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The love of money
“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).
“Luke, I am your father.”
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Most Star Wars fans immediately recognize those words spoken by Darth Vader in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. The irony is that Darth Vader never said them. What Darth Vader actually said was, “No. I am your father.”
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That is just one example of what is known as the Mandela Effect. The Mandela Effect is a collective false memory by which people vividly and strongly remember something that didn’t happen or happened differently than what they recall.
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The phenomenon is named after Nelson Mandela, whom many Americans believed to have died in a South African prison in the 1980s during apartheid. Many claim that they specifically remember hearing about his death on the news.
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Nelson Mandela, however, did not die in prison during apartheid. In fact, after his release in the early 1990s, Mandela helped overthrow apartheid and served as South Africa’s first democratically elected president from 1994 to 1999. Still today, however, many people say they vividly remember hearing about his death on the news in the 1980s.
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If you have a moment, search for the Mandela Effect online and read the numerous examples of the phenomenon. You will be surprised by how many false memories you have of things you think you remember clearly.
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The Mandela Effect also happens with the Bible. For example, I’ve heard many a Christian say, “As the Bible says, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ ” Yet, those words aren’t found in the Bible.
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Sometimes, we simply misremember or misquote a verse. The most famous example is probably 1 Timothy 6:10.
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People love to quote it. “Money is the root of all evil,” they say.
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The only problem is that’s not what the verse says. . . .
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Join other Forward in Christ readers on Sunday, August 17, at 4 p.m. Central Time, for a live online study with Pastor Andrew Schroer. The webinar will focus on the topic of distorted Bible passages and principles for biblical interpretation.
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Hardship pursued the family relentlessly. Ronald’s eyes were heavy with weariness from his family’s traveling. Fear followed him, the defender of his family, when they were forced out of homeless shelters and separated from one another for days at a time. . . .
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The teen tentatively raised his hand to my question. He was the only one who did. I was talking to the student body and faculty of a Christian high school. The young man was responding to my question, "Who sees themselves more as a saint than a sinner?" . . .
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At some point, every pastor internalizes Acts 17:16-34, and I’m no different. Whether serving as a vicar in a foreign land, a parish pastor, or now as the WELS Campus Ministry mission counselor, I always remember the story of Paul in Athens. Motivated by . . .
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