George W. Bush getting confused on Bible Verse-Fiction!

George W. Bush Bible His Favorite Bible Verse-Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:
This email alleges that during a presidential campaign speech in 2004, George W. Bush said his favorite Bible verse was John 16:3.
It was obviously a reference to the well known passage in John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)
John 16:3, however, says, "They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me." (NIV)
The eRumor says that neither Bush nor anybody in his campaign knew enough about the Bible to catch the error.

The Truth:
This story first circulated during the 2000 presidential campaign and was said to have happened to Al Gore, not George W. Bush.
The first time we saw it referencing George W. Bush was during the 2004 presidential campaign.
Christian author Cal Thomas says he was present at a convention in Washington, D.C. several years earlier when this slip of the lip did occur...but to then President George H. Bush.
We've not been able to substantiate that, but none of the stories about Al Gore or George W. Bush is true.

Last updated 7/24/04

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Worth thinking about . . . The Lord has a way of revealing those of us who really know him, and those that don't!!! Think about it! Bush gave a big speech last week about how his faith is so "important" to him. In this attempt to convince the American people that we should consider him for president, he announced that his favorite Bible verse is John 16:3. Of course the speech writer meant John 3:16, but nobody in the Bush camp was familiar enough with scripture to catch the error. And do you know what John 16:3 says? John 16:3 says; "And they will do this because they have not known the Father nor Me". The Holy Spirit works in strange ways.