Fact check: Quote about Bible falsely attributed to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Chiara Vercellone, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, 'Jesus loves the U.S. most, and that is why the Bible is written in English'

Six months after entering Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., is yet again the subject of a falsely attributed quote on social media.

"'Jesus loves the U.S. most and that is why the Bible is written in English.' – Marjorie Taylor Greene," reads a July 26 Facebook post that has been shared almost 400 times.

There's no evidence Greene ever made this statement. The quote has been around since as early as 2013, USA TODAY found, when it was attributed to then-Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

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USA TODAY reached out to the poster for comment.

No evidence Greene made statement

USA TODAY found no evidence that Greene said, "Jesus loves the U.S. most and that is why the Bible is written in English."

Nick Dyer, Greene's communications director, told USA TODAY the claim is not true.

While Greene has mentioned the Bible on social media, an in-depth search of her Twitter accounts, where she posts almost daily, shows no records of the statement.

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There was also no sign of the statement on ProPublica's "Politwoops," a website that tracks deleted tweets by public officials.

A Google search returned a list of independent fact checks debunking this same claim.

The only prior reference USA TODAY found online was in 2013 when an image of Bachmann was shared on Reddit with the same caption. It was debunked as there was no evidence the former congresswoman ever said that.

Greene has been the target of misattributed quotes before. In February, USA TODAY debunked a similar Facebook post claiming Greene said, "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us."

Bible originally written in mix of languages

While the Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages, the original wasn't written in English.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America says Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic are "the original languages of the Holy Bible from which all the translations have been delivered."

Aramaic was the most common language in much of the Middle East during Jesus' lifetime, while Hebrew had been chosen as the preferred language for religious scholars and scriptures at the time.

The Old Testament is believed to have been written in Hebrew for the most part, with some sections in Aramaic, while the New Testament was written in Greek.

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The first instances of English date back to the Fifth Century when three groups of Germanic citizens – the Anglos, Saxons and Jutes – moved to current Great Britain and used Celtic and Latin words to create "Old English."

That timeline puts the creation of English about 200 years after the first official establishment and compilation of biblical texts.

Our rating: False

We rate FALSE the claim that Greene said, "Jesus loves the U.S. most and that's why the Bible is written in English." There's no evidence Greene made that statement, which dates back as a spoof quote more than a decade. The congresswoman's communications director says the claim is not true.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Quote about Bible misattributed to Marjorie Taylor Greene