Essay about Book Summary The Bible Among the Myths

INTRODUCTION The book opens with an introduction comparing the study of the Old Testament and the other religions and cultures of other peoples from the Ancient Near East. Scholars used to believe that the Old Testament was unique among other beliefs in the Ancient Near East but they now view the Old Testament as identical to other religions of its day and time. The author also discusses the vital philosophical distinction between â€Å"essence† and â€Å"accident.† When removing an essential feature of an object, it will cease to be itself but if you remove an accidental feature of an object, there will be no change in the object’s essential being. The author also introduces the characteristics of myth. 1) That human beings have†¦show more content†¦One of the groups of definitions falls under the category of the historical-philosophical definition. The first definition of myth in this category is the etymological definition. This definition stresses the falsity of the deity or event or thing being described. The second is the sociological-theological definition where the truth is seen as relative and something is considered true if it is seen as true by others. The third is the literary definition. These kinds of definitions claim to make no value judgment about their material. The events are not seen as right or wrong and the narrative makes use of symbolism to express it meaning. The many definitions of a myth have one thing in common; they all give to the philosophy of continuity. Continuity assumes that all things are not only related to one another, but are literally one another in some fashion. Overall it can be said that whatever the Bible is, whether symbol or literal, true or false, it is not myth. CHAPTER THREE CONTINUITY: THE BASIS OF MYTHICAL THINKING As the title of this chapter is Continuity: The Basis of Mythical Thinking the author gives further details about what he touched on at the end of chapter two. The presence of continuity is the one thing that myths have in common. The way of thinking in continuity views all things as part of each other inShow MoreRelatedEssay on Book Summary of the Bible Among the Myths2904 Words   |  12 PagesIntroduction Author John N. Oswalt begins The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? with a concise and well-written introduction that whets the reader’s appetite, compelling one to continue reading. He begins by informing the reader that his novel has been in the works dating all of the way back to the 1960s, when he attended the Asbury Theological Seminary. Oswalt quickly points out that one of the main points that the book will focus on is determining if â€Å"the religionRead MoreBook Summary: the Bible Among the Myths by John N. Oswalt Essay3529 Words   |  15 PagesABSTRACT John Oswalt, in his book The Bible Among the Myths, presents his position to the reader that the bible is different and separate from other writings of the Ancient Near East. He asserts the Bible is both historically accurate and theologically sound. He makes the defense the Bible was divinely inspired and revealed to humanity and unique from other Ancient Near East literature. There was a time when the Bible, and the Israelite religion was different from its neighboring societies.Read MoreMs Paul2146 Words   |  9 PagesBible Among the Myths Malcom College English 093 Ms. Smith 01/23/2012 Introduction The book is an analysis of the Biblical view of the world and compares it other works in the Ancient Near East of that time with the development of the Bible. 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