“Why is your Bible bigger than mine? Do you have more Jesus than I do?” quipped Colbert, who like Biden is a practicing Catholic.
Biden’s use of his family Bible underscores the prominent role his faith has played in his personal and professional lives and will continue to do so as he becomes the second Catholic president in U.S. history.
He follows in a tradition of many other presidents who used family-owned scriptures to take their oaths, including Ronald Reagan and Franklin D. Roosevelt, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
Some have had their Bibles opened to personally relevant passages during their ceremonies. Bill Clinton, for example, chose Isaiah 58:12 which urges the devout to be a “repairer of the breach” for his second inauguration after a first term marked by political schisms with conservatives.
Biden inauguration: Here’s the schedule, what to watch
Joe Biden to be sworn in as 46th president of United States of America
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Members of the military band participate in a dress rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at the Capitol, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Joe Biden will be sworn in as 46th president of the United States during an inauguration ceremony Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington.
Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the first female vice president.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take their oaths of office on Wednesday using Bibles that are laden with personal meaning, writing new chapters in a long-running American tradition - and one that appears nowhere in the law.