Myths of the Bible

[Elijah John]

It has been said quite often here on this site that the Bible is full of myth. And this is most often said derisively.

One frequent poster here often dismisses the Bible as "Hebrew mythology".

Granting for the sake of argument that this is true, that the Bible is full of myth, the questions for debate are these:

1) Is the fact that the Bible is full of mythic elements a good reason to dismiss the Bible as irrelevant to modern life?

2) Is that all the Bible is, just myth?

3) Beyond entertainment, does myth provide any enrichment to the individual, or to a culture? What would that be?

Please address any combination of the above.

[Jagella]

1) Is the fact that the Bible is full of mythic elements a good reason to dismiss the Bible as irrelevant to modern life?

I suppose it depends on the myth. Some people like Joseph Campbell believe we need a modern-day myth to unite us as a society. Although there may be some truth to what Campbell says about such a myth, I don't see how Biblical myths can serve such a purpose. Biblical mythology was created by the Jewish leaders to gain an advantage for those leaders to the disadvantage of their followers. As such, those myths would be of little use to most people today except for modern religious leaders.

So no, Biblical mythology is not relevant for most people today. Who cares, for example, how many of each "unclean" kinds of animals were on the ark and how many of each "clean" kinds of animals? So unless you are a member of the clergy or a Bible scholar, such knowledge is useless.

2) Is that all the Bible is, just myth?

There is some history in the Bible, so no, it's not all myth. We know, for example, that there was a Roman occupation of Israel in the first century.

3) Beyond entertainment, does myth provide any enrichment to the individual, or to a culture? What would that be?

I'm not sure what benefits mythology might bestow upon people. I have no problem living without myths. Other people may feel a need for myths to give them hope and meaning which could explain the prevalence of Christianity.

[William]

William: Myths of any and every culture provide ample evidence that the so-called 'imaginative ideas of GOD' which are all 'in our heads' and are 'not real', may indeed, be real.

It becomes a matter of realization that the myths are simply the clothing hiding the unavoidable naked truth of their being a GOD of this world.

But of course, to see the truth of this, one has to remove the cloth. This myth may point to the real deal, but requires removing in order to get to the truth of the matter - to the heart of things.

The real deal is behind the cloth, rather than the cloth itself. Myth merely hints.

Elijah: Is the fact that the Bible is full of mythic elements a good reason to dismiss the Bible as irrelevant to modern life?


William: No. Not even the myths about Jesus, which you frequently attempt to educate the reader about.
The myth of Jesus provides the reader with an opportunity to remove the cloth..veil... surrounding GOD.
The myth of David compels me personally because it is very easy for me to identify my SELF with.
Part of that myth-of-the-self includes the understanding that most of the way I have dealt with the reality of My Life on Earth, is the weapon of bravado. I doubt that I would have actually volunteered to face Goliath but thanks to David, I can pretend that maybe...just maybe...I would have.
Then I look around to identify the modern day Goliath...and wonder about my self...
Also the simplicity of the Stone as a weapon...to bring down the mighty so that one could then reach for the vitals and cut them asunder.
But there is also the music and the poetry. That is where I really can identify. It is one thing to write a love song to another human. It is upon another level to write one to a GOD...


Elijah: Is that all the Bible is, just myth?


William: It expresses a culture built around the mythology which it contains. It conjoins with reality, which generally is considered to be 'not' a myth.
Reality is...that which is hidden behind the myth, and the myth is created to help humans deal with their situation. It is a survival mechanism, and the bible is a handbook...as are all other cultural handbooks of human mythology which speak of 'The Gods'.
It might be more impressive (and thus in favor of the Jehovah Myth outright) IF the bible was the only book of its type...but it is not...

Elijah: Beyond entertainment, does myth provide any enrichment to the individual, or to a culture? What would that be?

William: Myth has the ability to introduce one to the reality of GOD where Jehovah is part of the cloth re myth, but an aspect of GOD nonetheless.
Jesus is the 'good-cop' routine in response to Jehovah's 'bad -cop' routine...bearing in mind David and the Others whom Jehovah touched deeply in a world-changing kinda way. Jehovah was their "Good Cop.".

[Tcg]

1) Is the fact that the Bible is full of mythic elements a good reason to dismiss the Bible as irrelevant to modern life?

As long as one realizes that the God presented in the Bible is one of those mythic elements, they might be able to find some inspiration.


If they make the mistake of considering the Bible myth as evidence of an actual God, they won't find it useful in modern life.



Tcg

[marco]

1) Is the fact that the Bible is full of mythic elements a good reason to dismiss the Bible as irrelevant to modern life?

2) Is that all the Bible is, just myth?

3) Beyond entertainment, does myth provide any enrichment to the individual, or to a culture? What would that be?

Aesop and Phaedrus gave us fables that contain a wealth of truth. La Fontaine did likewise and many a French student has had to memorise La Cigale et La Fourmi, about the carefree cricket and the industrious ant. So fiction can and does instruct.


The problem with the Bible is that it doesn't instruct: it commands, and in the past people have died as a consequence of these commands. I dare say there are little snippets of wise truths but perhaps the cost of extracting these is too high.