Toast, Trees, Clouds, and Shrouds: Strange Religious Images

 

When I was a child, I use to lie on the grass and stare up at the clouds.  My imagination would run wild and I saw clouds in the shapes of dogs, swords, dragons, turtles, and other fascinating images.  People have been seeing images all around us for thousands of years.  Until recently, I had no idea how often people saw strange religious images in everyday objects.  There is the Shroud of Turin, the “Christ Oyster,” the Mother Teresa cinnamon bun, the “Jesus Frying Pan”, the “Pope in the Flames,” the “Jesus Toast,” the “Christ Oyster,” Jesus on the rear end of a dog, and a host of others (See Images At Bottom of THIS ARTICLE).

The most recent of these religious images is the silhouette of the Virgin Mary found on a tree in West New York, N.J.  So many people gathered to see this image, the police had to set up barricades to keep the people waiting in line from interfering with traffic.  One of those who gathered, Barbara Questel, said, “As soon as I got here, I felt this rush when I saw it, this rush from my body.  It's such an amazing feeling” (NBC News).  Many worshiped, prayed, cried, and kissed Mary on the tree, convinced this image was a miracle from the Lord.

Throughout time, people have often asked and looked for miraculous signs (Judges 6-7; Matthew 16:1-4; Exodus 4; etc).  Clearly people are doing the same today.  But are these images miraculous signs from God?  Is this how God communicates with us today?  Let’s look at a few points:

1. The Bible.  Despite what many teach and believe, God’s written word is the only way God still communicates with us today.  According to Scripture, everything we need to know and obey as Christians is found in the Bible (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).  This means God no longer communicates through prophets, speaking in tongues, and miracles (1 Corinthians 13:8; Zechariah 13:2; Hebrews 1:1-2).  This includes communication through random religious images.

2. Contradictions.  If we put any credibility behind images like these, we have to deal with the overwhelming number of contradictions.  Christian images haven’t been the only ones found.  Images have been found of the Hindu monkey deity and other divine Hindu spirits (Wikipedia).  Muslims have found numerous images of their most cherished word “Allah” (Wikipedia).  Evolutionists have found an image of Charles Darwin (theonion.com).  To make things more confusing, images of George Washington and other well-known people have also been found (DigitalSpy.com).  If these images mean anything, which ones are we to follow?  All of these different people and religions are contradictory to each other and many to Scripture itself.  Also, what do these images mean?  All of these images are completely subjective and open to anyone’s interpretation and speculation.  The only logical solution is that these images mean nothing and are just interesting.  These images should be viewed as random and haphazard, not as some miraculous revelation from God.

3. Legitimacy.  No one actually knows what Jesus and Mary looked like.  What people find on the Shroud of Turin, trees, and pieces of toast are simply what they imagine these Jesus, Mary, and others might look like.  In addition, God has filled our world with breathtaking proofs and evidences like the intricacies of eyes, ears, the human brain, the sun, stars, and extraordinary animals (Humming Birds, Bats, Giraffes, etc).  So why He use burnt toast, a dirty frying pan, bird droppings, or the rear end of a dog to prove or show Himself?  Isaiah 55:8-9 seems to capture the contrast between peoples’ thinking and God’s thinking quite well, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD.  ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”

To be blunt, it’s utterly ridiculous to put any weight behind such images.  Jeremiah 10:23 states, “I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”  God communicates with us through the Bible and directs our steps through Scripture alone because we are not capable of doing it with out His direction (Jude 3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Galatians 1:8-9).  When we see these random images in the clouds, on trees, or anywhere else, let’s chalk them up to people’s funny imaginations.  But when it comes to the eternal matters of religion and doctrine, let’s look to God’s only source of communication, the Bible (Revelation 20:11-15; John 14:48).

Tough Decisions

 

“One of the most famous trials in history was that of Benjamin Francois Courvoisier in London in 1840, who is now immortalized in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  Courvoisier was a Swiss valet accused of killing his elderly employer, Lord William Russell.  What made this trial notorious was the argument for the defense.  The police had bungled the investigation.  The evidence against Courvoisier was entirely circumstantial or had been planted.  One of the officers had perjured himself, and the maid's testimony brought suspicion on herself.

“The defense attorney, Charles Phillips, was convinced of the innocence of Courvoisier and cross-examined witnesses aggressively.  At the beginning of the second day of the trial, however, Courvoisier confessed privately to his lawyer that he had committed the murder.  When asked if he was going to plead guilty, he replied to Charles Phillips, ‘No, sir, I expect you to defend me to the utmost.’  Phillips was faced with a dilemma. Should he declare to the court that the man was guilty, or should he defend Courvoisier as best he could?  Should he break the confidentiality of the client-lawyer relationship, or should he help a guilty man to possibly go free?  Which is more important -- truth or professional duty?” (Klyne Snodgrass, Between Two Truths - Living with Biblical Tensions, p. 11-12).

Before I reveal what the lawyer chose, what would you have done in this situation?  Would you be loyal to your profession and the guilty man, or turn him over?  As it turns out, Charles Phillips decided to defend the man.  Despite his efforts, the man was convicted.  However, when this decision became public, Charles Phillips was heavily criticized for his decision.

While this may not have been a tough decision for some, people are often faced with difficult decisions.   Consider the following: Can I be saved, and if so, how?  Which church is the right one?  Can I and should I fix my marriage?  Should I date this person?  Who should I be friends with?  Should I continue to watch this TV show or movie?  Do I need to stop doing something I enjoy?

All the answers to questions like these can be found in Scripture.  The Bible is more than just a good book, it is the ultimate instruction book specifically given by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  It gives us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 3:9).  There is simply no greater way to improve life than through Scripture.  We just need to take the time to read and study its divine contents.

P.S.  If you have been looking for some of the answers to the above questions, or others, please don’t hesitate to ask.  We can help show you what answers God’s Word gives.

"The Historical Jesus"

Neal Pollard

When someone is given the title “Bible scholar,” they bear a lot of responsibility and should have a better grasp of what the Bible says before accepting such academic recognition.  Such is the case with Rachel Havrelock, interviewed by Jennifer Viegas of the Discovery Channel.  While she at times said things that seemed to honor scripture, other times reflected a bias that was either the result of her views or the views of those who interviewed her.

She contended that there is a misconception that the Bible is “meant to present a very conservative, traditional viewpoint.”  One wonders what she means by that.  What is a conservative, traditional viewpoint?  What would one call an alternative to this viewpoint?  She also said, according to the interview, that Jesus’ primary concern was spreading a social gospel.  See Luke 19:10, 1 Timothy 1:15, and a host of similarly worded passages.   Sure, the people wanted bread, but Jesus was more interested in giving them the bread of life!  She credits Paul, through a genius marketing ability, for causing early Christianity to spread so furiously.  One wonders what to do with the first twelve chapters of Acts.  Her last response is most telling, for what it says and what it implies.  Asked what Bible-related myths she thought most needed “busting,” Havrelock turned on that hanging curveball by saying, “It’s commonly thought today that the heterosexual family, with a mother, father and children, was the only family unit sanctioned by the church. The early Christians instead put more emphasis on community that allowed for gender equality and where everyone was equal in the eyes of God.”

Friends, we do not have the right to arbitrarily and subjectively reconstruct who we think or would like the historical Jesus to be.  It seems that history continuously finds man trying to remake God into his image (cf. Gen. 1:26-27).  While it seems that “experts” like Havrelock might fancy themselves as being unpredictable and untraditional, she seems to fall in line with so many of her peers and predecessors.  What would truly fit that description would be someone interviewed by a major media outlet having the courage to say what the Bible actually teaches without the dross of cultural pressure or personal, philosophical bias.  It is not likely that the Discovery Channels or MSNBCs of the world has great interest in finding such true scholars.  Those truly interested in learning more about the historical Jesus know just where to find Him.  He is in the book most scrutinized and criticized, but which shines truth more brightly every day!