Responses like Wood's and Kakutani's are in some ways testament to his power.
Some New Testament passages call Jesus Christ the word and wisdom of God, and in the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about the sending of another comforter or helper, the "Holy Spirit".
In the case of the Lutheran churches, most of the saints' days were removed (with the exception of some New Testament personages), though the basic temporal cycle of the calendar remained more or less intact.
People wanted to see fireworks; they wanted to see Obama bellowing "Yes we can, four more beers!" to a crowd of righteous believers, before Romney thundered back with some Old Testament fire and brimstone, courtesy of the Book of Mormon.
Some groups say others are not Jewish enough, others are accused of pandering to the rules of white Jewish culture, some include New Testament elements in their worship, and some promulgate more militant, black separatist beliefs.
Romney, in part through his wife, Ann, in part through some moving testaments to his kindness, and in part through a weird touchy-feely delivery, managed to soften himself a little even if the enigma endures.
That's got to be some sort of testament to quality.
It is in some ways a testament to the virulent nature of the Soviet regime that 20 years after its breakup it still manages to cast a spell.
"Australia's fascination with playing a noisy, aggressive cricket as some sort of testament to the past is preventing growth," Woodhill wrote on Twitter.
The speed with which action was taken was in some ways a testament to how much had become known about the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, in the days after the shooting.
