Minute Meditations

”It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that one has never heard before.” These words of Robert Lynd are in no area more true than in the field of religion.

It is amazing how many people believe the lie that death isn’t death, not because it is reasonable or because there is scientific evidence to support it (just the reverse is true in both cases), but merely because they have heard it a thousand times.

The principle which is now called brainwashing is not new, it has just been given a new name.

Sometime ago we had the opportunity to discuss the Doctrine of the Trinity with a newly ordained minister who stoutly upheld the belief of three Gods in one. It was a fruitless discussion so far as the participants were concerned but the interesting fact was that later after we had left, the young minister confessed to his father, who does not believe in the Trinity, that he had not believed in the Trinity either until he had attended Divinity School. He learned there that he had to believe it in order to graduate, and now after having heard it so often he was fully convinced of its truth.

Now there are two points we want to make concerning this. First, we want to be on our guard that we are not taken in by lies just because we have heard them over and over again; and second, we want to be sure that we ourselves are not guilty of trying to convince others of something that is not true, by use of repetition. The truth of God is certainly true but this does not necessarily mean that everything we believe is true. We also can be guilty of holding an opinion that is false, and we must not be so stubborn as to refuse to give it up just because we have cherished it for so long. We deplore this in others; let us be sure that we despise it in ourselves as well.

Perhaps an example would help illustrate. We once knew a dear person who had believed for many years that the half tribe of Manasseh was called a half tribe because Joseph’s tribe was divided between Manasseh and Ephraim.

Of course if this were true, then Ephraim would also be a half tribe but we look in vain for any scripture which describes Ephraim this way. Manasseh had half tribes because one half of the tribe took their inheritance on one side of the river Jordan and the other half on the other side, but could this person be convinced of this truth? Absolutely not, it was a belief that had been held so long that they did not want to be confused with facts because their mind was already made up.

This is the position we want to avoid. We want others to consider the facts when we are trying to persuade them concerning the true Bible teaching concerning God or the state of the dead, and we should also be considerate enough to allow them to produce what they believe to be evidence in support of their position. We need never fear the truth. So long as we keep our heads, we can examine their proofs and determine if they are valid. If they are not, perhaps we can ”in meekness instruct those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” If their point has merit, let us be honest and acknowledge it.

Many of the troubles we encounter not only in teaching the Truth but also in our dealings with those within the brotherhood can be solved if we will honestly examine the evidence and ourselves to be sure that we are not being swayed just because we have heard it a thousand times or have cherished it as a pet belief when all the evidence should convince us that we need to re-evaluate our own position. If it is a fact that we have never heard before but is none the less a fact, let us then do as we would have others do, and accept it for what it is, a fact.