Of Evil Men and Impostors :: By Harriet Cook
Having had pastors who faithfully teach the Word of God my whole life (almost 71 years now), I still enjoy being taught by additional pastors whose exegesis of the Word is sound. YouTube has made it so simple to learn more! But as a society, we are being invaded more and more by deception.
Jesus instructed us to be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves. Are we as individuals studying our Bible to know it well enough to recognize false doctrine? Are we *aware,* as we are listening or reading, of common sense clues that would reveal a problem with what we are ingesting? Yes, the Holy Spirit gives us the gifts of wisdom and discernment of spirits, but He also empowers us with wisdom based on life experiences and listening to His gentle voice. Are we using our God-given brains? Are we being Bereans, consulting God’s word to compare and contrast what we are hearing or reading for determining Biblical accuracy?
Most of us, even those of us in our golden years, know that artificial intelligence (AI) is here. It is expanding in its general benefits, but even more so developing into a tool for great evil. But are we consuming media with enough vigilance to distinguish deception from truth?
In the last seven days, I have digitally encountered multiple podcasts using the AI-cloned voices of three recognizable Bible teachers! The AI content creators are using well-known, respected men to promote their particular agenda.
As the author of a book about domestic abuse in our churches and how to help the survivors, my attention is drawn to topics regarding narcissistic abuse. Last week, someone on Facebook shared a podcast, supposedly of Billy Graham, teaching on narcissism. Not a video, but audio only. I only got through eight minutes before the accumulation of red flags shouted “turn this off!” In that instance, I did not need the “gift of discernment” or to compare texts from the Bible. In those few minutes, I did hear some accuracy about narcissism. However, I allowed my brain to ponder on these red flags:
- The late Dr. Billy Graham was a great orator!
- The audio I was hearing was staccato at times, like pieces put together carelessly. It was not the smooth manner in which Dr. Graham always delivered his messages.
- Phrases were repeated several times. Billy Graham was an accomplished speaker. He did not have to repeat his key points, for he delivered them with skill and authority. Being a televised evangelist, he had time constraints; thus, his messages were to the point, not ambling about in repetition.
- Graham passed away seven years ago in February of 2018. This audio I heard, and another I saw available were recent posts and were not from the official Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
- The most glaring red flag?
- As an evangelist, Dr. Graham’s calling and dedication was to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To my knowledge, he never strayed from calling people to salvation through the blood of Jesus.
Yesterday, as I was on YouTube, I was presented quite randomly with Pastor David Jeremiah teaching on, you guessed it — narcissists and specifically not being kind to them. (IMHO, the safest tactic is to simply remove yourself and leave them to the Lord!) I am not as familiar with his teaching style as I am with Dr. Graham’s, but again, this was audio only accompanied by memes superimposed on the screen. The comments from others who actually listened were what alerted me; for they were quite struck with the unscriptural teaching they were hearing. I chose to not listen and will explain that choice later.
This week on YouTube, there was an announcement by David Diga Hernandez regarding cloning of his voice. Per Mr. Hernandez, “The message included references to angel feathers and the symbolism of repeatedly seeing certain numbers—topics I don’t personally teach.” Mrs. Hernandez, upon listening to the audio, couldn’t even tell that it was not his voice! Brother Hernandez ended his announcement with the request to only listen to his official channel.
You will notice in all three cases that, besides the cloning, the common denominator is audio only. Consequently, our ears don’t have the cooperation of our eyes to examine the media presentation to assess the reality of who is speaking.
In the first two cases, there is the promoting of one particular topic. Teaching about narcissistic domestic abuse DOES need to be taught in our churches! This sin is rampant, though usually covert, and Christian wives are suffering. Nevertheless, each of these podcasts (and probably many others) have been created through deception. These podcasts originated as a lie.
We must remember this: if someone has generated content by the deceptive use of the illegal cloning of a well-known speaker’s voice, every bit of the content then becomes suspect. The content creator lied right out of the gate; how can one trust the remainder of the subject matter to be truthful? “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” —Albert Einstein.
I am responsible for what I allow into my eye and ear gates. Once determining the deception of an AI cloned message, I did not and I will not listen through to the conclusion of the message for this reason: Why infiltrate my subconscious mind with content I know was purposely presented with a bald-faced lie? The Apostle Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:13, tells us that “evil men [Strong’s G444-human, either male or female] and imposters [Strong’s G1114-deceivers] will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” We each have enough to deal with in life without knowingly sowing into our minds teaching that started out with a flagrant lie!
In Proverbs 14:5, through Solomon, we are told, “A faithful witness does not lie; but a false witness will utter lies.” In Matthew 24, Jesus was teaching that deception is out there and urges “Take heed that no one deceives you.”
Jesus warns us that, near the end, religious imposters will show great signs and wonders with the purpose of deception. Those hearing that sermon, if seeing and hearing the AI of today, would surely think the cloning of voices to be a great wonder! Paul in Ephesians 4:14 exhorts us “…to no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”
Faithful pastors, teachers, and evangelists WILL encourage us to be like the Bereans and evaluate their teaching alongside the Bible. False teachers will use other means, such as AI cloning of faithful teachers’ voices, to dupe the casual listener, the Christian less-schooled in Scripture, and those “thinking” with their hearts instead of reasoning with a mind saturated with the Word.
So, knowing digital fraud is competing against solid teaching, what are we to do? My suggestions (no doubt incomplete) are:
>Above ALL study your Bible! Don’t just “read to check off today’s reading plan box.” You don’t have to read the whole Bible in a year. Chew on passages. Ask the Lord to enlighten you. Become familiar with the whole counsel of God. Use Strong’s Concordance to identify the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words beyond commonly and incompletely defined in English. Blue Letter Bible has all sorts of helps for comprehending what you are reading. Read Pastoral commentaries. After reading my particular day’s Scripture passage, my favorite commentary is Enduring Word by Pastor David Guzik.
>Listen (or read) all so-called Biblical teaching with an analytical mind. Use your own white matter to analyze, “Does this sound like anything Pastor So and So would actually teach?” “Does this teaching align with Scripture?” “Why does the audio sound weird?” (see “Billy Graham’s” inconsistent delivery above). “My spirit is…disturbed. What is causing that as I take in this teaching?”
>Pray for everyday common-sense discernment (different than the gift of the discerning of spirits, which we should also ask for!) I live in Florida. Common sense tells me that an alligator sporting a pink rhinestone collar bearing a nametag of “Princess” is still not a tame, domesticated pet. I should not invite her onto my lap! The same discernment applies when approaching teaching marketed as Biblical or presented by someone displaying some sense of spiritual authority—use holy discrimination (discerning, distinguishing one from another)!
>Pray for wisdom to know what to do with the information that thoughtful discernment and common sense have imparted to you.
Oh, Holy Spirit, protect us from spiritual infection! Give us Your mind, sensitive spirits, and remind us to use our “thinking caps” when we see symptoms we should not allow to contaminate us! We want to be hearing You clearly.
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All scripture quoted is from the New King James Version enhanced with Strong’s definitions.
Harriet Cook has been walking with Jesus for 66 years now, serving in her denomination for 50 years along with her most wonderful husband of 41 years. In 2024, Covenant Books published Harriet’s book What Can I Do to Help Lazarus? Reaching Out with Knowledge and Compassion to Survivors of Domestic Abuse in Our Congregations, which is available on Amazon.
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