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jeudi 7 novembre 2013

A Short History Of Sightings Of Jesus

By Alyce Powell


For many people, one of the most difficult things in Christianity is managing to believe in a god that they cannot see. Some want concrete visual evidence before they can have faith. Throughout the religion's history, there have been people who reported sightings of Jesus and managed to strengthen their belief or even to convert to Christianity because of these visions.

The first instances of people seeing Christ are generally regarded as being true and they form a major part of what the Christian faith is based on. These events took place in the days and weeks after Christ was crucified. When some of His closest friends visited His tomb a few days after the burial, they found that it was empty and soon He started appearing to His disciples and others. The idea that He was resurrected is very important in Christianity. However, in those early days there were also some skeptics, such as the disciple who afterwards became known as Doubting Thomas.

Having visions of Jesus sometimes helped people to convert to Christianity in those early days. One of the best known examples is that of the Apostle Paul. He used to be known as Saul and was a zealous persecutor of people belonging to the new faith but on the road to Damascus, Christ appeared to him and he became one of the most important apostles.

According to theologians, it's possible that Jesus had made Himself manifest much earlier, before He had become human. For example, during Israel's time of servitude in Babylon, three young men were sentenced to die in a furnace because they wouldn't serve the Babylonian gods. A fourth man was seen in the fire with them and they were unharmed. That man may have been Christ, just as the angel that Jacob had wrestled centuries before may have been the Son of God too.

Some of the people who saw Christ later became saints in the Catholic Church because of their visions. The Church also displays one of the most famous objects imprinted with what is believed to be an image of Christ. The Shroud of Turin has markings that look like a man who may have died on a cross and many people believe that this is the shroud that was wrapped around the body of Jesus.

Today it's quite common for people to believe they've seen Christ in mundane objects. Slices of toast, pancakes, fruit, crisps and even breakfast cereals have borne the image. There are people who've spotted the Lord in things like X-rays and clothing irons too.

Advances in technology have even made video recording of Christ sightings possible. People simply have the video camera on their cellphone ready at the moment that Christ seems to appear. You can find these videos online and decide whether you think that these people really saw Jesus.

With so many supposed sightings of Jesus in everyday objects these days, it's difficult to decide which ones are true. Sometimes people create these images simply as a hoax and often seeing Christ in a blotch on a piece of toast requires quite a vivid imagination. For those who do believe in the veracity of these images, however, they often find that their faith becomes stronger.




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