luke, I am your father." The crew of the Starship Enterprise often asked Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott to beam them up via the transporter, but no one in the Star Trek films or television shows ever said, "Beam me up, Scotty."2 Finally, in the 1932 classic Tarzan the Ape Man, Tarzan only says "Tarzan. Jane. Tarzan. Jane," not "Me Tarzan, you Jane.""

And then addressing the question of why it matter he states:

"Before I continue, I need to address readers who might be rolling their eyes or muttering the word "nitpicker." Does it really matter if people get one word wrong in a line from a Star Wars film? Who cares if the cute story about George Washington and the cherry tree never happened? Why can't you just leave the saints alone and write about something important? But accurately recording the wisdom of saints and other well-known Catholics is important because truth is important."

He then goes on to say:

"But the most important reason we should challenge false quotes from saints is because in some cases they contradict the Faith these saints embraced. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the saints are charitably yelling from heaven, "No! I actually said the opposite of that!" The major fake quotes in this book are not merely paraphrases of saintly wisdom or harmless pieces of advice that have been falsely attributed to the saints, although I do cover those kinds of quotes, too. Instead, each chapter in this book addresses a theme embodied in a well-known quote that is contrary to our Faith."

And after reading this book I am even more convinced about the power of words, and yes getting a quote correct really does matter. The chapters in this volume are:

Introduction
1. "Preach the gospel always; if necessary, use words."
2. "People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered . . . Love them anyway."
3. "You don't need to believe in God to be a good person."
4. "Pray as though everything depended on God, act as if everything depended on you."
5. "God helps those who help themselves."
6. "The truth is like a lion. You don't have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself."
7. "I believe because it is absurd."
8. "Rome has spoken, the case is closed."
9. "The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests."
10. "God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them."
What the Saints DID Say

Each chapter does not deal with just a single quote, but quotes along themes. And the last chapter is one of the most powerful and important for us to read today. Trent Horn tackles some pretty controversial topics in that last chapter and in the whole book. The reason he does so is because truth matters. Horn tackles over 40 quotes in this book, some are close to the original source, some are well meaning and along the lines of the thought of the source. Some are so warped the original meaning is lost or manipulated. A few are misattributed, and some are just fabrications.

Back when I worked for a non-denomination campus ministry, I kept a database of quotes. It was searchable by topic, author, and key words. I wonder if I were to be as diligent as Trent how many would need to be dropped from the list. Different staff members would send me quotes when they were read, from book, the web, or that they heard in talks and lectures. We used them for promotional material and in creating our own talks for retreats or conferences. It never really occurred to be to track down and verify sources, especially when taking a quote of a quote from a secondary or tertiary source. I know that going forward I will be far more diligent in what quotes I uses, and am thankful to Trent Horn for opening my eyes. This book was an excellent read!

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Trent Horn.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Mendo Ataíde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, entertaining and fun to know the sources of many famous misquotes. It is a work-in-progress I would say, light read and still gives catechesis on important matters.

[Michal Lukáč · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Stále ohlasujte evanjelium. Ak je to nutné, použite aj slová." Známe klišé, ktoré si už stihlo nájsť svoju cestu do množstva kostolov, farských spoločenstiev a formačných stretnutí.

Katolícky apologéta a filozof Trent Horn o ňom na začiatku tejto knihy píše, že keď svojim známym hovoril, že začína písať knihu o falošných citátoch nesprávne pripisovaných svätcom, veľmi často im ako prvý prišiel na um práve tento citát.

Podľa Horna je tento výrok nielen nesprávne prisudzovaný (vznikol najskôr v roku 1990), ale aj vyslovene teologicky nesprávny.

Pokiaľ by niekto povedal: „Rozložte oheň. Ak je to potrebné, použite drevo“, najskôr by sme danej rade porozumeli tak, že použitie dreva nemá byť primárnou metódou rozloženia ohňa, má byť použité až ako jedna z posledných možností.

Rada z nadpisu teda netvrdí niečo v zmysle „Dopĺňajte svoje slová skutkami“ alebo „Žite to, čo hlásate“, v skutočnosti degraduje explicitné slovné ohlasovanie evanjelia na podradnú úroveň v porovnaní s dobrými skutkami, na čosi, čo má prísť až ako posledná možnosť.

V skutočnosti je priam nevyhnutné, aby explicitné ohlasovanie kresťanstva kráčalo s dobrými skutkami ruka v ruke. Koniec koncov nám to prikazuje samotný Kristus. Ako informuje autor Skutkov apoštolov: „A prikázal nám, aby sme ľudu hlásali a dosvedčovali, že to jeho Boh ustanovil za sudcu živých i mŕtvych.“

Toto je len taká malá ochutnávka z celej knihy, ktorá je kritickým rozborom vyše 40 známych, no nie úplne spoľahlivých citátov, ktoré v priebehu niekoľkých desaťročí už stihli nadobudnúť povesť múdrych poučení. Svoj étos tieto citáty zásadne odvodzujú od toho, že ich autormi mali byť svätci, biblickí autori alebo iné významné osobnosti z histórie kresťanstva.

Aj keď sa Horn vydáva na akademicky náročnú cestu vyhľadávania pôvodných citátov a systematického reagovania na teologické chyby, knihu písal jednoduchým a prístupným jazykom, ktorý pochopí každý stredne pokročilý čitateľ anglických textov.

Popularizačný charakter knihy je badateľný aj vo výbere samotných citátov – ide o citáty ako „Pomôž si, človeče, aj Boh ti pomôže“ alebo „Rím prehovoril, prípad je uzavretý“. Ide teda o výroky, pri ktorých čitateľ viackrát prekvapene pozdvihne obočie, pretože si uvedomí, že najskôr aj on niektorým z nich už v priebehu svojho života „naletel“.

„Vaša reč nech je vždy milá, soľou korenená, aby ste vedeli, ako máte každému odpovedať,“ uvádza rada vo štvrtej kapitole Listu Kolosanom. A pokiaľ chcete získať nové informácie na o čosi informovanejšie ohlasovanie evanjelia aj vy, pridanie What the Saints Never Said do svojho zoznamu kníh na prečítanie rozhodne nie je krokom vedľa.

Celá moja recenzia: https://nm.sk/stale-ohlasujte-evanjel...

[Ann-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great, easy read. It's was super fast and easy to pick up and put down and read in little chunks. It was fascinating to read the history behind some super famous Saint quotes that they never said. The historian in me really enjoyed hearing origins of the quotes. I also appreciated the details that Trent Horn went through to explain the theology behind the quotes and why they don't actually conform to the gospel.

[Themountainbookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book! While I had already read Why Were Catholic before, What the Saints Never Said has me hooked on Trents writing style. It’s easy to hear his voice in his books. This makes the information less drab and more interesting. The book is lots of fun facts and things you wouldn’t learn just by going to church. The book is a true showcase of how explaining false truths can teach one more about the faith.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful, if not hard to read book. I really enjoyed reading through all of the quotes and learning the true history behind them. It definitely humbled me once or twice, when a couple of quotes I held dear, turned out to be false. But that's why I enjoyed it. It not only humbled me, but educated me as well. I just wish it was a bit longer.

[Jason Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

This certainly took me longer then it should have, but once I got into it, I was pleasantly surprised by how informative it was.

The structure of each chapter seems a bit disorganized, but finding out just how many popular saintly quotes were never said, or were misattributed, is eye opening and informative. Especially for fact oriented people like myself.

[Kevin Beach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much deeper than the title implies

I found this inspiring and easy to read. The author not only explains how sayings have been misquoted or misattributed, but also reflects on the parts of the Faith referred to in them.

[Don Klotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, helped clear up misconceptions

Very clear and readable book. The author researches common mis-quotes and clears them up giving you better quotes that saints have said to help understand why the mis-quote is not helpful and should be challenged when you hear it.

[Jane DiPaola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Know who said it and more

Not only a clarification of quotes, but a source of additional information on a variety of holy people and what they did say.

[Cindy Thrippleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and informative read

[Elizabeth Buerke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was short and interesting and informative.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Good information. I recommend it.
It has short inserts about quotes throughout the book. These are good but I found they disrupted the flow and line of thought as I read.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

A priceless reference, which should be on the shelf beside They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions, Hemingway Didn't Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotations, and, of course, The Misquotable C.S. Lewis: What He Didn’t Say, What He Actually Said, and Why It Matters

[Joel Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church - which is, of course, quite a different thing"

-Venerable Fulton Sheen

A very fitting quote for Trent Horn to include in the appendix. It is a good book for those new to the religion or not deep in it to understand the errancy of living life with an impotent faith.