The Old Testament Myth

The biblical narrative derived for this composition origins from the gospel writings according to St. Luke in “The Holy Bible.” Within his writings, Luke recounts the Passover, Christ’s warning of the betrayal, and the night of the betrayal. On the night of the betrayal, he recounts Christ waking the sleeping disciples, Judas amongst them, explaining him rising to bestow a kiss onto Christ. St. Luke states: “And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near to Jesus to kiss him” (Luke 21:47). Giotto’s fresco directly becomes influenced from this scene, and becomes the point of action he creates within his biblical narrative fresco. His composition marks the beginning of the chaos that clouds Christ’s arrest; illustrating the powerful confrontation Christ and Judas are compelled into. While Christ is depicted unwavering in his pose and expression, Judas is rendered in a furious facial expression and stance. His face is inflated more so than Christ’s, illustrating the swelling of corruption beneath his physical features. He appears almost to gaze hatefully towards Christ, as his eyebrows become fused tightly together and appear to create a tension within his form. He pose is similar to an animalistic stance; he has one hand on Christ’s shoulder to draw him in nearer, while enclosing his long yellow cloak around his figure to envelop him within this grasp. By Judas’ expression and stance, Giotto depicts

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.

In The Bible Among the Myths, John N. Oswalt, opens up his book by establishing his expertise in the subject of the Ancient Near East (ANE). Oswalt started his study into the ANE at Asbury Theological Seminary. After attending Asbury Theological Seminary, he went to Brandeis University. This is where his fascination with the subjects and Ideas of the ANE started to grow. Oswalt eventually went on to teach at Asbury Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Wesley Biblical Seminary.

Oswalt starts his definition process by discussing the debate of whether the Bible has a distinctive view of reality. Until fifty years ago most scholars believed that biblical literature did not share the characteristics of myth. Today there has been a radical shift in opinions, such as the possibility that mythical thought and mythical literature are at the very heart of Israel’s religion.1 Oswalt believes that this change is based on assumptions and not on new discoveries. The problem of definition encompasses the first obstacle when defining a myth. The validity of a definition must be evaluated. The first problem is that a definition must be broad enough to include all the items that share common characteristics but narrow enough to exclude items that only have a few common characteristics. The second problem has to do with the nature of the definition and whether it provides a description or an evaluation. Oswalt groups definitions of myth according to their type as either historical-philosophical or phenomenological. He then subdivides historical-philosophical into etymological, sociological and literary. Etymological definitions of myth emphasize the falsity of what is being described and are frequently too broad. In sociological definitions of myth, truth is seen as relative. Perception of something being true makes it true. Oswalt labels his final subdivision of historical-philosophical

"The Most Dangerous Game", written by Richard Connell, is a very riveting story with two main characters Rainsford and General Zaroff. They have many similarities in their character traits. Their traits had a major impact in the story.

10. There are two major divisions in the book of Daniel (Tullock & McEntire, 2012, p. 346, 347). The first is the stories 1-6 about Daniel and his friends, were captured, and brought to Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar asked him to interpret his dream about the four kingdoms. Daniel has friends rescued from despair. The second division was called apocalyptic visions of a brighter future for those under persecution. Daniel had an another vision which, explains how God is in control and to the Jewish people that the Messiah would come and offer forgiveness of sins.

There are many connections linking the Old Testament and the New Testament. These connections are formed to parallel Jesus Christ in the Gospels from the stories of the Old Testament. These examples are used to show the truth of the Old Testament and to present the fulfillment of Jesus Christ. A few of these examples are Moses and the Pharaoh and Jesus and King Herod, Lamb of God and Passover, Moses and the Burning Bush and “I AM” statements, and finally, the parting of the Red Sea and Jesus Christ’s baptism. All of these examples are shown in the Old and New Testament and are shown as miracles because these parallels happened years apart from each other. This is the fulfillment of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

There are many central themes that are in the Old Testament, and many may say that there is only one theme of the Old Testament, which is Jesus, and even though that is true in a lot of ways due to the fact that a lot of the minor prophets actually talk about the coming of Jesus, His death and His resurrection. However, I have discovered five main themes of the Old Testament that I found quite interesting. And in this paper I will discuss two of them. I believe one of the most important themes of the Old Testament is Covenant.

The second addition of The Heart of the Old Testament was written by Ronald Youngblood. The purpose of writing this book, for Youngblood, was to show people that the Old Testament is not any different than the New Testament, and to convince people that these two books should not be treated as separate entities.

The Old Testament’s prophetic books contain loads of useful knowledge that provide support to Christians wanting to live godly lives. Particularly, the prophets demonstrate religious ritualism, social injustice, and idolatry in ways that allow Christians to successfully evade the constant mistakes God’s chosen people made and the penalties they endured. Although not entirely, the prophets Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Micah spoke openly regarding said notions. Through the benefit of knowledge and criticism of them, Christians are better prepared to integrate an in depth perception of God’s character; thus, promoting wisdom and desire for sharing the Gospel.

When reading through the Bible it seems that passages of Old Testament law are the grudge work and would not be first choice. The Old Testament law has also developed a seemingly negative reputation; that the rules give were bad and restrictive. Although this reputation exists, the Law was intended to be a blessing to the Israelites.

The Old Testament is the largest part of the bible nestled behind the leather binding in the front of the book. Unlike most books, told from one-person or even two this is comprised of multiple, some stories even having two different versions in another point of view; over time it has become a large collection of ancient texts written and re-written by different authors and editors over the many years. The stories show the ancient Israelites, they show the laws, and rituals, which make up their religion and the small embers, which will one day, turn to a flame that is Christianity. The Jewish people view these stories as collected in what they call the Torah, is the collection for what makes up their history and the promise that God gave to them, as well as their laws and what they worship today. For the Christians the Old Testament is still seen as sacred, but most place a stronger importance to the New Testament.

Rudolf Bultmann was one of the foremost advocates of religious myth being the only way to truly interpret the holy texts and their religious truths, he claimed that believers can no longer take ‘Chariots of Fire’ (2 Kings 2:11) and ‘Angels, Dragons and Ancient Serpents’ (Revelation 20:1) seriously, as it is only by reading the texts as mythological that modern believers are able to make their scientific understanding of the world and the miraculous events of religious stories compatible.

Throughout our lives, we have heard many stories about the creation of earth and humans. Whether they are religious based, myths, folk tales, or stories passed on through generations; they all have a common purpose which is to explain how everything came to be. In the myth, The Creation of the Universe and Human Beings, the creation of earth is explained through two gods that essentially “fashioned” heaven and earth, as well as a goddess named Nu Kua that created human beings. Throughout this story there is a common theme of creation, and the explaining of how earth and human beings were created. Although this is a Chinese culture based myth, it still holds many similarities and relevance to our world today. We all have our own idea or belief

“All men are created equal”(Lee 274) cited by Thomas Jefferson, in the infamous 1776 Declaration of Independence. Throughout this paper, I will present facts that counter this claim,    in which candidly excluded African Americans and Jews during the 1930’s and 40’s. This assignment requires me to compare and contrast Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” and Elie Wiesel “Night” by selecting three themes. Throughout this essay, my themes are racism, inequality in the judicial system, and educational barriers thereby deprived non-whites during the 20th Century.