Question: But don't we think in pictures?

September 1, 1986

Hunt, Dave

Question: But don't we think in pictures?

Response: We do not think pictures, but in words. Have you ever visualized justice, or truth? What picture would you have for God, who is not to be pictured at all? Yes, the Bible does give visual descriptions of God and Christ. Let's look at some examples.

Let's take the description of Jesus in Revelation 1. He has a two-edged sword coming our of His mouth. Are we expected to visualize a literal sword? No, the description is telling us something we can't even visualize. The image that is given is intended to teach us something deeper.

Or how about in Psalm:91:4 where it says that He (God) will cover us with His feathers and under His wings we shall trust? Should we conjure up an image of a big bird and say that God is like that? In every case where the Bible gives us what one would call visual language, it is to teach us something beyond the literal reality. In fact, visualization would only lead us astray.

Printer-friendly version