Mike Pence had an occasion today to reiterate his stance on January 6 and former president Donald Trump. Namely, that Trump asked him to betray his constitutional duty on January 6 and that he shouldn’t be president again.

But he did so with a very apt biblical allusion. He said that Trump was listening to crackpot lawyers telling his “itching ears” what they wanted to hear. It recalls a line from 2 Timothy in the King James translation:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts. —2 Timothy 4:3

Basically Saint Paul is telling Timothy to be diligent in sound doctrine and grounded in perennial truths, and warning that in the future, churches will seek out false teachers who tell them what they want to hear.

I’m glad that at least some politicians are maintaining America’s highly biblical form of political rhetoric. Even for those who have no faith, it elevates our speech, our thoughts, and our leaders too.