God In the Louisville Bridge Crash
Today’s edition covers an interview with the Louisville bridge crash survivor, a Protestant reaction to Pope Francis’s most recent controversy, John MacArthur’s explanation of his “mental health” comments, and more.
“[The LORD] stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity” (Proverbs 2:7)
Of Christian Concern
DRIVER RESCUED FROM LOUISVILLE BRIDGE ACCIDENT GIVES GOD ‘ALL THE HONOR,’ AND REFLECTS ON THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE INCIDENT
Photo: WHAS11 News
“I think that, well, God kept me here for a reason, because I really shouldn't be here. But I am, so I'm just giving him all the honor because stuff like that don't happen every day.”
On Friday, March 1, 2024, around noon, Sydney Thomas was fuming. The way her semi-truck had been loaded made offloading take longer than usual, and now she was behind schedule. Hoping to make up time on her way to her next stop, she took the Second Street Bridge, heading north out of Louisville, Kentucky. That’s when it happened.
Out of nowhere, a southbound pickup truck careened across the lanes, colliding with Thomas’s semi and sending it leftward over the side of the bridge. In those fevered seconds, Thomas’s mind was racing.
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“I saw myself going over the railing, and I was like, ‘Well, this is it,’” she told WHAS11 in an interview last week.
“When I went through the railing…I was just thinking like, ‘Wow, this is crazy to die like this.’ You know? And I really thought that I was about to die.”
As the truck was heading over the railing, she thought, “I can try to hurry up and take the seat belt off and jump out of the truck if I have enough time to. …I’m gonna have to jump.”
Then, the truck stopped. It was suspended off the side of the bridge, and she was looking through the windshield to the Ohio River below. There she remained for forty minutes, still as can be, foot on the brake and hand on the steering wheel. Those forty minutes felt like an eternity.
“I was just thinking about how upset I was earlier in the day and how insignificant it was compared to where I was at that moment,” she later reflected.
A man from up on the bridge talked with her, reassuring her until firefighters came. “And I just, I was praying, I was crying, and I was trying to just stay calm and just hope and pray that they would be able to get me out because I didn't think they would be able to.”
When first responders arrived, they set up a crane and lowered her rescuer, Bryce Carden. He gave her a harness and explained how to put it on.
“Are you a praying woman?” he asked. She answered yes, and they prayed together.
“I just kept crying out to God,” she recalls. “You know, ‘Please, Lord, just give me another chance.’”
When the harness was on, Carden cut off Thomas’s seatbelt and pulled her through the window.
Sydney Thomas, 26, told her story in an interview with WHAS11. (Screenshot: WHAS11 / YouTube)
“I got what I prayed for,” she remembers. “Somebody came and got me out of the truck, and we were praying, you know, just to get back on the ground and out of harm's way.” That prayer was answered, too, as Carden and Thomas made it back to safety moments later.
When asked why she’s able to talk about the experience so calmly, Thomas said, “I have my moments but, you know, God has me here for a reason and I have to fulfill my purpose in life and I can't let something like that stop me from doing what I'm supposed to do for Him, because He brought me out of it, you know? And He doesn't want me to just live in fear the rest of my life, you know? And I know that. I wouldn't be doing what I was supposed to do if I lived like that, afraid to just keep living, and looking over my shoulder and thinking something's gonna happen every time I get behind the wheel of my vehicle.”
She explained further, “I’ve been through a lot of painful stuff in my life, and I lost two friends to suicide back-to-back, and that was very hard for me. So, if I had to pick myself up and keep on moving from that, you know, I survived. So, I just have to be grateful for that, and I have to keep moving because I have a little boy that I have to take care of, that means the whole world to me.”
She goes on, “And I think [God] wanted for me to be a testimony to speak out and show people that, I mean, He showed everybody that He was real that day, but for me to speak on it and let people know that He does exist… ‘Cause I feel like I didn't deserve that. I didn't do nothing to deserve that. But…He felt like I did, but I don't think that I deserved it. I'm just glad that He was merciful enough on me and spared me.”
Listen to the full interview here. Recently released dashcam footage of the incident, which garnered international attention, can be seen here.
Also Noteworthy
Screenshot: 60 Minutes / YouTube
→ Pope Francis stirred up controversy this week when, in an interview aired on 60 Minutes, he said, “People are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, we are a little bit rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.” A perhaps representative Protestant response can be found in a post from X user Russ Latino:
“None are good. No, not one.” Romans 3:10
“The heart is deceitful above all things; and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“No one is good, except one — God. Mark 10:18
The gospel is good news for sinners
→ Christian leaders worldwide will embezzle $86 billion in 2024, a new report estimates. “For over a decade the amount embezzled by Christian leaders has far exceeded the missions giving of churches,” My Christian Daily reports. | Related, the same study estimates there are presently 47,000 Christian denominations worldwide.
→ 51.1% of Scots have no religion, according to Scotland’s 2022 census statistics released on Tuesday. That’s up from 36.7% in 2011. | Meanwhile, new data suggests that American non-religiousness has plateaued at 34-36% in the past five years (since 2019). | Also, a new survey found that only 36% of Brits agree that “religion is a force for good in society.”
→ Anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison last week for blocking entrance to a Washington, D.C. abortion clinic in October 2022. This week, another participant in the blockade, Heather Idoni, was sentenced to two years. | Six others who were convicted of federal crimes in January for blocking entrance to an abortion clinic in Tennessee will have their sentencing hearing starting July 2. Christians plan to rally in support of these brothers and sisters.
Content Catch-Up
Recent, notable content by Christian creators or of Christian interest.*
→ Is PTSD Real?: In a clip from an interview with Allie Beth Stuckey, Pastor John MacArthur explains his recent controversial comments about mental disorders. (Clip)
→ An Atheist’s Accusations Answered: Renowned Rice University chemist Dr. James M. Tour, a Christian, responds to accusations that he took advantage of the late Dr. Rick Smalley’s decline in health to peddle Christianity. (Video)
→ From Transgender to Transformed: An ex-transgender shares her life story and testimony, hosted by Answers In Genesis. (Video)
*Not necessarily an endorsement
The Bible, Briefly
The Sons of the Prophets (Part 4)
Saul among the prophets. Loflied op de muziek, Encomium Musices (Public Domain)
Scripture sometimes mentions groups of prophets and “sons of the prophets.” What’s the deal with these groups, and what can their biblical appearances teach us about Old Testament prophesying? In this fourth and final part on the topic, we consider what “sons of the prophets” means and summarize our observations.
‘Sons’: Literal or Figurative?
The Hebrew phrase translated as “sons of the prophets” appears in Scripture eleven times, exclusively “during the period of Elijah and especially Elisha, and only in the books of 1 and 2 Kings.”
Many commentators say the term “sons” is purely figurative:
“The term is a technical one referring to the members of a prophetic order or guild, and has no reference to physical descent from a prophet.” (Bible Gateway Encyclopedia of the Bible)
“This designation does not mean physical children, but members of a prophetic guild or association.” (The Reformation Study Bible, 508)
“‘Son’ here means member or disciple, not child, for some were married adults (4:1).” (The Ryrie Study Bible, 431)
“The ‘sons of the prophets’ were not literal sons but metaphorical ones, that is, disciples.” (The Apologetics Study Bible, 542)
That said, it’s curious that the first generation of these groups of prophets (1 Samuel 10:5-13) were not called “sons of the prophets” but just “a group of prophets.” Could this first group be the “prophets” of which subsequent generations were said to be “sons”? If so, it seems possible that the subsequent generations could be their physical descendants, at least in part.
Still, the mainstream view among scholars is that the term has nothing to do with physical descent. Other occurrences of “son” in the Scripture are also used figuratively (i.e., “sons of the Most High” in Psalm 82:6), so it’s not an unreasonable view.
In Sum
This short series hasn’t solved every mystery about the prophets, but we have made several observations worth recalling:
The Bible indicates the existence of at least one group of prophets during Samuel’s time, led and probably founded by Samuel.
From Samuel’s time onward, prophesying sometimes involved high places, music, and nakedness.
Multiple groups emerged in different places (probably including Ramah, Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, Carmel, and Samaria). These groups became known as “the sons of the prophets” and sometimes included one hundred men or more. The communities were tight-knit (e.g., eating together), and at least some of the men had wives and children.
The sons of the prophets were likely dependent on charity for their livelihood. They were occupied with study, worship, serving prophets, and performing prophetic duties.
They sometimes displayed a certain prophetic giftedness, a keen spiritual awareness that included limited foreknowledge and a perception of spiritual authority.
The title “sons of the prophets” probably did not refer to physical descent but simply membership in a prophetic school or guild.
From this study, we can deduce that prophets and, to a lesser degree, the sons of the prophets had special access to divine knowledge. This access was limited and wholly dependent on what God was willing to reveal in any given case. Their lifestyles were apparently focused on seeking God and serving God’s people through spiritual disciplines, some of which may strike the modern mind as odd.
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