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One
Born Every Minute
P.
T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey Circus fame, has
been cited as the source of a famous quote, which was
actually made – not by Barnum – but by a rival of
Barnum named David Hannum.
Dr.
Benjamin Wiker has summarized the background of the
popular phrase:
“The
story begins with Mr. George Hull, a student of
archeology and paleontology who contrived a famous
hoax to make money.
Hull
had a “giant” carved out of stone, and buried on
his cousin’s farm in
Cardiff
,
New York
. Why? Because evangelists of the time were preaching
about lost giants that roamed the earth, and
Hull
knew he could make a mint if the buried giant was
“suddenly” unearthed and put on display. And he
did. Things went so well that he was able to sell
two-thirds interest in the giant for $30,000 to a
group of men, one of them being banker David Hannum
(who believed the giant real). P.T. Barnum tried to
buy the giant, but
Hull
and Hannum wouldn’t sell. So, ol’ P.T. had one
carved of his own, and claimed
Hull
and Hannum’s was a fake! Seeing the streams of
visitors flowing in to see P.T.'s “giant,” Hannum,
still believing his own giant to be real, declared: “There’s
a sucker born every minute.” *
Our
society tends to be very gullible at times.
Many long to hear – and quickly accept --
some new thing (cf. Acts 17:21) without carefully
investigating it.
Satan, man’s greatest enemy, knows this and
is eager to deceive us into believing lies.
After all, “when he speaks a lie, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of
lies” (John 8:44).
So Satan is never more pleased than when
attempts are made to discredit God
and His Word. Satan
seeks to keep us from the “saving knowledge" of
the Truth.
“For the time will come.
. . when men will not put up with sound teaching. But after their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear, and they will turn their ears away from the
TRUTH and turn aside to MYTHS.” (2Timothy 4:3-4)
The
Truth is: God, the Creator and Sustainer of
life, loves us.
He loves us so much that He gave His only
begotten Son, Jesus, for us (John 3:16).
Jesus, the divine Son of God, lived among us
(John 1:14) then He “died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
The Apostle Paul wrote: “This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy
1:15)
The
Truth is: Jesus WILL save those who: believe
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38; 22:16).
He will CONTINUE to cleanse those who CONTINUE
to strive to walk in the light of His Word (1 John
1:7).
Do
NOT be
deceived by the lies of Satan; don’t be a SUCKER!
You CAN know the Truth, and the Truth shall
set you free (John 8:32)!
BELIEVE
the Truth of God’s Word, and OBEY it!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*
Dr. Benjamin Wiker, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus: Here We Go Again.”
tothesource.org -- http://www.tothesource.org/3_6_2007/3_6_2007.htm.
For further information, see Brown, R.J.
“P.T. Barnum Never Did Say ‘There’s a Sucker Born Every
Minute.’” http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html
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