"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

President Abraham Lincoln loved to employ this brain-teaser to make a point to constituents. He would ask, "How many legs would a sheep have if you called his tail a leg?" Naturally, they would meekly respond, "Five." He would respond, "Wrong! You are mistaken. The sheep would still have just four legs. Calling something a leg doesn't make it so." He used this particular quiz on a delegation that was pressing him for an immediate proclamation of emancipation. His point was well-taken. (From Who Broke the Baby? By Jean Staker Garton, p. 35)

Similarly, many people today label doctrines as "truth," when, in fact, they are only fables.