Since only about the past 3 centuries have mountains been explored and climbed. Historically, in them dwelt the gods, God, or devils and monsters. Folk lore is rich with misunderstandings of geology and what lay in the high places—including lore of the Bible.
“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.” Exodus 20:18 KJV
We can all easily imagine all these descriptions are that of a volcanic process, but what about the trumpet? For thirty days prior to an eruption in Hawaii, these sounds were recorded (there are others as well) that describe the high pressure venting of gasses pressing through fissures. But like any good preacher, the Moses character takes advantage of the crisis.
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” Exodus 20:20 KJV
If the people survive this, he has the control over them for a lifetime. If not, meh, the dead never write nor have much to say. That technique has enslaved billions for millennia in multiple civilizations. It was a bold play on primitive ignorance.
Today mountain climbing is merely a hobby and studying them is a profession. We routinely climb the once forbidden domains of god without fear of meeting him face to face, because it is an imagínate being. It always has been a superstitious misunderstanding of the natural world that has empowered the men of words. Thank you geologists!
TheCommonAtheist 