Greek Myth vs. Christian belief

[devinscog2000]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

 

[dogsgod]

Christians.

 

[Riverwolf]

Because as far as I know, we have little knowledge of the Greek religion that went alongside the mythology.

A religion is not solely a mythology; a religion is made up of many, many people who share a common spiritual goal and common methods of achieving that goal.

Some religions don't even have mythologies.

 

[rojse]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

People don't like having the word mythology attached to a living religion. I don't understand it myself, as the definition of mythology does not distinguish between whether people still believe in the stories in the myths or not, but people are funny that way.

 

[gnostic]

Actually the gospels is a myth too.

Virgin birth, or a person who part god and part human, have precedence.

For the virgin birth, see the Greek myth of Perseus.

In Sumerian and Babylonian literature, you can find that Gilgamesh is the son of goddess. And many of the heroes and heroines in Greek myths are part divine and part mortals.

The miracles of healing have occurred almost every civilisations and cultures.

Resurrection or the afterlife, existed almost every places too, that are older than the Christian myth of Jesus. Osiris (Egyptian), and Dionysus (Greek) have christ-like death-resurrection.

The Christian so-called miracles were hardly unique, nor the oldest.

 

[Oberon]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

Myths (including Greek myths) always take place in a remote and unverifiable past. The earliest attestations for Jesus are by a contemporary, and the gospels are ancient biographies written only a generation or two from the events they describe. No myth does this.

 

[sandandfoam]

I have no problem with thinking of my beliefs as my myths. In fact I think this

a myth is conventionally defined as a sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form.

describes my beliefs wellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology#cite_note-6

 

[Oberon]

Osiris (Egyptian), and Dionysus (Greek) have christ-like death-resurrection.

Not really. Osiris (in the versions of the myth were he dies) was chopped into little pieces and then put back together (except his penis). And what version of the greek myth of Dionysus are you referring to?

 

[sojourner]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

A lot of Xy is mythic.

 

[Caladan]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

I think that as more Christians post in this thread, you can discover that many Christians do discern myth from history, for many, Christianity encompasses culture and tradition and not necessarily literal theology.

 

[idea]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

It was all myth to me until I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. When an actual being comes and says "hello" it changes things from myth to reality.

 

[logician]

It's obvious the NT was not written as an actual account of history, but a fictionalized account of a god-man, similar to many other tales that have existed before and since.

 

[sojourner]

It's obvious the NT was not written as an actual account of history, but a fictionalized account of a god-man, similar to many other tales that have existed before and since.

Well, not written as history as we conceive it today. But yes, the accounts were not meant to be historical fact. They were written as theological treatments.

 

[ayani]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

this historicity of Jesus of Nazareth, and the centuries of Jewish narrative, history, and prophecy pointing to His coming, and to many details of His biography.

certainly a man named Jesus lived, taught, had a great influence, and was considered by many to be Messiah in Roman-occupied Judah 2,000 years ago. we have historical and extra-Biblical documents penned by non-Christians saying as much. what else one understands to be true is based largely on how one reads the Gospel narratives and what one believes about this Man.

 

[Bedlam]

The difference between "Myth", "Cult", and "Religion" is typically based on the number of followers it has.

If every Christian instead worshipped the Greek Pantheon, then Christianity would be the myth and the Pantheon would be the religion.

I'm a much bigger fan of the Greek mythologies though. Their gods were fallable, bitter, vengeful, and permiscuous. They make a perfect religious backdrop because they show us poor humans our flaws in ways that demonstrate the consequences of our actions, instead of just labelling everything as taboo and demanding recompension.

 

[Storm]

The difference between "Myth", "Cult", and "Religion" is typically based on the number of followers it has.

I disagree. I see myth as an aspect of religion, while a cult is a religion that abuses its members. I know that's not the only meaning of "cult," but it's my default.

 

[Bedlam]

certainly a man named Jesus lived, taught, had a great influence, and was considered by many to be Messiah in Roman-occupied Judah 2,000 years ago. we have historical and extra-Biblical documents penned by non-Christians saying as much. what else one understands to be true is based largely on how one reads the Gospel narratives and what one believes about this Man.

I disagree with how easily Jesus's existance is accepted as fact. Obviously this is a discussion for another debate, but not everyone (Religious or Atheist) believes he was real.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Why is it the Greek mythology is considered a myth but Christianity is not? what makes a myth and what makes Christianity not a myth?

Greek mythology is part of ancient Greek religion, just as Christian mythology is part of the Christian religion. Generally, it's referred to as "Greek mythology" because people are, in fact, discussing the myths associated with the religion, not the religion itself.

 

[Bedlam]

I disagree. I see myth as an aspect of religion, while a cult is a religion that abuses its members. I know that's not the only meaning of "cult," but it's my default.

Not all cults are harmful. Those are just the ones you hear about on the news. It's the same as how Dungeons and Dragons has a really bad rep among most religions because of the stories of kids killing themselves after playing.

 

[Storm]

Not all cults are harmful. Those are just the ones you hear about on the news. It's the same as how Dungeons and Dragons has a really bad rep among most religions because of the stories of kids killing themselves after playing.

By my definition they are. If they're not, they don't fit my definition. Not all of them make the news, either.

And no, it's not like the D&D scare. It's a question of what the word means to me.