It seems that most of what we read in the Old Testament parallels very closely the stories of the Sumerians,?

Question

the stories of the Akkadians and others. Much of the Akkadian works are in writing so it can be easily compared. If their works are considered fables and mythes, how can the Old Testament be considered the word of God? After all, the Jews and their writing of this book came along many years after the Sumerians, the Akkadians and others.

Answer 1

Most of the Old Testament is based on old myths, including Babylonian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian myths. The New Testament, also, borrows heavily from local legends. And even to today, you can see in their holidays, how much is plagerized from pagan religions.

Here's a good book on Old Testament myths: 101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History by Gary Greenberg

Answer 2

You might like to do some additional research, you might be a little surprised. Abraham the father of the Jewish faith happened to be Sumerian therefore is logical that they describe the events that are captured in Sumerian "stories" and replay them as part of the Jewish biblical story. The Jews are descended from Abraham and therefore from the Sumerians The tradition of using the stories of earlier peoples history/stories is a common one. Christians use the same times as year as early Britons to celebrate Christmas (Winter Solstice) and Easter (start of spring) for their own major events.

Answer 3

The old testament is not a myth. Goodness, it is back up based on History! The Bible was inspired by God and is 100% truth.

First, Not all religions are event-based. Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, etc., are all "teachings" that are not based in any historical events in the same way the Old Testament is. There is not this string of people, places and things like in the Old Testament narratives. Further, the "gods" of these religions do not "enter history" as the God of the Bible does. Being event-based is important because if a writing claims to be true historically, then it's contents should be verifiable as far as one is able to check.
(Note: an excellent resource to contrast world religions is The Compact Guide to World Religions, by Halverson, ed.)

Second, as with any world view, it will ultimately rest on faith. But it will not be blind faith. It will be faith founded on fact. And if the God of the Bible is the true One, then faith is the key principle (Hebrews 11).

historical events require historical verification. Artifacts, papers, and reason all enter into the picture. So, archeological evidences are superior to those from the "creation sciences" to establish faith in the factuality of the Old Testament.

Outstanding Old Testament events include not only creation but also the Flood, Tower of Babel, Call of Abraham, the Egyptian sojourn and EXODUS, the Sinai --event, conquest, kingdom, captivity and return narratives. All these are packed with names of people, places and cultural color.

Answer 4

People accept the Bible as history instead of myth essentially because it was politicized around Hellenic times and slightly before. One thing led to another, and then you had people taking the stories way to seriously. Once portions of a new religion (Christianity) that got lucky politically (Constantine) relied heavily on some of the Old Testament myths to be true, there wasn't much that could stop the juggernaut until the Enlightenment.

Answer 5

The Bible copies many other myths, e.g. Noah is a copy of Sumerian Utnapishtim, and the Satan is copied from Ahriman the evil god of Persian Zoroastrianism. People who blindly believe the Bible have no comprehension of how it was developed. They claim the myths of Sumerians, Akkadins, Hittites, Babylonians, Persians, etc. are untrue. They will deny the Bible copies such tales if you try to tell them.

Answer 6

ALL religions seem to have their roots in the old Sumerian religion(s). They must have had fantastic imaginations inventing all these stories to keep their population under control. ~
They would probably laugh themselves silly if they knew that 8,000 years later, humanity still hadn't dumped all that crap. ;-)
I know I think it is hilarious.

Answer 7

How many people that are older than you are stupider than you? Age means nothing. Truth is everything. God can inject truth wherever and whenever He wants. Or is He older and stupider than you?

Answer 8

M-i-d-r-a-s-h

Why couldn't it be "THE WORD OF G-D" and "A STORY" ? Ha'Shem (G-d) isn't allowed to relate parables...???