There always have been some common beliefs among people. I've been told of Moses, Jesus, Noah, Joseph, Abraham and Mohammad's miraculous stories since my childhood:
* And so Moses led his people eastward, beginning the long journey to Canaan. Shut in between Pharaoh's army and the sea, the Israelites despaired, but Exodus records that God divided the waters so that they passed safely across on dry ground. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them.
* The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed both refer to Mary as "the Virgin Mary". This alludes to the belief that Mary conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and not through intercourse with Joseph or anyone else. That she was a virgin at this time is affirmed by Eastern Christianity, Roman Catholicism and many Protestants.
* Abraham confronts Nimrod and tells him face-to-face to cease his idolatry, whereupon Nimrod orders him burned at the stake. Nimrod has his subjects gather wood for four whole years, so as to burn Abraham in the biggest bonfire the world had seen (a story possibly inspired or confused with Nimrod's building of the Tower). Yet when the fire is lighted, Abraham walks out unscathed.
* Allah chose Muhammad even though he had grown up as an orphan and was totally illiterate. All good qualities and virtues reached ultimate perfection and were firmly established in him, which no one else can attain except the prophets whom Allah has protected and guided. This combination of perfect qualities is one of the greatest proofs of the truth of his Prophethood. He acquired his knowledge direct from Allah. He was not taught by any human being.
There's no piece of scientific justification for these intangible stories yet people believe them way easier than the substantial scientific facts. Those stories can't be tested, can't be proved and they can't be repeated (they at least haven't been repeated until now) so why don't people suspect that they could be fables?
Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf defines Große Lüge as a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously".
All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true in itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.
I'm not implying that everything we've been told about God, prophets, their holy books and miracles were Big Lies but it more or less explains to me why people are believing such stuff easily, why they don't tend to modify/change their beliefs and why they dislike their religious beliefs even to be questioned.
* And so Moses led his people eastward, beginning the long journey to Canaan. Shut in between Pharaoh's army and the sea, the Israelites despaired, but Exodus records that God divided the waters so that they passed safely across on dry ground. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them.
* The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed both refer to Mary as "the Virgin Mary". This alludes to the belief that Mary conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and not through intercourse with Joseph or anyone else. That she was a virgin at this time is affirmed by Eastern Christianity, Roman Catholicism and many Protestants.
* Abraham confronts Nimrod and tells him face-to-face to cease his idolatry, whereupon Nimrod orders him burned at the stake. Nimrod has his subjects gather wood for four whole years, so as to burn Abraham in the biggest bonfire the world had seen (a story possibly inspired or confused with Nimrod's building of the Tower). Yet when the fire is lighted, Abraham walks out unscathed.
* Allah chose Muhammad even though he had grown up as an orphan and was totally illiterate. All good qualities and virtues reached ultimate perfection and were firmly established in him, which no one else can attain except the prophets whom Allah has protected and guided. This combination of perfect qualities is one of the greatest proofs of the truth of his Prophethood. He acquired his knowledge direct from Allah. He was not taught by any human being.
There's no piece of scientific justification for these intangible stories yet people believe them way easier than the substantial scientific facts. Those stories can't be tested, can't be proved and they can't be repeated (they at least haven't been repeated until now) so why don't people suspect that they could be fables?
Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf defines Große Lüge as a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously".
All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true in itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.
I'm not implying that everything we've been told about God, prophets, their holy books and miracles were Big Lies but it more or less explains to me why people are believing such stuff easily, why they don't tend to modify/change their beliefs and why they dislike their religious beliefs even to be questioned.
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