Question: There has been increasing visibility of "stigmata." Is this of God?

Question: There has been increasing visibility of "stigmata." Is this of God?

Response: The stigmata are not from God. They could be psychosomatic (hysterical), psychic (i.e., demonic), simulated or imagined. It would not be glorifying to Christ for us to bleed like He did on the cross and feel the pain He endured for us. That would in fact detract from His finished work on the cross. We are to take up the cross and follow Him, bear in our bodies the marks of Christ and fill up that which is lacking in the suffering of His body . . . but all of these verses refer to the trials and suffering that come upon us for His name's sake as we stand true to Him as His followers--not literal bleeding from the palms.

The idea of stigmata also detracts from the faith we are to have in Christ because of what His Word says, the testimony of the prophets in the Old Testament times who foretold His coming and suffering for our sins, and of the eyewitnesses in the New Testament who were inspired to write their accounts. We do not need stigmata to confirm that Christ died for our sins; this "sign" causes us to look in the wrong place and it is destructive of true biblical faith.

Moreover, the verse they use from Joel and Acts speaks of signs in nature, not in humans; and the "blood" is most probably exactly what it says in the next sentence: ". . . The moon [turned] into blood." It is tragic that so many Christians run after signs and wonders instead of taking God at His word.