Isaiah 65.2-3a, 5a KJV
“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face;...
Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.”
I’ve always wondered where the term “holier than thou” came from. Now I know. It’s found in the King James Version of Isaiah 65.5. There, in bold-faced print, are the words unbelievers have quoted for centuries in their critical assessment of high-minded church folks who seem “Holier than thou.”
On this point, the pagans have it right. They and God agree. Self-righteous Christians offend both God and everyone else. The church should be the one place in the world free of the cliques that plague and vertically divide society.
