No Robots

Another viewpoint:

the Jews, in spite of their having made Jahvism into religion, never established a mythology, even while their Jahveh always remained exalted as God over every god of other religions, so that other ancient civilizations did not recognize him as a god, and said the Jews were without religion and atheistic. —Brunner, Our Christ, p. 157-8

figuer

Good for them. I am talking about the Bible (or its main parts) being published by itself as Judeo-Christian Mythology, not about being included in encyclopaedias. If publishing the Bible as mythology has already been done I couldn't be gladder.

figuer

Seems this opinion is based on limiting the concept of mythology to stories concerning a pantheon.

andrewcriddle

FWIW Hooke published a book Middle Eastern Mythology (or via: amazon.co.uk) which covers Egyptian Hittite Ugaritic etc myths, together with what Hooke regards as mythical narratives from the Bible.

Andrew Criddle

No Robots

More from the same source:

Israel never had a mythology, not even that of the single God Jahve. That is the only reason why Jahve has not passed away with the demise of the nation of Israel, as all national gods do, for Jahve is not a god. All gods are abominable idols, whether they are fashioned with the hands or with the mind; even the One God is an abominable idol.

Spanky

Thank you for the perfect example No Robots. Instead of saying anything productive about anything I said (not that it was full of wonderful things ), you, and others, just look for anything and everything to nitpick each other on. Do I really possess cognitive dissonance, No Robots?

When I said, in passing, that "maybe all of the believers will destroy the world by then," I did not mean it as a slight to religion or religious people in general. One cannot broad brush people and ideologies. However, observation of history and current day situation show that religious differences are a catalyst for perfect hatred and destruction of human life. Surely you will not deny this.
I used to believe we would all get along some day. I now see that this is impossible. This does not make my observation nor me immature, unless of course you want to see it that way. That is your choice.
Nor is it dissonant. Quindi. . .

Spanky

Chris, we don't need scholars for everything. We need discourse, conversation, patience, tolerance, maturity.

What good does it do to put anyone on ignore?

figuer

I had no idea you were referring only to that particular story. As I mentioned previously, there is no contradiction in interpreting a particular story both as a fable and as a myth, it just depends on where the emphasis is placed. For instance, this particular Biblical story (the Fall of Men), if interpreted as a lesson about the consequences of disobedience, would have the quality of a moral fable. If the interpretation is that it provides a supernatural explanation for the present psychological condition of humans (and why women endure birth pains, and why serpents are legless), then it clearly has the quality of a myth. One does not invalidate the other.

It is a fact that Biblical stories conform a collection. If one analyses collections of Greek mythology it can be observed that they include several stories that can be classified as fables or legends. Thus I see no problem in applying the same criteria to the Biblical stories.

Dreadnought

The laziest farmers get the biggest potatoes and the silliest threads gets the most interest. Who on earth would publish such a book with absolutely no prospect of getting it sold? You'll have more hopes of getting a warning from the surgeon general on the cover reading "The contents of this book may cause brain rot".

figuer

Of course, I completely disagree with these statements. Jahve is not a god? Not and idol fashioned with the mind? Brunner, who was a follower of Spinoza, seems to be interpreting Jewish scripture according to some later developed abstract philosophical notions not compatible with the conceptions and believes of the early Hebrews (or with those of modern Christians).

He strikes me as overly mystical, emphatic and dogmatic. For example;

"If a person is not overpowered and conquered, in his whole humanity, by the Genius of Christ, i.e., by what is authentically human in Christ, his own humanity has never been really awakened to life. Indeed, it is beyond awakening; he has no relationship with genuine humanity nor with the nature of genius."