Pictures or words

Wednesday 11 August 2021

The Lord God commanded man : You may eat the fruit of all the trees of the garden, but you shall not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day that you you will eat, you will die, that's for sure. Genesis 2:16,17

Pictures or words

Information transmitted in the form of an image often inscribes itself in our minds more effectively than a spoken word. The media widely exploit this trend, to the point that our century has become that of the image. The visual is omnipresent in our streets and in our homes. As a family, our eyes riveted on screens, we talk less and less.

The first book of the Bible already stigmatizes the priority of the visual over the auditory. Eve had heard that she was not to eat the forbidden fruit. But she "saw that the tree was the bearer of fruit which was good to eat, pleasant to the eye and precious for opening the mind" (Genesis 3. 6). She forgot what she had heard.

The Bible presents us with accounts to illustrate divine thoughts, but it is not "visual". She invites us to hear her message. Jesus is presented as the Word (John 1:14), which was incarnated and was seen by witnesses who spoke of them. "What we have seen with our own eyes, what we have beheld and what our hands have touched concerning the word of life, we proclaim to you" (1 John 1.1). Jesus Christ himself spoke to us on behalf of God. His Word - Old and New Testament - read and heard, has an effect on the heart and on the conscience. "The word of God is alive and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating until it separates soul and spirit, marrow joint ; it judges the feelings and thoughts of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). This Word heard and believed produces faith. "Faith comes from what we hear and what we hear comes from the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

Source (The Good Seed)