Essay on The New Identity of Exodus as a 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 book of Genesis, we are introduced to everything. From the creation stories to the sagas in between Genesis is an opening to the old testament and an opening to the book of exodus. This essay will contrast each creation story and describe each stories interest, explain how Genesis 12: 1-3 links the stories of 2: 4b-11 with the ancestral narratives in 12-50 and connect the sagas of Abraham/Sarah, Isaac/ Rebecca and Jacob/ Racheal.

One of the fundamental questions that religions seek to answer is that of origin. How was man put on earth? Why and from what was he created? Who created him? What does his creation imply about the status of human beings? Some or all of these questions are answered by a religion’s creation stories. Every religion’s creation myths attempt to give solutions to problems present to that religious society. Because of this, each religion may have one or more creation stories, each of those different from one another in the questions they ask and the answers they give.

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.

The term “myth” is often associated with stories that are considered to be false. In the context of religion, however, the term, “myth”, describes any of the tales that are accepted by a given religion, and these stories are usually treated as historical fact by followers. The Abrahamic religions would likely agree that most of the myths in their sacred texts are indeed historical facts. There are parallels between the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that should be recognised. The similarities are greatly apparent in the myths that are described within their holy books: the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, respectively. This paper will compare the myths of creation; the great flood; the prophets: Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad; and the afterlife as they are viewed by the three religions to show that their individual myths have more similarities than differences.

Every culture has a story in attempt to explain its human origin. The endeavor to understand human existence has been prevalent for as long as we have been on this earth. Origin stories explain the natural world of a group through their religion, customs, and interactions. Indigenous creation stories, such as the Cherokee nation, highlight their connection to the land, language, sacred history, and ceremony. Likewise, the Biblical story of creation emphasizes his or her relationship to their creator and the traditions that arise from that relationship. When analyzing these stories, one can see similarities and differences between them, why they are essential in understanding where a group originated from, and the Peoplehood Model.

A simple definition of a myth is a story handed down through history, often through oral tradition, that explains or gives value to the unknown. Myths are composed of stories or explanations. Myths are not always false sometimes they have some truth to them. They come to being by people making an assumption about a person based on their race.

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

Mythology is the study of the language used to express experiences with and understandings of the “absolute reality.” There are four main functions that make up and are the foundation of mythology: Each of these functions plays a major role in categorizing the ideas and characters in their respective groups or section. To name these four functions there is the Mystical function which is also known as the sacred or universal function. The next function is the cosmological function or metaphor (character) function. Then comes the social or profane (personal function) which is one of the main functions that is involved in the idea of mythology. The last of the four functions is the pedagogical function or the moral function of

Moses was a leader of the Hebrews and probably the most important figure in Judaism. He led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the Promise Land. His story is told in the book of Exodus, and begins when he was first born during the time that the pharaoh of Egypt declared that all male Hebrew babies were to be drowned at birth. Moses’ mother Yocheved, hid Moses and placed him in a basket in the reeds of the Nile River, where he was then found by the pharaoh’s daughter, who kept Moses and raised him as her own. In the story of Moses, he grows up and stumbles upon an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Out of anger Moses murders the Egyptian, and flees to Midian to escape his crime (Hays, 2000). In Midian, Moses rests besides a well,

Exodus: Gods and Kings, a film by Ridley Scott, retells the ancient story of the book of Exodus from the Hebrew Bible. It’s the story of the Egyptian Prince Moses and how, after learning his Hebrew heritage, he rises against the Pharaoh Ramses and sets thousands of Hebrew slaves free from Egypt. The casting choices in films that depict history and religion are even more crucial and important than others. To say that this film failed miserably in that department would be an understatement. The film is yet another one of Hollywood’s heavily whitewashed films that is intended to be a blockbuster.

The following assignment is an analysis of the book of Exodus, chapter 3, verses 2-12. In this particular passage God calls on Moses to go back to Egypt and free the Israelites. In examination of Exodus 3:2-12, there are multiple aspects of this verse that should be studied. Below I have explained the importance of this passage to it’s original audience and it’s current audience. I have also illustrated its cultural-historical background, the literary genre and context of the passage, as well as highlighted keywords and phrases within the passage.

The thick and dense San Francisco fog twists and turns between the magnificent arches of the Golden Gate Bridge; my father’s old 4RUNNER cuts through the intimidating fog like a hot knife through butter. It is August 28th, 2012; the first day at my new school, Stuart Hall for Boys. My heart flutters as the pistons of my father's car drive me into the unknown. That day the Golden Gate Bridge was my desert, my limbo, my passage from Pharaoh’s reign into The Promise Land. But, who knows, across the grand bridge could lie another Pharaoh, another escape, another long journey across the unknown desert.

Moses had an older brother, Aaron and older sister, Miriam. After his birth, his parents hid him for three months until they could no longer do so. The mother prepared an ark, laid him in it and left it in the reeds by the Nile riverbank (Gregory, pg. 45). The sister stood a far to watch what would happen to him and as Pharaoh 's daughter came down to bathe; she saw the child and took him as her own. Then without her knowledge, she had Jochebed brought in to nurse the baby. Therefore, Moses grows in the royal family and acquires wisdom in Egyptian ways, commanding armies and leading in victorious battle. As he grows, Moses sympathizes with his fellow Israelites after witnessing the harsh conditions they are forced to live and work and refuses to be regarded as Pharaoh’s daughter. Rather, he chooses to suffer affliction with his people until he notices an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, whom he murders and escapes upon discovery to Midian. It is here where his journey to save the Israelites from bondage begins. The promise of

When this word “myth” is used, the term is usually related to a fable, invention or a fiction story. Over the years, many scholars started approaching the study of myth differently. These scholars have approach myths in a way their meaning was traditionally regarded. In many traditions these myth are true stories and never refer to as false stories. ( http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/whatismyth.htm )