(May 8, 2016 at 8:10 am)SteveII Wrote:(May 8, 2016 at 7:20 am)robvalue Wrote: Has anyone ever "come to Jesus" without having heard about him and the stories surrounding him for long periods?
I think not. The seeping in of ideas surrounding you is not surprising. People independently describing "meeting" Jesus, while isolated from any mention of him, would be surprising.
In short, people are very susceptible to the appeal to popularity fallacy. If many people seem to believe it, it appears a reasonable belief.
Yes, of course they have. As an example, Billy Graham has spoken to millions of people in large events specifically designed to reach unbelievers. They respond to the message by the thousands--many with discussions and conversions on the spot. People who do profess or who are interested in learning more are assigned to a local church for followup.
Conversion experiences like this have more to do with the nature of human psychology than the message being promoted. The great tent revivals preached a far less 'friendly' message than contemporary revivals do, but the atmosphere was the same. Hysteria and group think are not good reasons to adopt any belief.