Do you regard the bible as a work of mythology?

Question

Clawndike: I mean no disrespect to anyones religion by asking this question.

I find that the way you differenciate mythology from religion slightly odd. Very many of my books on mythology have no problem in including buddhism or hinduism in their pages. Yet they are regarded as religions.

So can it be safe to say that if you belong to a certain religion the texts explaining that religion are not myth. Does this not apply vice versa? To a member of another religion the bible is mythology in the same way as their religious texts are mythology to christians?

There is no way I can choose a correct answer to this question. :) There is none.

Answer 1

Man written

Answer 2

There were warnings about making any changes to the words in the Bible. Many refer to the bible as being inspired by God yet the Gnostic's claimed he was an evil god etc.Than there are those who have been called the fallen, who may have also had a hand in making changes. Many religions holidays and doctrines supposedly had their origins in pagan rituals originally. These may have been based on presumptions, myths and fables of natural disasters or bed time stories etc. I myself seriously have doubts about it's authenticity as it has been edited so many times anyway. One example was the alleged great flood which still lacks credibility. While many religions and peoples may have similar stories about this same event, the story may have just spread around the world over time anyway.Besides a tsunami can do this as well. I have heard that in Mecca they worship or revere a piece meteorite that killed many people originally and some supposedly wear a ring made from some of it also. While many choose to believe God punishes them this way, others might say it's the work of the devil. The choice should be yours to reason it out logically that many things may have been based on true events anyway. The odds of these global catastrophic events happening again are very likely. The rapture may just mean that only a chosen amount will be saved by an unknown race of people.

Answer 3

The bible is definitely mythology.
Many myths are efforts to find supernatural explanations for inexplicable (at the time) events.
A classic example is Moses and the plagues. I saw a brilliant programme on the historical facts behind the plagues in Egypt and the escape of the Israelites. The total time frame amounts to about 500 years, but according to the bible it was within Moses' lifetime. A classic myth construction.
Also interesting is the way that certain documents were left out of the bible, especially in the New Testament. Here a case of removing anything that doesn't support the Jesus myth. There is much historical evidence to support the fact that Jesus did exist as a real person. The myth is the fact that he is deity.
Thanks for the great question, I enjoyed some of the submissions.

Answer 4

You can consider the Bible a work of mythology, I think that the onl reason that it is not widely considered this way because it is supposed to be a firsthand account from those that witnessed the events, if there are witness - it can not be considered a myth. Secondly, remember that Christianity is the only religion that had an active and aggressive "recruitment process", since the beginning its main purpose was to try and convert the world.

Answer 5

Absolutely -- its tells many stories, some of which can be proved and others that cannot. While all mythology is based on different religions or religious beliefs, the bible falls into the same catagory. It carries the stories, which were told by mouth before subscribed to paper.

BTW -- there is nothing offensive about your question -- thats just the ignorance of people who get themselves all riled up for no reason.

Answer 6

Yeah the Bible is just a big story book with loads of good stories. The stories were written to teach people about morals and how to live good decent lives. There's an awful lot of symbolism in the Bible and symbolism is a big factor in mythology.

Answer 7

No it is a collection of 66 books which include history , poetry , law , and prophecy. It is considered by many as inspired by God and has changed thousands of lives. Those who just slate it as myth have very little knowledge of history in my opinion there are many historians and archaeologists who are finding evidence of biblical events. You should read it with a open mind it might be an idea to start with the Gospels and read about Jesus you might just be surprised.

Answer 8

While the creation "myth" is obviously something that has been handed down I believe that most of the latter books
especially those which have been dated through non
biblical sources and archealogy certainly contain non
fictional accounts of events that transpired in the lifetime
they were written...However, ask any policeman and he
will tell you that if you have more than 2 witnesses to any
well anything you will have more than 2 accounts of what
happened....

To say that the entire bible is a work of mythology and
fiction is false, it is not. But the same can not accurately
be said either. That is why it is called faith. Either you
accept it on faith and submit to it with your heart felt
belief or you do not. There is no one, save yourself,
who can answer the underlying question, upon my
death wither the body and the soul go...have you a
soul, have you a care, if yes, then put your faith in
the bible.

Answer 9

Of course it is, but mythology is not automatically untrue. Mythology in general includes stories of all religions. Some people believe it is derogatory to say something is, "just a myth", as creationists say, "Evolution is just a theory". Such people do not understand myths and theories.

Answer 10

Yes the bible is a load of reworked myths from other religions and outright lies written by religious maniacs.

Answer 11

Yes absolutely it's all a con game or hoax to keep society in order but sometimes it backfires.. causing religious wars and hatred of some ! for example gays! The bible wasn't written by man it was written by the minority in power so they could remain in power and be perceived as the majority!
It's all based on series of taruks writings. We people if we got all our diaries together we could make a new bible more relevant to the things of today! Why bother? it just causes a lot of misunderstandings! Don't get me wrong I do believe in a God but not in the conventional sense!