Something on Radio 4′s Thought For the Day last week struck a chord with me. Rev. Angela Tilby sought to bring President Obama down a peg or two for trying to make biblical links in his oratory when talking about revialisting the world economy. He says that we must ‘build our house upon rock’.

But Angela quite rightly points out that just a few lines later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling us not to even bother building up worldly goods – indeed he offers a warning against the belief that material possessions can bring us happiness.

So be careful, Barack the orator, when using biblical quotes.