Religion and Myth

A myth is a symbolic way of expressing truths and beliefs that are accepted by society. Myths, which are reading literature that is imaginative, teach truths that may not always have a basis for historical fact. Myths, which communicate ideas in story form, are creative stories that explain and teach religious truths of sin and consequence.

In the feature article Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths, the scholar Gordon H. Johnston, identifies the relationship between Genesis 1 and ancient Egyptian cosmogony by analyzing the parallels, similarities, and differences with respect to literature and theology. In order to verify Genesis 1 corresponds with Egyptian creation myths from the literary perspective, Gordon indicates three parallels between Genesis 1 and the Egyptian creation traditions: lexical, structural, and thematic. (Johnston 182) Furthermore, Gordon makes a thorough exploration in theology since he detects the numerous parallels

Myth – Is a cultural featured folklore story of some early history regarding a supernatural phenomenon or wild belief. Myths are often told by people in order to explain a particular history or the origin of a custom. This can include contexts to a story that is over exaggerated or truthful in some perspectives. For example, the folklore history of “Bloody Mary” and saying her name three times will make her appear.

Then in that single sentences a myth is a belief that is often known as religious belief to most people and through time it has lost its credibility. On the other hand, we can also consider to be real and valid beliefs in any given culture. Like Christianity and Islam, just to name just two, are known as religion to the people. Because they are known to their people as the true version of the world. But both have different views on what is real and

1. What is a myth? What are they composed of? Are they always false? How do they come into being?

Countless of creation myths make use of their tales to furnish their evident society or culture a perceptive or reasoning

What is a myth? When one thinks of a myth perhaps one thinks about a story being told by the fire, or a dramatic tale about an invincible hero, or perhaps a cosmological occurrence that caused everything to be. Personally, when I think of the word myth, I think of the ancient Greeks or Romans with their many gods and goddesses; however, to most, the story being told by a myth is simply that, just a story. To most the term “myth” has been confused for a legend or folklore. The truth of the matter is however, that to religious scholars, a myth is more than just a story; a myth is how a society’s religion came to explain what seemed the inexplicable. With modern science booming and being capable of explaining the events

In chapter two, it discusses the Bible and myth and Oswalt begins discussing the numerous competing definitions and understandings of “myth” that have been offered in recent years. The basic problem of myth is the problem of definition. However, Oswalt specifically addresses whether the Bible should be viewed as myth. Oswalt then offers his own definition. As with Oswalt’s definition of myth, he emphasizes that "Myth can be considered as a form of expression whereby the continuities among various realms, such as the human, the natural, and the divine, are expressed and actualized." (Oswalt, 2009). In this chapter, Oswalt also does a good job of telling us the many approaches to describing what a myth is and he presents two approaches of the

The Bible Among the Myths begins by stating that while the information since the 1960s has remained unaffected, the scrutiny has altered. The author, John N. Oswalt, begins his text by introducing the relative understanding of the Old Testament and Ancient Near East’s way of life and religion. Oswalt addresses the change of Israelite religion in comparison with other religions that were once believed to be unique by scholars. It is presently believed that the Old Testament is practically indistinguishable to the other religions of its time.

The thought of the Bible being considered a myth has changes over the years. The though went from God and Bible not being able to be considered a myth, to mythical literature being at the center of the Israelites faith. The data has not changed, instead it is the perspective of scholars. This raises a question asked by younger scholars about accepting the Bible as truth if the history surrounding it is false. The definition of myth has been broadened over recent years to include the Bible. Oswalt discusses how a myth cannot be whatever a person decides it can be. It also cannot not be too broad that it could really be very many different things.

A myth is a conventional or ancient chronicle, normally regarding some existence or brave man or event, which can or cannot be a determinable foundation of reality or a standard description, mainly one that is related with God and Goddess’ or demigods and describes some implementation, ceremony, or event of the natural world. In an Australian modern context a myth is created based on peoples perception, their attitude towards stereotypes and how they reacted to other peoples view and form there own. A lot of myths that are created whether it be in a modern context or in past lives can now be denoted as false just due to the fact that there is so much scientific research now that can do this. A Social

In this particular section, Oswalt begins by arguing that you cannot rationalize calling the Bible a myth until you have a clear definition of the word “myth.” He continues by pointing out how difficult it is to actually define what a “myth” is. Oswalt emphasizes that “Rogerson goes so far as to say that there are so many differences in opinion on the subject that no one definition is possible.”4 The definitions for the word “myth” can be divided into two distinct categories: historical-philosophical and the phenomenological, or descriptive. Regardless of the analysis of the word “myth” and its various meanings, Oswalt concludes that Bible is definitely not a myth in way, shape, form, or fashion. He writes, “Rather it is a rehearsal of the nonrepeatable acts of God in identifiable time and in concert with human beings. Its purpose is to provoke human choices and behavior through the medium of memory.”5

When studying any piece of literature there are many different methods and techniques that can be used. The Bible, in specific, is often referred to as a source of moral code, hope, and answers to social, ethical, and political questions. However, this incredibly influential book can also be read as if it were any other novel. The events, settings, and characters can all be evaluated for what they are, forgetting the notion that they are from a religious text. This approach is called narrative criticism. When regarding to the Bible in this way, we do not need to know any historical information or focus on seeking a deeper theological meaning. Instead, the stories are evaluated in terms of how

"A myth is a collective term denoting a symbolic narrative in religion, as distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons)". (The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 24)Mythology is a collection of myths meant to explain the universe. Mythological stories were told in many different cultures and civilizations. The existence of myths is known in every society. Many different myths were conceived to explain occurrences that happened in nature.

In many of tradition, a myth carries within it a sense of sacred tradition and primordial relation. These myths are also serving as model for chosen tradition. Myths are extremely complex cultural reality that can be approached and interpreted from various viewpoints. These viewpoints are often related to the whole of