The Bible Among The Myths

The premise of chapter one is the Bible has had a major impact on the world, especially with its contributions to Greek philosophy and thought. Greek philosophers believed there was one “unifying principle in the cosmos” (21) and that everything could be identified and reasoned with through logic. As Oswalt states, this brought into conflict the thought of a myth based polytheistic society to a monotheistic mindset.

The Bible is composed of many different stories and narratives. Each one of these individual stories contributes to the greater story of the Bible; sometimes called the Grand Story of Scripture. Within each Story, they have elements that define the setting, characters, climax, and themes. The overall Grand Story of Scripture contains these elements in each of the five divisions: prologue, epilogue, and three acts in between.

Oswalt makes the distinction between “essence” and “accident” by citing that there is a philosophical separation between the Old Testament to its equals. He states that essence is the key factor that

origins of the universe, the causes of good and evil, life and death or anything

Brettler 's goal of guiding readers toward an appreciation and understanding of the purpose in utilizing the historical-critical study practice is well laid out as a foundation to the book. By prioritizing the first four chapters as he did, Brettler sets the tone of how one should survey the Scriptures for the greatest illumination. From the start, he outlines what the historical-critical method is in theory and practice, which dispels the assumption every reader holds a familiarity with it. Clarity comes alongside the resolution that applying the historical-critical method to the Scriptures does not set out to destroy the Hebrew Bible 's importance. Rather it lends an unbiased avenue to read these religious texts in a compelling way, bringing understanding in a multifaceted fashion as opposed to one-dimensional, conclusive outcomes.

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s play Inherit the Wind exemplifies the eternal debate between the two sensitive subjects religion and science within the context of the “Scopes Trial”, bringing to light the internal conflict between firmly held belief and newfound contradictory evidence. Rather than eschewing this contentious topic the authors utilize the two most prominent characters in disagreement, Henry Drummond and Matthew Brady, to put forward ideas that are both enlightening and challenging to the common way of thinking at the time, effectively offering the reader the ability to recognize the importance of human thought and its ability to adapt to contemporary information.

Christopher begins Returning to the Sources with a description of the Hebrew Bible and important events in the history of the Hebrew people. He explains how it’s organized including an overview of the books and major sections of the Hebrew Bible. Ultimately, Christopher discusses some of the problems associated with biblical analysis and the “Documentary Hypothesis” utilized to analyze the first books.

Ultimately, the author contends that “merely finding or positing a source of religious belief...does nothing to discredit such

Archaeology has verified that the bible is true but how? First, archeology has confirmed the biblical stories are true and not myths, as the world believed, because of ancient sites and civilizations discovered. Second, manuscripts that were found and translated has shown people today how the people back in the bible lived and worked. Last but not least, archeology has shown where major events, like battles, have gone on and during what year, they happened. According to Archeology and the Old Testament, the book of Judges took place around the Iron Age period, which was 1200 – 586 BC. Excavations have provided some useful information about daily life in ancient Israel during Judges, including the land, climate and people.

Archaeology has verified that the bible is true but how? First, archeology has confirmed the biblical stories are true and not myths, as the world believed, because of ancient sites and civilizations discovered. Second, manuscripts that were found and translated has shown people today how the people back in the bible lived and worked. Last but not least, archeology has shown where major events, like battles, have gone on and during what year, they happened. According to Archeology and the Old Testament, the book of Judges took place around the Iron Age period, which was 1200 – 586 BC. Excavations have provided some useful information about daily life in ancient Israel during Judges, including the land, climate and people.

“Background” information enhances one’s understanding of events or actions that are happening before or during a specific event. In order to get a better picture of New Testament writings one must understand what was taking place in the world at that time. “Even as our world today is a motley assortment of many heritages, the world of the New Testament was the product of many complex influences. To forget this fact is to take the first step toward misunderstanding” (Ward, 1961). We cannot take New Testament writings out of their context without taking away the true intention of the words. Understanding the customs, languages, transportation, housing, social classes and family units of a time period give an overall view into the lifestyle

John N. Oswalt. 2009. Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Lieterature? The Bible Among The Myths

The Old Testament generally presents a familial narrative in which the whole human race descends from one family. This unfolds itself and then focuses in on Abraham, from whom the line of inheritance is drawn to Israel. The Israelites are distinctly filled with flaws throughout their history. Whereas Rome as noble stories of war and triumph, Israel has stories of Old Men wandering the desert. Their ancestors and heroic figures are not demigods nor epic heros, but merely wandering men of faith, Patriarchs sold into slavery, and sheep herders. God forges His chosen people from the outcasts of humanity.

The word ‘mythology’ is a word derived from ancient Greek word, ‘mythos’ meaning story of the people and ‘logos’ - the word for speech. These two words together mean ‘spoken story of a people’, thus creating the word and meaning of ‘mythology’ (Mark 2009, para. 1).

It has become a theme for people to refer more to the New Testament than to the Old Testament, when trying to answer issues about their daily lives. This is becoming a trend because it appears to be logical that the New Testament would be more applicable to our lives than the Old Testament is, since it was written more recently than the Old Testament. Although this is a persistent theme in our culture, this should not be the case because the Old Testament should be held as just as authoritative as the New Testament, if not more so.