“Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies.” Romans 1:25
Recently I read an online article about 21 people from history who are allegedly imaginary rather than real. The author clearly didn’t spend any time on research. It appeared he simply fabricated everything from his own mind. I’m going to speculate on his reasoning.
As you can imagine, several Biblical characters made the list. As a believer, I accept that everyone mentioned in the Scriptures actually existed as described. However, I can imagine that some people may have doubt about Adam, Noah, Baalam, and others from the Old Testament because they are so ancient and their stories are so phenomenal.
The article cites these four as fictional: Moses, Mary Magdalene, Paul, and of course, Jesus. The author claims no historical evidence exists to confirm the existence of any of these individuals. Say what? These people are among the most documented of all in antiquity, especially Jesus! Forget the Bible and check the historical record and archeological findings. They’re all there!
Here’s the sad aspect of such an article. Unbelievers are doubters, and such nonsense reinforces what they suspect and really want to accept. They’re not educated enough to recognize that such an article is phony baloney. It’s one of Satan’s means to cloud their minds.
Why motivated the author? It certainly wasn’t scholarship or intelligence. For whatever reason, unbelievers want company to provide some reassurance of their thinking. Misery loves company, I guess. I don’t think there’s any question that unbelievers are racked with doubt.
Occasionally we hear of deathbed confessions of unbelievers who in their last breaths acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and pray for forgiveness of their sins and grace. Have you ever heard of a believer renouncing Jesus Christ and rejecting salvation in the same situation? Of course not!
Unbelievers are playing Russian roulette with a pistol having six bullets. Don’t be influenced by what they think.
How do you respond to such articles? Do they cause you to pause and think about your own beliefs?
Prayer: Thank you, God, for your infinite love of believers. Amen.