The Origin of Fake News
The term fake news has seen a rise in popularity over the past several years.
This surge is in large part due to the mistrust of information provided by news media outlets and elected officials.
Fake news, however, is not a new thing.
Author Sarah Churchwell has credited Woodrow Wilson with popularizing the term in 1915, in reference to the propaganda being peddled by opposing sides during World War I.
But in Matthew 28:1-8,11-15 we see that the greatest misinformation campaign began over 2000 years ago:
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
Jesus’ death and resurrection proves He is God and the savior of the world, everything else is fake news.
Prayer: Lord Jesus thank You for Your sacrifice on the cross so that I could not only have eternal life but also bring the Kingdom You ordained from creation of the world to pass. Let me to revel in the good news of the gospel!
Action: The good news of the gospel is greater than fake news. During these tumultuous times don’t spread fake news, spread the good news of Jesus Christ in all of your actions: thought, word, and deed.
Frank Turner
Frank Turner is the founder of Break Bread, Break Chains and is the co-host of the following podcasts: Defund The Church, Relative Currency, Politically Entertaining, and Christ over Crypto. He is also the founder and creator of the op-ed site Fake News Syndicate.