Deepfakes ∙

Deepfakes ∙

Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned. – James 5:12

Matthew 23:23-28

 23 What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law – justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

 25 What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy – full of greed and self-indulgence!

 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

 27 What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs – beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.

 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

The phrase “deepfake” was coined in 2017. A deepfake is created using artificial intelligence based image synthesis software. A deepfake combines and superimposes totally separate existing images and videos with other images or videos. The resulting alterations or face swaps appear real, but they are totally fake, deeply fake.

Because people have been prevaricating since the time of the Fall, credibility and authenticity have repeatedly been a problem. It seems that lying has been a core fixture of human DNA ever since.

Developments in artificial intelligence have raised deceit and deception to an art form. Deepfakes make it nearly impossible to ascertain if what we see and hear is genuine. We now live in an age where we can no longer easily determine if visual and auditory content corresponds to reality. Just because we see or hear something, doesn’t mean that it’s real. Of course, Internet-based news and information sites are fertile ground.

The old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” has been raised to an entirely new level of cynicism, suspicion, and doubt.

In contemporary English hypocrite denotes an insincere person, especially someone who pretends to be pious or virtuous when they really are not. The original Greek term hypokrites meant actor, stage player, one who wore a mask. The word hypocrite came to mean a moral or religious counterfeit, pretender, dissembler. It describes a person marked by incongruity, who professes beliefs or opinions they that do not hold to conceal their real feelings, intents, or motives.

The Father despises disobedience of any kind, but He seems to have a special hatred for religious pretense. Why? Perhaps because those who only pretend to love God do a great job of keeping others away from God (Stanley).

REFLECT & PRAY

Now more than ever it is time to examine everything carefully, hold fast to what is good and true, and abstain from every form of evil and deceit (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).

Father I readily admit that it is easy for me to believe only what I want to believe. Father encourage me to hold fast to what is true and live consistently with it.

INSIGHT

Seeing has never been the basis for personal faith. Rather faith is based upon the facts of Scripture. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Due to 21st century technology, deepfakes are reality. Deepfake or deep faith the choice is yours. There have always been those who say, “If only I could see I would believe.” Now we can no longer believe what we see and hear. Consider the apostle Thomas.

John 20:24-29

 24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.

 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Seeming reality based upon what we see and hear is not, nor has it ever been, the basis for believing. Rather faith is the basis of our perception and understanding of reality.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2 Corinthians 4:18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please him. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Our faith is based upon the foundation of the truth of the Word of God and the promises the Father makes within it.

The Father has never made a promise that was too good to be true (Dwight L. Moody).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 7-16-2

© Dr. H 2022