21st century version appears to be images of Christ in food or other household objects.
Martin Saunders, writing in Christian Today wants to see if you can spot the Christian hoax you’re most prone to being tricked by, of which the Shroud of Turin is one. The others are:
- Noah’s Ark in Eastern Turkey
- John Wayne’s deathbed conversion from Catholicism to evangelical Christianity
- a petition to stop a film portraying a gay Jesus
- how Einstein defeated his atheist professor in front of a roomful of fellow students
Of the Shroud, Saunders writes:
Although for years many believed it was genuinely the burial cloth used on Jesus, the Turin Shroud is now widely accepted to date from medieval times. Not only that; in turns out to be one of an estimated 40 similar cloths alleged to bear the facial imprint of the Son of God. While Internet speculation continues to circulate occasionally about ‘exciting new evidence’ that the shroud is genuine after all, the 21st century version appears to be images of Christ in food or other household objects. Jesus has been discovered in a Naan bread, a pizza, an orange, a grilled cheese sandwich, and even a Polish Pierogi dumpling, which the owner sold on eBay for $1775. And that one’s not even a hoax.
and concludes his thinking:
All of which tells us that a side-effect of faith is an occasional disposition to gullibility. That certainly doesn’t prove we’re all entirely misguided, but it is a note of caution. The proliferation of Christian Internet hoaxes mean that we should always think for at least a moment before sharing that amazing story. Because if it looks unbelievable, there might just be a good reason for that…
