Explicit instruction isn't enough.
Religious stories shape our identity.
When I feel myself getting angry, I remember the two little girls my grandparents told me about when I was five years old. One girl was kind and polite, and the other was rude and angry. One day they each had a bag of food they were excited to eat for lunch when a hungry fairy came along. The fairy asked the kind girl what was in her bag, and she described her food in mouthwatering detail. Then the fairy asked the rude girl what was in her bag, she said, “S—t.” So the fairy asked the good girl to share her food, and they had a delicious lunch together. The angry, lying girl ran off to eat her lunch alone, but when she opened her bag, all she found was feces.
This story left an impression on me. It also reminds me how important stories are in creating the culture we want our children to grow up in. We can tell them things like, “Don’t lie. Don’t get angry. Don’t be greedy.” But they’ll hear us better if we capture their imagination with a story that they can see themselves in. Children believe that if they act like the bad character in the story, there will be consequences.
Mary, peace be upon him, was accompanied by the shepherd man and they (with the ) had three loaves of bread, and when they wanted to eat their food, Jesus found that they were only two loaves. The Prophet of God and they walked together until they came to a blind man, so Jesus, peace be upon him, put his hand on his eyes and prayed to God for him, so God Almighty healed him and restored his sight to him, so the said in astonishment: Glory be to God! And here Jesus asked his ish companion again: For the sake of the one who healed this blind man and restored his sight to him, where is the third loaf? He replied: By God, they were only two. Sarah, and our master Jesus did not comment on the matter until they came to a large river, and they said: How are we going to cross it? The Prophet said to him: Say in the name of God and follow me, so they walked on the water, and they said wondering: Glory be to God! And here Jesus asked his ish owner a third time: For the sake of whom we walked on the water, where is the third loaf? He replied: By God, they were only two. Our master Jesus did not comment, and when they reached the other bank, he, peace be upon him, gathered three piles of dirt and then prayed to God to turn them into gold, so they turned into gold. They said wondering: Glory be to God, who are these piles of gold for??! He, peace be upon him, said: The first is for you, and the second is for me, and he was silent for a while. Then the shepherd said: And the third?? He, peace be upon him, said: The third is for the one who ate the third loaf! He quickly replied: I am the one who ate it!! Our master Jesus said: It is all yours, and he left the immersed in the pleasure of love of money and the world.
It is noted at each time Jesus asked that ish shepherd about that bread he did not argue the answer at all, although he was certain about it. This is because he knew that some behaviors cannot be taught, and must be learned through experience. The story did not depend on the argument as much it depends on the course of events that will finally shape our convention and comprehension of the truth and the station of the values we hold in the story. We will see that Jesus was able to foresee that this kind of greed will eventually turn back to the perpetrator without further discussion. The story will unfold about the repercussions of excessive greed, which can blind a person from noticing a miracle.
After the shepherd sat engrossed in gold, it only took a short while until three knights came to him. When they saw the gold, they dismounted, and they killed him, the worst killers. Poor fellow!! He died and only enjoyed it a little! Just a few minutes!! Glory Lord!! What rules you and what makes you fair!! After each of them got a heap of gold, the devil started playing with their heads together. One of them approached one of his companions and said to him: Why don't you and I take the three piles and add half an additional pile instead of distributing it to three, his owner said to him: Great idea!!! They called the third and said to him: Can you buy us food to have lunch before we set out?? This third agreed and went to buy food? On the way, she told him himself and said to him: Why don't you get rid of them and get all the money by yourself?? It really is an excellent idea!! So our friend put poison in the food to get all the money!! And he does not know the plot of his two companions against him!!, and when he returned, they stabbed him in the body until he died, then they ate the poisoned food, and soon they caught up with their two companions and they died and they all died, and when the Prophet of God Jesus, peace be upon him, returned, he found four bodies lying on the ground and found the gold alone. This is what greediness does to its people.
Religious texts, like the Qu’ran, the Torah, and the Bible are rich sources for stories that teach a lesson. Even though the stories are from long ago, they are just as relevant today. More importantly, when told to children who believe in magic and miracles, religious stories capture their imagination and convey cultural values at an early age. This helps them to create their identity. Even as children get older and realize the story is fiction, the values will still be part of their identity.
In general, most religious stories are similar, even if there are differences in the story from one religion to another. These differences are tangential, and they do not affect the lesson of the story. All religions teach lessons about how human beings should treat each other regardless of their ethnicity or skin color. For example, the Qu’ran has lessons for greed. When people read these stories, they should observe what happens to characters who chase their greed without thinking about the consequences.
Likewise, stories highlight very impressive facts, such as what happened to the man who did not believe in any of the instructions of the Prophet, and his greed for gold, which blinded his eyesight, took him to an end. This is a very touching story because if the Bible tells us that greed is harmful, people will not understand literally what this phrase means, but with the story, it became a very eloquent phrase. It cannot be argued about, because its end resolved all situations and arguments, and everyone who tempted himself by stealing gold died, and even friends betrayed each other and all ended in death.
If the holy books were to just give explicit instructions without stories that people can relate to, people wouldn't take the instruction seriously. But when they see what happens to the character in the story, they’re more likely to feel the meaning on an emotional level, as opposed to an intellectual one. As the Alme3raaj website states, the importance's stories in the Qur’an contributes to the process of human change in its many aspects: In this regard, we find the Qur’anic story that we can behave in a good way. The Qur’an states that one of the goals of the story is this lofty purpose, in the introduction or appendix of some Qur’anic stories. It came in Surat Yusuf:
"We relate to you the best of the narrations in what We have revealed to you (of) this the Quran, although you were, from before it, unaware"
Christ used the method of making the story self in order to deliver the message of wisdom in the strongest way that would make sense to the community. Hence, the story forms our culture, because such a story, which contains wisdom and a great exhortation, may shape the personality and identity of the man in our society, such as do not be greedy. But these stories talk about more than greed, they also tell us about what to avoid if we want to be happy, such as lying, killing, and stealing.
That is, whether or not we feel impacted by these stories, these stories create us; who we are.
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