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Bigfoot and the Bible

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CBN.com - Nearly 400 people gathered in Texas last weekend to examine one of the more penetrating questions facing America today. They were not there to discuss the swine flu, President Obama's health care plan, or NASA crashing unmanned space craft into the moon. Oh no … these folks sporting T-shirts bearing the phrase “Often Imitated, Never Invalidated” were gathered to discuss the latest sightings and tracking techniques of America’s most elusive citizen, Bigfoot.

That’s right, Big Foot. Sasquatch. The Abominable Snowman. You know him, you love him, you desperately want to see him. The problem is no one can seem to track him down. How hard is it to track down an incredibly obese, top heavy, hairy creature that bears an eerie resemblance to your Uncle Frank?

I have been fascinated with the legend of Bigfoot ever since I saw the grainy 1967 footage of an apelike creature wandering along the shore of a California creek. While it is certainly no Zapruder film in the grand pantheon of amateur videography, I think it is safe to say it would be somewhere in the top ten. Who can forget the menacing glare of the great Nuk-luk (that is what they call him in the Northwest Territories of Canada) burning back through the camera lens at the person who captured it on film? It certainly forged an indelible footprint, ah, imprint on me. But it also posed a major question that has yet to be answered to this day.

If we can put a man on the moon, perform successful surgery with the most delicate of instruments, and create a microchip the size of a pin that will store more information than a public library, than why can’t we find an overweight, hairy wild man living in the deep woods of America? What am I missing here?

When I was young I used to ask my parents this very question at the dinner table. Like an old television show that shall remain nameless, I was convinced the truth was out there. Whenever I asked, my mother would always grow quiet and begin cutting her meat or vegetables methodically as if I had asked her the recipe for cold fusion. She would eventually return from her self-imposed world of deep thought and say, “Ask your father.” Before I could shift my gaze to my dad, he would always blurt the same response. “It’s all hogwash! I don’t know of any hairy man in the Bible who wanders through the woods! If it’s not in the Bible than it isn’t true!”

“But what about Esau? He was a hairy man,” I always countered.

“Who taught you to be such a smart aleck anyway?” my father would fire back.

According to the Texas Bigfoot Institute, here is what we do know about our shadowy figure lurking in the trees as well as a few other “facts” I have thrown in:

  1. It is a hairy creature living in North America.
  2. It is a nocturnal creature with extraordinary night vision. (Of course. Why would he come out during the day when he could easily be photographed?)
  3. It can walk on two legs.
  4. No Bigfoot road kill has ever been found. (A simple explanation: They are very cautious creatures who look both ways before crossing the road.)
  5. No hunter has ever bagged a Bigfoot.
  6. All photographs of the creature either resemble a gorilla or one of those computer generated pictures where if you stare at it long enough, Ol’ Biggy will emerge from the pixels in three dimensions.
  7. A covert marketing plan was implemented in the early 1930s that introduced the Bigfoot brand. This was done to soften the harsh Sasquatch image of the times, thus making him more family friendly.
  8. They leave footprints.

Members of the Bigfoot Institute are quick to point out that their Bigfoot is not a space alien but may be descended from a species of giant gorilla’s called Gigantopithecus. All in all, this sounds like Uncle Frank we are talking about.

But what would happen if we did finally catch this half man, half beast, this giant of American folklore? Would there be an interrogation? I can only imagine what the local authorities, federal agents, or FEMA might ask him.

Allow me to illustrate.

Picture Bigfoot sitting on one side of a folding table in a dimly lit room. A plume of smoke from a cigarette swirls around his head making the air quality nearly unbearable. Occasionally, he must stamp out the flames rising from his fur. This is because he has never used an ash tray. Sitting on the other side of the table is a team of highly trained interrogators, scientists, and immigration officers, dressed in plain dark suits and wearing sunglasses. A tape recorder rests on the table recording every word of this historic conversation.

“So, Mr. Bigfoot, do you speak English?”

“Grrrrr argh Grr!”

“Did you inspire the Chewbacca character in the popular Star Wars movies?”

“Grrrrr argh Grr!”

Before the authorities proceed to the knockout questions, they shoot each other inquisitive glances to make sure the timing is right. They all nod in unison. But before they can ask the final, most provocative queries they can possibly muster, Bigfoot reaches across the table and grabs a pair of sunglasses from one of the agents. He sniffs them intently before placing them on his face. The tension is nearly palpable.

“Mr. Bigfoot, we have just a couple more questions for you.”

“Grrrrr argh Grr?”

“Do you know the Loch Ness Monster?”

“Grrrrr argh Grr!”

“What is man?”

“Grrrrr argh Grr!”

Despite his gruff exterior, I believe it is safe for us to conclude that Bigfoot is either a crazed Neanderthal wild man who may or may not have been educated in our public schools, or is just an angry, misplaced gorilla eating out of garbage cans like the rest of America’s semi-domesticated animals.

But more importantly he was asked an important question that he could not answer. That is, what is man?

A very good question but not for a mythical whatever he, she, or it is. Finding truth through folklore or events that cannot be proven is not the most productive use of our time. Real truth is found between the undeniably true pages of Scripture.

In , David writes, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”

Man is an incredible creature. In his hands he holds the power of miraculous healing of the body and violent destruction of nations simultaneously. Although he was made in the image of God, man marred that image by his own self-destructive actions. Man was not created to be alienated by his Creator but to be reconciled with Him.

In God’s eyes our lives have purpose, clarity of our being, but most importantly, eternal value.

Bigfoot is not a man. He is a myth.

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About The Author

Chris
Carpenter

Chris Carpenter is the program director for CBN.com, the official website of the Christian Broadcasting Network. He also serves as executive producer for myCBN Weekend, an Internet exclusive webcast show seen on CBN.com. In addition to his regular duties, Chris writes extensively for the website. Over the years, he has interviewed many notable entertainers, athletes, and politicians including Oscar winners Matthew McConaughy and Reese Witherspoon, evangelist Franklin Graham, author Max Lucado, Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy and former presidential hopefuls Sen. Rick Santorum and Gov. Mike