Board index ‹ Assorted Bible Questions

[Righteous One]

What are your thoughts about people perceiving religious imagery in natural phenomena?

For example, an image of Mary, or an image of Jesus (as if we knew what He looked like).

Do you believe that on occasion, God has actually caused a natural phenomenon to have shapes or colors to make an image with a significant meaning that He wanted the observer(s) to notice?

Here are Wikipedia articles:

Perception of religious imagery in natural phenomena (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptions_of_religious_imagery_in_natural_phenomena)

Pareidolia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia), the more general phenomenon of perceiving a pattern.

[jimwalton]

I'm very suspicious of such perceptions. On the extremity, someone once claimed they saw Jesus's visage in a potato chip. Obviously ridiculous there. There is no indication in Scripture that God reveals himself in such a manner. So I guess it come down to that I don't believe it. I believe God and Jesus reveal themselves in visions, dreams, and other mechanisms (angels, audible conversation, etc.), but not in natural phenomena like water towers, potato chips, rock formations, etc.

[PJs]

I do not believe that there is any true significance to perceived images caused be natural phenomena.