“Luke, I am your father.”
Most Star Wars fans immediately recognize those words spoken by Darth Vader in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. The irony is that Darth Vader never said them. What Darth Vader actually said is, “No. I am your father.”
That is just one example of what is known as the Mandela Effect. The Mandela Effect is a collective false memory, where people vividly and strongly remember something that didn’t happen or happened differently than they recall.
The phenomenon is named after Nelson Mandela, whom many Americans remember to have died in a South African prison in the 1980s during apartheid. Many claim that they specifically remember hearing about his death on the news.
Nelson Mandela, however, did not die in prison during apartheid. In fact, after his release from prison in the early 1990s, Mandela helped overthrow apartheid and served as South Africa’s first democratically elected president from 1994 to 1999. Still today, however, many people say they vividly remember hearing about his death on the news in the 1980s.
If you have a chance this week, search for “the Mandela Effect” on your phone and read the numerous examples of the phenomenon. You will probably be surprised how many false memories you have of things you think you remember clearly.
The Mandela Effect also happens among Christians. For example, what was the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden? Most people would swear that the Bible says it was an apple, but if you read Genesis chapter three carefully, it doesn’t tell us what kind of fruit it was.
Or how many Wise Men visited Jesus on the night he was born? Most people would say, “Three.” Again, if you read Matthew chapter two carefully, it doesn’t say how many Wise Men visited Jesus. In fact, the correct answer to that question is “none.” The Wise Men didn’t visit baby Jesus on the night he was born, but rather months later.
When you put up your nativity scene this Christmas, you might want to make that correction.
I’ve heard many a Christian say, “As the Bible says, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’” Yet, those words are found nowhere in the Bible.
One of the most famous passages in Scripture is 1 Timothy 6:10, “Money is the root of all evil.” The only problem is that’s not what the verse says. 1 Timothy 6:10 actually says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” which changes the meaning significantly.
Watch out for the Mandela Effect. We often assume we know what the Bible says because we learned the stories when we were kids in Sunday School. You would be surprised how much we misremember or just plain forget.
Because the human mind and memory are fallible, we all need to be in God’s Word regularly. We need to read our Bibles carefully and often.
So, go to church. Attend a weekly Bible Study. Dig deeply into God’s Word.
Watch out for the Mandela Effect.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon.com.
