Why is Judaism, Christianity, and Islam classified as a "religion", and not a mythology?

Question

Like Norse mythology, Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, etc.?

Judeo-Xtian-Islamic Mythology.

I see the Jewish god, the 3-headed Christiand god, and the Islamic god as being NO different than Zeus, Odin, Amon-Ra, or Kali-Ma.

Answer 1

You have a good point. The only reason why the three you mentioned are considered religion, rather than myth, is the sheer number of people who still desperately cling to these primitive religious dogmas for answers to the problems they face in a highly technological world that many of them simply do not have the capacity to comprehend.

However, irrational thinking, primitive superstition, and religious dogma are no substitutes for logic, reason, or science. Religion is the single greatest threat to the survival of our species as it blinds so many billions of people from seeking effective solutions to the crises humanity now faces.

Answer 2

please stop classing judaism with xtianity and islam - it like saying buddhism and hinduism are the same thing.


Judaism is part mythology, part philosophy, what it is called is semantics, and not important to those who practice it, call it what you want - if i didn't love mythology, i wouldn't be jewish. (a lot of the biblical stories are found in the other cultures you mentioned.) An obvious reason for the different classification would be the difference between the ones that are still widely practiced and the ones that are not. Other than that, i agree, the spiritual basis is very similar.

there are many different views on the spiritual aspect of god that are found within judaism, many great jewish thinkers used the words mythology and superstition almost interchangeably with faith and ritual. If you want to have more understanding on the subject, and why being jewish has grown beyond the mythology of it's beginnings, i recommend the book Finding God. I read it as part of my conversion process. http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Rifat-Sonsino-Daniel-Syne/dp/0807407984

Answer 3

It's because people are sloppy in the way they use words.

Let me explain:

1. The proper definition of "myth" is:
"an old traditional story or legend, especially concerning fabulous or supernatural beings, giving expression to the early beliefs, aspirations and perceptions of a people and often serving to explain natural phenomena or the origins of people, etc."

2. However, "myth" is too often used more loosely to mean:
"any fictitious story or account or unfounded belief"

3. The definition of "religion" is:
a. man's expression of his acknowledgement of the divine
b. a system of beliefs and practices relating to the sacred and uniting its adherents in a community
c. adherence to such a system
d. something that has a powerful hold on a person's way of thinking, interests, etc. (eg. "football was his religion")

4. (Not really related to your question, but more related to some of the answers you've received so far), sometimes, especially in this forum, people use the word "religion" when they mean "religiosity" which is:
"morbid or excessive concern with religion in its formal expression" or "the practice of a merely superficial religion"

So, turning back to your question about *classification*, I would suggest it is not so much of any formal classification, but rather the was people use words without thinking about them. The Norse, the Greeks and the Eygptians had well-formed religions, but what most of us are familiar with are just the myths - the stories - of those religions, not the practices, not the rituals, and certainly not the theology of them. Very few people actively practice Asatru (the Norse religion) any more, and there is no Oracle at Delphi, or priests of Ra at Memphis anymore

On the other hand, the three related monotheistic religions you mention have their mythology as well. Using myth in the proper defintion of a traditional story involving a supernatural being that explains a natural phenomenon, the story of the Rainbow after the Flood fits here. However, may Christians, Muslims and Jews would take exception to calling it myth because as a culture we've become lazy in using the word in its loose meaning of a ficticious story. However, using the first defintion, it is *possible* for a story to be both myth and true.

However, we usually use "religion" to describe them, because we are more familiar with the religion aspects: the systems of beliefs and practices they use for relation to the Divine (e.g. church, passover, wearing of the hijab, etc.)

It is, in fact, proper to talk about Christian mythology (take the story of St. Patrick, for instance), but you are talking about a different aspect of the faith than when you are talking about Christian religion (eg. practices like the Eucharist, tithing, or fasting during Lent). Likewise, Egyptian mythology (stories about the gods and how the cosmos came to be) are a distinct but related aspect of ancient Egyptian religion (temple worship, burial rites, etc.).

Answer 4

The Quran contains so many legends and theological ideas found in Talmudic literature that we are able to draw a picture of the spiritual life of the Jews with whom Mohammed must have come into contact.

It was the Prophet Mohammed himself who attempted to negate the positive image of the Jew that had been prevalent earlier. According to historian Bernard Lewis, the Prophet Mohammed's original plan had been to induce the Jews to adopt Islam; when Mohammed began his rule at Medina in AD 622 he counted few supporters, so he adopted several Jewish practices-including daily prayer facing toward Jerusalem and the fast of Yom Kippur-in the hope of wooing the Jews. But the Jewish community rejected the Prophet Mohammed's religion, preferring to adhere to its own beliefs, whereupon Mohammed subsequently substituted Mecca for Jerusalem, and dropped many of the Jewish practices.

Jews faced the danger of incurring the wrath of a Muslim, in which case the Muslim could charge, however falsely, that the Jew had cursed Islam, an accusation against which the Jew could not defend himself. Islamic religious law decreed that, although murder of one Muslim by another Muslim was punishable by death, a Muslim who murdered a non-Muslim was given not the death penalty, but only the obligation to pay "blood money" to the family of the slain infidel. Even this punishment was unlikely, however, because the law held the testimony of a Jew or a Christian invalid against a Muslim, and the penalty could only be exacted under improbable conditions--when two Muslims were willing to testify against a brother Muslim for the sake of an infidel.

Answer 5

There is, of course, a simple answer to this question. All you need to do is get a couple of million people to believe in your "religion" and there you go. Any form of religion can and will be recognized once you have enough followers. Funny, though, of the few people that I have encountered in my life that believe some or all of mythology, Greek, etc., they also believe in God in one form or the other. That is, that mythology was the work of God. So you have an uphill battle. Good luck.

Answer 6

Because there are people who saw Mohamed and he has living decedents in Arab. how can you call something that you can see a myth? did you ever see Zeus? even though Christianity's image of Jesus looks a lot like him. (which i am not saying is a bad thing because we did not have cameras back then, but every one needs a face) except gods thats why its called blind faith.

Answer 7

God is not a myth. Let me ask you a question. Is the fact that you loathe your neighbor and get pleasure out of insulting and discouraging total strangers who have never done anything to you evidence that forces of evil exists? Or are they just "myths" too?

Answer 8

Mythology are gods that doesn't exist (perhaps the demons showed up ), while Christianity and Jews have a real God who showed up in His glory and said '' I am your God !''(he showed up to some like Isaiah , Iezechia , Daniel, then His eternal Son Jesus showed up to the whole people of Israel that wanted to know Him. )Jesus is already acknowledged by some of the jews.

And Islam is some who lived far away from the God and lost somehow the real potrait of God...

Answer 9

religion is a myth, superstition!
but there are brainwashed, braindead people who, because of deceptions and lies of a return of a messiah, etc..........., believe in the religious BS!
That's all religion is, BS! Unproven beliefs are BS!

"religion is Spiritual fraud"; "religion is the Worse invention of humanity" - Jesus Christ

Create a private, personal, direct, divine relationship with Our Creator and save your Soul from religion.

Only with Our Creator's Love and Peace will we be Truely Free!

Without God, there is No Love; Without religion, there are No Wars!

Answer 10

I always find it amazing how readily the religious can view past mythologies as being patently ridiculous, but lack the ability to turn that same scrutiny on their own ridiculous beliefs.