Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, who is also the former First Lady and Secretary of State, impressed a South Carolina pastor with her knowledge of the Scripture, calling it "the living Word" of God, during their recent conversation.

When the two met, Clinton asked Rev. Frederick Donnie Hunt, local assistant minister of Columbia's First Calvary Baptist Church, what he was studying in the Bible. He replied 1 Corinthians 13. "Oh I know it well," Clinton said, and she began to recite 1 Corinthians 13:4 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."

Hunt said he was moved with his conversation with Clinton, telling CNN, "I was impressed and glad that she knew the Scripture that I was reading and studying at the time. It impressed me that someone running for president has that background. It is important to me that we have a president that has some belief."

Clinton told Hunt that studying and learning the Bible is "the most important thing to do," adding that she appreciates the Scripture, devotionals, and mini-sermons her preacher-friend sends her every day.

Hunt noted that people "always learn something when you read it again and inspect it." She responded: "Well, it's alive. It's the living Word."

Hunt is a Democrat who admittedly voted for Barack Obama in the November 2012 election and has now thrown his support for Clinton in next year's race for the White House.

Clinton is not very outspoken about her Christian faith, but her close friends and aides often talk about it, saying she developed this while growing up in Park Ridge, Illinois, and attending the First Methodist Church.

She did, however, said that it was her faith that helped get her through one of the rockiest moments of her life - the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal back in the 90s. Lewinsky was a White House intern who had an affair with Hillary's husband, former President Bill Clinton.