...subject, theme, idea, etc. There are many motifs in all of the creation myths. If I were to read just 3 creation myths I could talk about many motifs right away. Many creation myths share many ideas and thoughts. That would be where we get motifs from. In my personal opinion; three of the most common creation myth motifs are destruction by angry gods, creation of humans to take care of the planet, and multiple attempts at making humans. Destruction by Angry Gods In many of the creation myths, there was destruction by angry gods. This shows the chaos and the bad in the myths. It also shows that we have to go through the bad, to get to the good. For most, there was a bloody struggle involved. The creations that included...
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...“A Myth” Mythology/HUM/105 August 19, 2014 Stacy Pfister-Jolley For me a myth is an abstract word that can be real or not. When using it in textbook then it should be understood figuratively. It’s as stated on www.thefreedictionary.com, myth is defined as a fictitious but well known story. The word myth is used in the studious context by acknowledging what is fake or real. The word myth is used popularly through fantasies told throughout today’s culture. Either were reading a book with magical creatures or watching a science fiction movie. Some mystical stories which are: Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, Zeus, Merlin and the tooth fairy. These myths were made to decrease reality for adolescent. For example, telling the story of Santa Claus to children. It makes them excited and some behave more or less during the holidays. To me, myths are like historic events that are not true and much more interesting than others. For me a myth is an abstract word that can be real or not. When using it in textbook then it should be understood figuratively. One of the most commonly used myths that many different cultures have in common is the creation myth. When examining creation stories and creation myths across cultures, there are several obvious similarities and differences that exist. While these creation myths are important to observe and offer ideas about, it seems that the most vital task is not in analyzing the smaller differences or common elements, but to look at...
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...Since the creation of humanity, we have used stories to explain the creation of ourselves, and of the entire universe. These stories, known as myths, help characterize the culture from which they derive, and in essence are part of every human being who is part of a culture or group. Myths are diverse and intricate, with completely different outcomes and views. However, taking a closer look at these stories there are countless similarities between each explanation of how humanity came to be. Though the cultural groups that make up humanity are vastly different, their myths have similar aspects to them that cannot be considered just a mere coincidence. The Greek myth “Pandora’s Box”, the Iroquois myth “the Diver” and the Judeo Christian myth Genesis all have similar “universal” characteristics....
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...Week 2 Notes: Cosmogonic myths pick up the action at a point just before the divine touch creates time and space. Before this critical moment, though there are often gods or a god preceding the world or the physical universe, the only thing that exists is the infinite potential of chaos. Not unlike the Genesis account of creation, most of the world’s creation myths begin with an eternal being sleeping within or hovering in contemplation above the infinite abyss of a primeval sea. These waters represent the “chaos” of a world without physical form, where no height, no depth, no breadth, no time, and no created beings exist. All is quiet; everything rests in a state of infinite potential. At the decisive moment, potential universes give way to the one in which we actually live. * Maclagan suggests, in Creation Myths: Man’s Introduction to the World, that Cosmogonic narratives are patterned after the following themes: (1)inner and outer; (2) horizontal and vertical; (3) something from nothing; (4) the conjugation of opposites; (5) world order and the order of worlds; (6) descent and ascent; (7) earth body and sacrifice; and (8) death, time, and the elements. In these various schemes, we see areas of overlap, which suggests that a finite number of motifs are at work in creation myths. * Weigle’s Creation and Procreation: Feminist Reflections on Mythologies of Cosmogony and Parturition presents the most nuanced typology of creation myths. Building upon Eliade and Long...
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...aspects of every culture were documented in myths. Creation myths explained how a people came to be, giving them a spiritual/religious connection to a much larger universe filled with the unexplained. In addition, creation myths explained a culture’s origin, history, deities and heroes. Myths gave a culture a clear connection throughout the ages. These myths were passed on through generations to become an integral part of many cultures. Myths helped make order out of chaos, explained things in nature that could not be readily understood. Myths, frequently, expressed ideas and concepts that were common to all human beings. Questions about good and evil, life and death, fear and anxiety, heroes and heroic feats, punishment for breaking cultural values are present in every culture. The “why” of existence crosses cultural, racial and geographic challenges. These topics were the basis for many myths. The myths created to address these topics were frequently variations of the same or similar stories/oral traditions. Collectively, these universal themes or questions are referred to as universal myths. Myths existed before there was art and before the written word. The great mythic themes were known before literature. Myths existed before philosophy and science. A culture's mythology is a powerful form of psychology, casting light on the culture's shared unconscious. Myths are a clear reflection of the religious/spiritual beliefs of a culture. Myths allow a culture to explore and address...
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...November 21, 2015 What are myths? According to our text, "myths are ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human operations: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways?" Leonard and McLure, (2004) There are many ways that the word myth is used as well as independent definitions and just as many correlations between different cultures for the same myth. Let's look at the foundation of the word myth and all of its implications. The term myth is most popularly used today as something that is false, an untruth if you will – an urban legend; a rumor or a hoax. There are many things here in New Mexico that are considered to be a myth. We are home to thousands of Hispanics. There are many "myths" here in New Mexico about Chupacabras – which are literally translated as "goat-sucker", from chupar ("to suck") and cabra ("goat"). Wikipedia, (2015). We have much livestock here in New Mexico and purportedly, some of them were often times found dead with no blood left and three holes that were punctured in their chests – just one of the stories of this area; and a story that was brought over from Puerto Rico, where it originated. Another myth that is told to our children...
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...across the phrase “that’s a myth” and typically when we hear this we know that there may be little to possibly no truth to it, and maybe even a story from ancient history. Myths can range from different meanings based on who is telling the myth, the culture, and much more. Below there will be information that will elaborate on the many questions of what a myth is, how it is relevant in contemporary culture and the many belief systems that follow through with Myths. What Is a Myth? The word myth has been used on this earth for as long as we know, and is a popular word that is used to generally to tell a story, event, history, or even to describe a legend of some sort or time. Although many myths may be imaginary as told, they are most certainly acknowledged. There is no proof to many of the myths but they hold significance to many, and many hold dear to their beliefs regarding the myths regardless of its minimal proof to be a fact or not. There are many stories that are told from different cultures that have continued to be told through time, and depending on our culture, and who told these stories they follow and hold great significance to many and some will believe them and others may not. The Most common mythological themes across different cultures especially the seven major cultural groups Africa, the Americas, Northern Europe, the British Isle, Middle East, Greece, Rome, the far East, and the Pacific Islands is creation. Every culture has its myths about pantheons of Gods...
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...shows a moral and practical lesson. Mythology came to the interpretations of actual historical events, and other different retellings. There are five types of myths, one being theological, another being physical, which is the base of natural laws, animastic that is most defined by concerning soul, material and finally mixed. There are two types of theories, the first being the pre-modern theory and the other being the modern theory, the difference between both theories being that the pre-modern theory is the events of actual historical events, and the modern theory can be founded now in day in video games, movies, and books. In modern day using the term “myth” is becoming more common known more for being more of a lie or truth. The term “it is just a myth” now in days can be related to a fairy tale, folk story or an old wives tale. For example when younger, parents once told the children that when their tooth fell off, it was needed to be put underneath the pillow for that the tooth fairy can take it and leave the child a quarter. In a young age when one is naïve, one tends to believe in those myths, but when older myths tend to be more about storytelling to the younger generation and creating good ideas for books, movies, blogs, and songs in between other things. In academic context the meanings of the word “myth” are attempts of people from the past trying to figure out; who we are? How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come here? Different things...
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...Liberty University THE BIBLE AMONG THE MYTHS A Book Summary Submitted to Dr. Daniel Warner in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Course OBST 510 Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary by Sunday September 20th, 2015 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter1--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Chapter 2 3 Chapter 3 4 Chapter 4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Chapter 5 7 Chapter 6 8 Chapter 7 10 Chapter 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Chapter 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Chapter 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature?. By John N. Oswalt. Grande Rapides, MI: Zondervan, 2009. Introduction Oswalt begins by discussing the origins of this book. How that at the close of the Second World War people had begun to re-evaluate some of their long held beliefs. As Oswalt would have said their paradigms began to shift. As this shift began people such as Albright and his students say a major difference between Jewish religion and the other religions of the ANE. As time passed this pendulum began to swing...
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...Children’s Literature on Folklore Folklore originated as stories told around the campfire and passed down by word of mouth. Because these stories originated orally, many times they have no known authors. These stories were almost always fantasy and involved magic or animals that talked. There are six subcategories that fall under Folklore in Children’s Literature. These subcategories are: folktales, tall tales, fables, myths, epics/ballads/legends and religious stories. One subcategory that falls under Folklore is Folk tales. A folk tale is a tale or legend originating among a people or folk, especially one forming part of an oral tradition. Folk tales are often part of the oral tradition of a group and are usually told rather than read. They are passed down from one generation to the next. They may be stories that grew out of the lives and imaginations of people. Folk tales can take on the personality of the storyteller and the story can take on the characteristics of the time and place in which the story is told. The themes are universal and timeless and may contain supernatural elements, imaginative characters, focus on action, have a simple sense of justice, have happy endings and contain fundamental wisdom (Chen, 2009). There are seven types of folk tales, each with their own characteristics to set them apart from one another. Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott is a beast tale. It is a beautifully illustrated folk tale from the...
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...Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Darrell Jones HUM/105 June 20, 2012 Mary Worley Cosmic Creation Myths across Cultures Myths vary a great deal from various cultures around the world. Although these myths differ, they all share one same common theme – a story based on creation. Myths from the Roman/Greek and Nordic cultures are no different. Both of these cultures believed in some form of creation that defined and shaped their world through cosmic occurrences or natural phenomenon, while sharing similarities and differences in the creators of the worlds and the steps these worlds were created. Roman/Greek gods lived in various worlds. This mythological world was born out of emptiness, or Chaos. The gods themselves lived on Mount Olympus. Uranus, Father Sky, ruled over all worlds with Gaea, Mother Earth, by his side. Tartarus ruled the deepest part of the underworld. Their son, Cronus, and their grandson, Zeus, both take turns ruling over the worlds after Uranus. Two of Uranus and Gaea’s other children were gods of other worldly elements: Helios, god of sun; and Selene, god of Moon. Cronus and Rhea produced the second generation of gods who ruled over other elements, including: Zeus, lord of the sky and god of thunder; Poseidon, lord of the seas; and Hades, ruler of the underworld and lord of the dead. Individuals who believed in Roman/Greek mythology believed these gods shaped their world and ruled over the elements. A titan named Atlas was condemned by Zeus to...
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...knowledge and understanding of the topic and more understanding of thyself. By answering these questions the foundations of mythology can be better understood. Basics of Myth First, let’s consider how the word myth is used popularly. In popular literature, popular television, and throughout human interactions the word myth is uses to address or categorize what is really and what is not real. Throughout society myths are used in stories and legends told. Overtime these stories become part of everyday life. This embedment into everyday lives happens through watching science fiction movies, reading fiction books, and other types of literature whether verbal, text, or movies that are about mystical characters. Some more popular legendary and traditional stories told throughout time include that of St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and even the stork. These type of myths were created for young children but there are some that are geared towards adults. According to Leonard (2004), "Official myths like the Illiad and Odyssey, The Theogony- or the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible- are inevitably reconstructions from snatches of folklore and legend, artistically put together with an eye for drama and meaning. But real myths are, like one's own dreams, so fresh they are not yet recognized as myth or scripture and are fragmentary, imagistic rather than verbal, emergent, capable of forming many different stories at one.”...
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...Submitted to Dr. Erik Mitchell, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course OBST 510-D10 Introduction to the Old Testament by Stephen Corbett November 10, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction 1 The Bible and Myth 2 The Bible in Its World The Bible and Myth: A Problem of Definition Continuity: The Basis of Mythical Thinking Transcendence: Basis of Biblical Thinking The Bible verses Myth The Bible and History 9 The Bible and History: A Problem of Definition Is the Bible Truly Historical? The Problem of History (1) Does it Matter Whether the Bible Is Historical? The Problem of History (2) Origins of the Biblical Worldview: Alternatives Conclusion 15 Introduction “The Bible Among the Myths” begins with the author, John N. Oswalt, establishing his credibility on the topic discussed. Following his studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and Brandeis University, Oswald went on to teach courses at multiple seminaries on the subject of the Old Testament. Due to his years of teaching, he followed the current thought in the scholarly world in reference to the Bible and the subject of myth. In a sixty year gap, scholarly thought went from a popular view of the Israelite thought being completely separate and unconnected to the ancient near eastern thought to currently seeing Israelite religion as simply one more of the complex West Semitic...
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...Introduction to a Christian worldview A course in thinking Christianly about the whole of life Chris Gousmett (c) Chris Gousmett, 1996 This edition is produced solely for use as a course manual and is not to be sold, copied or otherwise reproduced in any form. i Contents Introduction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7 8. 9. 10. The nature and function of worldviews Religion true and false . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1 16 30 The problem of dualism and synthesis in Christianity Major themes in a worldview: Human nature, truth, meaning, purpose . 46 Scripture as the source of a Christian worldview The contours of a Biblical worldview . . . . . . .. . . . . . 59 70 87 104 119 136 157 Structure and direction. Sin and evil. Common grace The task and calling of humankind: to care for the creation . The nature of Christian community. A Christian view of society. The Kingdom of God: God's righteous rule over the whole creation . Bibliography . . . . . . . . ii Introduction The creation of the Father, fallen in sin, is redeemed by the death of the Son of God and is being transformed by the Holy Spirit into the kingdom of God. Herman Bavinck This series of studies is designed to provide a basic introduction to a distinctively Christian worldview that seeks to see the whole gospel applied to the whole of life. This Christian worldview makes a difference, because it is significant for our life in the world. It shapes and directs our lives in important ways, because it...
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.... Comparing Gods and Goddesses HUM/105 June 15, 2011 Comparing Gods and Goddesses Myths are narrative stories that describe the creation of the world and how the first humans came into existence. According to Leonard and McClure (2004), human societies began as goddess-oriented and matrifocal (women-centered). Human societies evolved from primitive beginnings to a superior culture system of patriarchy (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p. 104). Although myths may differ from culture to culture, common elements and roles exist in each myth. In today’s society, myths and legends are fantasy-filled tales from ancient societies long gone. Therefore, Team A will describe the elements and functions of goddess myths, and compare two myths of the female divine from different cultures. Second, the team will describe the elements and functions of god myths, and compare two myths of the male divine from different cultures. Last, the team will summarize the elements and functions shared by both divines. According to the euhemerist Gimbutus, goddesses have three basic roles life, death, and regeneration (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p. 114). The goddesses of life are Mother Earth, nature, sea, and universe. These goddesses are nurturers and overseers of security and contentment, prosperity and growth, and creativity and artistry. The mother earth goddesses are creators of earth and universe, such as Gaia of the ancient Greeks, and Tellus of the Romans. These two Earth goddesses gave...
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