"Over the years my mom has become a self-taught Biblical scholar"
About this Quote
"Over the years" is the tell. It frames belief not as a sudden conversion story (the genre TV loves) but as sustained practice, a long apprenticeship carried out in kitchens and living rooms rather than seminar rooms. Then comes "self-taught", a phrase that flatters the democratization of expertise: you do not need institutional permission to become serious, even about the most institution-shaped text in the culture. In a media landscape that often treats religion as either private quirk or political weapon, "self-taught" makes devotion feel industrious, relatable, almost bootstrap.
Calling her mom a "Biblical scholar" is also strategic inflation. Scholar suggests rigor, study, and authority - a mother elevated to a moral intellectual, not merely "religious". That elevation matters for Gifford: it positions her own faith as downstream of someone credible, disciplined, and earned, not just inherited habit. The subtext is reassurance to a skeptical audience: this isn't naive piety; it's researched.
Culturally, the line sits in a familiar ecosystem of celebrity testimony, where personal branding and spiritual language trade in the same currency: authenticity. Gifford isn't arguing theology; she's selling a provenance - faith as family craft, patiently made, meant to be trusted.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mother |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gifford, Kathie Lee. (2026, January 17). Over the years my mom has become a self-taught Biblical scholar. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/over-the-years-my-mom-has-become-a-self-taught-55547/
Chicago Style
Gifford, Kathie Lee. "Over the years my mom has become a self-taught Biblical scholar." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/over-the-years-my-mom-has-become-a-self-taught-55547/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Over the years my mom has become a self-taught Biblical scholar." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/over-the-years-my-mom-has-become-a-self-taught-55547/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







