"Whoever is pregnant with evil conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment. Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made" ( Psalm 7:14 to 15 ). Deceit rarely stays small. A lie told for one reason soon needs another lie to protect it, and before long the person telling it is trapped inside a story they can no longer control. This story about deceit is one of the strangest in the history of art. It began with wounded pride, grew through greed and nearly ended in a death sentence. We retell it in our own words, correct a few details that the original illustration got wrong, and end with a takeaway for preaching or reflection. If you want to think further about how lies work on us, Sopranu's review of Paul Ekman's Telling Lies and of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) are worth a look. Story in this post: The Greatest Forger: Han van Meegeren and the Fake Vermeers ──────── ✝ ──────── The Greatest Forger: Han van Meegeren and the Fak...
Sermon stories for preaching and faithful living