Would the christian bible be considered mythology?

One of the definitions of the word mythology is A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society. I am a strong believe in christianity but i do have a question. Knowing the definition and things in the christian bible, would it be considered some type of myth since it has never truly been proven?

More than likely you will get several responses here affirming that it is a mythology. As a christian, I believe it is a historical record of our God and His people mixed with prophesy. I do not believe it is a science text as I do not believe God intends to prove anything to His people. That would make faith unnecessary.

Just my opinion.

reply to post by demonologist842012


Well, if you look at the story of Jesus in a most simplistic maner, A virgin woman gets empregnated by a ghost who fathers a child with superpowers. I think that qualifies as mythology.

Originally posted by demonologist842012
One of the definitions of the word mythology is A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society. I am a strong believe in christianity but i do have a question. Knowing the definition and things in the christian bible, would it be considered some type of myth since it has never truly been proven?

Yes it is mythology and thats where you'll find it in my bookshelf.

well it can be taken as fact, parable, mythology, and even history. i remember a cool site of historians who interpret the bible as scholars. jesus seminar i think it was called, i;ll find the link.

en.wikipedia.org...

My answer.........Wait for it...... Wait for it........




YES!!!!!

My family is Catholic but personally I've never believed in any of it. I am a realist and I believe that if I treat others as I wish to be treated then I should be just fine

Mythology.

a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people

wordnetweb.princeton.edu...

There really is no evidence to prove that events in the bible happened as they were written, the biggest problem is that the stories are so old and things could have been tailored to the writers beliefs when the story was passed down to the next "publisher". Things change, become misinterpreted, and turn into a completely different story.

This fits mythology perfectly from my view.

No different from obvious "myths" such as the ancient greek gods or the holy grail which was seeked by king arthur. There isn't any factual proof (if you like).

Personally i think alot of the "big" myths come about because of misinterpretations when translating text and/or adding your own twist when passing the story around, people don't understand the message and make it into their own understanding.

Originally posted by XLR8R
reply to post by demonologist842012

 

Well, if you look at the story of Jesus in a most simplistic maner, A virgin woman gets empregnated by a ghost who fathers a child with superpowers. I think that qualifies as mythology.

Hmm, that sounds much like many of the mythological stories from the Romans and Greeks and many other ancient civilizations.

You now what they say: "If it walks like a duck and quakes like a duck...well its probably a duck".

reply to post by demonologist842012



I think that all mythology, including the stories of the Bible, stem from some sort of truth. I mean there are too many similarities in stories and myths from every part of the world to be mere coincidence in my opinion.

Some of the bible's theology seems to be loosely based on stories from different cultures that came before it. Although I personally believe that much of the history in the old testament has some truth in it. Albeit slanted toward the Hebrew perspective.

Still, we have similar historical accounts from several cultures, that are also covered in the bible in its present form. The flood, the patriarchs, Enoch, Nimrod (Gilgamesh), and so on.

In my personal opinion, the bible isn't so easily dismissed as mythology. I may not believe in god, or in a savior of all mankind, but I'm just not ready to dismiss all of the historical accounts as mythology.

reply to post by demonologist842012



Check it out...


Most mythos incorporate historical events to lend validity to the 'story', and history has shown that not everything is as it seems.


So, I think it is safe to say the bible used both ingredients when it created that cess pool of a drink...and it was done that that way to ensure longevity, and as you can see from some of the responses - it worked.

Originally posted by XLR8R
reply to post by demonologist842012

 

Well, if you look at the story of Jesus in a most simplistic maner, A virgin woman gets empregnated by a ghost who fathers a child with superpowers. I think that qualifies as mythology.

Well, it WAS pretty much a retelling of a popular Greek myth from hundreds of years before at least that involved Zeus impregnating a virgin and creating a demigod that was killed in adulthood.

Early Christians just put their own spin and additions to the Greek myth and changed the names of those involved in the original story.

Not any more than any other bible, or spiritual teaching, most of anthroplogy and earth sciences, and the lies NASA puts out, all their Wierd Science and Frikkin Magic stuff that Greer talks about! Discernment in all is very good, and finding all the LIGHT/WHITE squares in life, that is NO HARM to others.

Iron age mythology

reply to post by demonologist842012


Answer, yes but with a caveat. One problem with the Bible is simply that the stories are old. The old testament end around 400-500 BC approximately. If you throw in some of the non canonical books like 1st and 2nd Maccabees it drops to around 100 BC. New testament covers approximately 5 BC to 30-40 AD with Revelation possibly coming in around as late as 80-90 AD. Some of it is ancient historical records. Some of it could be Allegory and Euhemerism. See the link.

Mythlogy

But the thing to remember is that usually the myth started with at least a grain of truth in the story. No matter how bad the distortion. Also with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls that proved that a number of the old stories are relatively unchanged from the first century AD. Though in some of the books found there were noticeable changes.

The big problem here is that the word "mythology" is a very broad term. The meaning of the term ranges from ancient facts to ancient fables. One needs to use more specific terms when dealing with the bible. And be far more specific to the book, chapter, and verse. For the bible contains it all.

And another detail. If you believe that there is actually a "God" behind the bible then you also believe that he would not tolerate major changes to the texts in question. If it was important.

reply to post by demonologist842012

Would the christian bible be considered mythology?

I'd call it a fable

www.merriam-webster.com...
Definition of FABLE: a fictitious narrative or statement.

a : a legendary story of supernatural happenings
b : a narration intended to enforce a useful truth;
c : falsehood, lie

Originally posted by demonologist842012
Knowing the definition and things in the christian bible, would it be considered some type of myth since it has never truly been proven?

Keep in mind the bible is a collection of books and not just one book. Since they have different authors some may be more mythical than others. The apocrypha were considered especially mythical and have been omitted from some bibles.

This video shows a professor of mythology discussing the 22 point scale to determine if a story meets the guidelines for a mythical "hero" and he applies the score to Jesus and other figures. Start watching at about 1:30, the results are interesting:

Jesus Myth


He also mentions the Apocrypha and why some were omitted from some versions of the bible, because some were especially far-fetched and hard to believe as real stories.

1 feels its based on the faith of the questioner.

Be well

Hmmm, there are some things in the bible that have historical credence, although we cannot compare it to a modern history text book.

It lists kings, countries, and people who existed during those times. The stories in the bible are just that, stories and allegories.

To me, it's just a book on how we should have lived. But it's outdated and obsolete, and 99% of it no longer applies in my view as to how we should live. The only thing I agree with the bible is "Do unto others, as they would do unto you" which of course is taken from older philosophies of the ancient world. The Golden Rule

So, it has some minor credibility with history, but that's all nothing else.

Originally posted by facelift
reply to post by demonologist842012

 

Check it out...


Most mythos incorporate historical events to lend validity to the 'story', and history has shown that not everything is as it seems.


So, I think it is safe to say the bible used both ingredients when it created that cess pool of a drink...and it was done that that way to ensure longevity, and as you can see from some of the responses - it worked.

Yes. There was a man named Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem.

The end