Sapphira

Last updated on: May 11, 2013 at 10:41 am by Fred Clark

11 Comments

Sapphira 2013-05-11T10:41:21-04:00 Fred Clark

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Fascinating piece last week in the St. Petersburg Times on Katherine Harris' faith-based approach to her Senate campaign, "Harris puts her faith in religion." (That headline seems both accurate and an intentional barb, her faith seems to be in religion itself.) Here's the Times' Adam C. Smith and Anita Kumar:

Harris has been aggressively campaigning for support among religious conservatives, hitting large churches and headlining a "Reclaiming America for Christ" conference in Broward County last weekend. She told hundreds of attendees she was "doing God's work" with her campaign.

Harris also hinted at her increased emphasis on her Christian faith when she talked to ABC's Nightline last week about spending $10-million of her own money to jump-start her Senate campaign.

"I am willing to take this widow's mite, this pearl of great price, and put everything on the line. No matter how much you have, are you willing to take what you have and sell it all for a great price," Harris said in the transcript provided by ABC News.

This is a confusing, and confused, clash of biblical allusions. The widow's mite is an apt image for what Harris seems to be trying to communicate. The reference is to a story from Chapter 12 of Mark's Gospel:

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on."

Harris' millions don't really compare to the poor widow's last two lepta, of course, but let's give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she didn't mean to suggest that she was giving "out of her poverty," but only that she intended "to put in everything — all she had to live on."

She said as much on Fox News:

Harris went on national TV to tell conservative commentator and Harris supporter Sean Hannity she was putting $10-million of her own money in. She invoked her father, who died in January, and sounded like she planned to invest her inheritance in the campaign:

"I'm going to put everything on the line. Everything. Not just my future and my reputation. My father's name. I'm going to take his legacy that he gave to me, everything that I have, and I'm going to put it in this race. I'm going to commit my legacy for my father, $10 million," she said.

That's an unambiguous, straightforward pledge. More on that in a moment, but first let's consider Harris' reference to the "pearl of great price." Harris refers to this as a synonym for the widow's mite, but that botches the meaning of the reference, which is from Matthew's Gospel (13:45-46):

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

This mini-parable is similar to the story of the widow's mite, in that both deal with giving up everything you have for something even better. But the "pearl of great price" is not the thing you give up, it's the thing you give up everything for. Harris' reference — "I am willing to take … this pearl of great price, and put everything on the line" — turns this parable on its head.

What Harris meant, I guess, is that a seat in the U.S. Senate is, for her, the "pearl of great price," the thing she is willing to sell all that she has in order to purchase. That's a fairly creepy declaration of ambition. It only gets creepier if you take Harris' statement at face value and accept that she is willing to trade the "pearl of great price" itself (i.e., the kingdom of God) for a Senate seat.

The former reading sounds like Lady Macbeth. The latter sounds like Milton's Satan. However you read it, though, what you have here is a candidate for the U.S. Senate openly declaring that she will trade anything and everything for power. Candidates usually aren't this candid.

As it turns out, though, Harris really isn't going to "put everything on the line." She won't be doing what she told Sean Hannity she would do — spending a $10 million inheritance from her father.

Campaign advisers understood Harris wanted to put the inheritance in the race, but now say she won't have access to that money until after her mother's death. On Tuesday, she clarified to the Times that the money would come from her current assets, including selling real estate.

"My dad didn't leave me that money. This is what I have," said Harris, who is married to a millionaire and ultimately is expected to receive a large inheritance.

She has said she does not plan to put the money in right away, and she is expected to report just a few hundred thousand dollars on hand when her campaign disclosure report comes due soon.

So Harris claims she's giving everything she has, but really she's not. In other words, she isn't the widow, and she isn't the pearl merchant. She's Sapphira.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 3, 2006

Sermonette

Next Post

April 4, 2006 Pews and barstools

Recent Comments

11 Comments | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category class warfare evangelicals Iraq Left Behind Mammon music Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who lived in Ur of the Chaldeans before God called him?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Isaac Jacob Abram Lot