A TALKING CROSS at the Resurrection?!?
You may have heard of the “gnostic gospels.” They are ancient books that claim to be gospels written by major New Testament figures: the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, etc.
The validity of these books has been overwhelmingly rejected because they were written in the second century or later, well after the people they’re named after died; and because some of their content differs wildly from what we see in the Biblical gospels.
As an example of how bizarre these texts can be, I once heard of a resurrection account in the Gospel of Peter. It goes like this:
“Therefore, having seen this, the soldiers woke up the centurions and elders, for they were also keeping watch. And while they were describing to them the things they had seen, behold, they saw three men coming out of the tomb, with the two young men supporting the One, and a cross following them. And the head of the two reaching unto to heaven, but the One of whom they led out by the hand, His head reached beyond the heavens. And they heard a voice from heaven asking, ‘Did you preach to those who sleep?’ And a response was heard from the cross saying, ‘Yes!’”
So according to that passage, when Jesus rose from the dead, he was supported by two men (angels?), he was so tall his head “reached beyond the heavens,” an animate cross(!) was following them, and ... the cross ... spoke.
Obviously, the Gospel of Peter is a fabrication.
Other false revelations
It reminded me of the book of Mormon, which Joseph Smith claimed to have received from an angel; and of today’s hypercharismatic movement, which is obsessed with prophecies, visions and new revelation. Some of the things people in that movement say are just as bizarre as the talking cross.
Here are a few examples:
Jenn Johnson, the daughter of Bill Johnson, pastor of the hugely popular Bethel church, said, “The Holy Spirit to me is like the genie from Aladdin, and he’s blue ...”
Writer and speaker Jennifer LeClaire, the first editor of Charisma magazine, has written to beware of being stalked by a “sneaky squid spirit.”
Popular books go in-depth about “the courts of heaven” and “the physics of heaven”; some of their content is closer to New Age teachings than anything in the Bible.
There are more examples like that, and they’re in addition to the multitude of “prophecies” this movement has gotten wrong, the blatant heresies they teach (such as Jesus was “born again”), and the mystical phenomena in their churches (like involuntary jerking) that more resemble demon possession.
When you hear talk like that from this movement, you’re hearing the modern equivalent of the Gospel of Peter and the Book of Mormon. A talking cross would fit right in.
Not just because it sounds weird; the Bible contains strange-sounding stories as well, like a talking donkey and Jonah living inside a fish.
But that’s the Bible. It’s the word of God. It’s the one thing we know is the word of God. And that’s the point.
The gnostic gospels, the Book of Mormon, and the mystical claims of the “prophetic” movement are not the word of God. These “revelations” are nowhere in the Bible. Therefore, there’s no reason to believe any of them. They are equally without credibility, which the Bible says is determined by the Bible (Acts 17:11). They are all strange fire (Leviticus 10:1).
