The Bible and Myths
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INTRODUCTION
The Bible, is it the Word of God that man should live by, or is it a book of myth telling nonexistent stories that are not true? In reality, the opposite of true is false, but what makes the truth of the Bible significant and provides evidences with proof that the Bible is not false? Good question. However, this is a controversial question that has been researched by scholars and skeptics who have debated the Bible for many years as myths. But what exactly are myths? John N. Oswalt, a scholarly professor who teaches the Old Testament and is the author of The Bible Among The Myths presents a Biblical perspective denoting the Bible. He introduces himself as a Christian while writing this book and shares how others writers have changed in using a mythical approach toward the Bible. In Owsalts book, his ultimate goal is to demonstrate the authority of the Bible in the context of its past and prove the uniqueness of how it excels all other writings.
In his introduction, he points out how different scholars agreed that the Bible was the only religion separating itself from other religions many years ago, but today instead, the Bible is included amongst all of the world religions. Furthermore, the differences and similarities between the Bible, Myths, and the Ancient near East religions are major factors throughout his book. This assignment is to summarize The Bible Among The Myths and lead the reader to discover why the Western society, the Ancient Near East religions, and current philosophies have change their positions over the years. The Bible Among The Myths is divided into two section which presents The Bible And Myth, and The Bible And History. This book summary will highlight some of the important factors from chapter one through chapter ten, and point out Oswalts overall view that finalizes his conclusion. The next section begins with Oswalts point of view discussing, The Bible In Its World.
THE BIBLE IN ITS WORLD
In chapter one, Oswalt introduces Augustine and Aquinas as Greek philosopher who thought that a universe worldview was more rational than a polyverse worldview, causing a conflict within the religious culture. Polyverse refers to time and discontinued space while the universe points to total existence in the cosmos. “Furthermore, they believed that this is a real world in which effects are the results of observable causes” (Oswalt, pg: 21). This was the belief of most of the Greek philosophers during the seventh and third century. However, a polyverse worldview was chosen over the universe worldview and as a result the religious culture gain a very strong hold on this belief and the world of myths was adopted.
Oswalt continues to explain how the Hebrew (Israelites) focused on God being the only one and true living God of the universe. They believed that God created the heavens and the earth, made His will and purpose known through His prophets, and demanded obedience from His people. Even thou God allowed the Israelites to be captured by the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, He had a plan and that plan involved the thoughts of the Greek and Hebrew coming together to establish a biblical worldview. “As a result of that combination there was now an explanation for the Greek intuition of a universe: there is one Creator who has given rise to the universe and in whose creative will it finds its unity” (Oswalt, pg: 25). Oswalt points out that the Greeks thoughts combined with the Hebrews thoughts was the beginning of rational thinking and monotheism working together that revealed the position of God. At the end of chapter one, Oswalt discusses how reality with science and logic are key factors and are self-evident confirming the biblical ideas for the Greek and Hebrew. He also concludes that the Bible is not a myth and draws his readers attention