what makes a system of beliefs a mythology, and what makes a system of beliefs a religion?

Question

is it just proportional to the amount of people who believe it?

no one really believes in zeus, so it's considered "myth".

a lot of people believe in "jesus" so worship of "jesus" is considered a "religion".

Answer 1

A religion is mythology which has not yet been recognized as such.

Answer 2

Mythology describes stories that may or may not be true. Religious stories fall into this category. A religion, on the other hand, is a set of beliefs.

Christianity is a religion, and bible stories are mythology. This isn't me saying that the bible is invalid or anything, it's basically just that some people hold the stories as true, and others don't.

Answer 3

It's a religion when the people who want it to be say it is. It's a myth if it's a belief system contrary to what the other religions believe.

Answer 4

Yes, that's essentially it; most religion is simply mythology that is taken literally.

The ancient greeks really did believe in zeus. Their religious practices were much less organized than today's prominent religions, but the people really did believe that these gods existed.

Joseph Campbell said, "Mythology is popularly defined as other peoples’ religions... but actually religion is mis-interpreted mythology."

Many of us, including Campbell, realize that the bible, koran, bhagavad gita, etc. are mythology.

Answer 5

At one level there is no difference. They both develop the mind in specific ways.

A myth or religion start to loose their power when the culture no longer needs them i.e. when the myths or religion no longer 'speak' to that culture.

Answer 6

im one of the few polytheistic Pagans out there. Zeus to a christian is a myth, and to other christians hes a false god, but I think they can do better than the war tyrant Jehovah, and thats why i like polytheism better.