Religions are narrative patchworks which are used to justify things. Not to explain them. What you've found with your question is one of the many places the na

Religions are narrative patchworks which are used to justify things. Not to explain them. What you've found with your question is one of the many places the narratives don't join up, and the fraying sticky tape shows through. There's no point trying to make sense of this, because there is no sense to be made. Ultimately it's about people using story telling to make themselves feel better and more reassured that their tribe is safe and stable. Not coincidentally, this also allows some opportunists to make themselves richer, more powerful, and more important. Surprisingly frequently this also provides opportunities for extra sexual activity. The stories don't need to make sense beyond that. They just need to look like an acceptable narrative salad made of tasty story bits. In fact it's better that they don't make sense, because then they can reduce believers to a pre-rational state where "You just have to believe!" makes them more credulous. You can see the effects clearly with climate change and Covid. Some people try to understand the facts to make reliable predictions and offer realistic solutions. Others can't fit these challenges into a religious world view. So they fall back into outright denial and/or use them as yet another excuse to welcome the apocalypse and their own imaginary personal salvation. None of this is a function of raw IQ. You can be smart and still be infected by these distorting ideological viruses.