Learn how to diferenciate between MYTH and LEGEND

[Eli G]

MYTH and LEGEND are not the same.

Atheists use the word "myth" to insult religious beliefs. Most of the time they don't use properly that term because they are ignorant of what a myth is.

The main differences between myth and legend are determined by the inclusion of a specific timeframe and verifiable historical information within the story. Legends can be verified as true stories to the extent that knowledge of the historical facts increases over time. For example, some biblical characters and events were considered legends until archaeological documents were discovered that confirmed them as historical.

Before calling "myth" any Biblical story, learn the truth about the information it includes; do not "speak from the liver" (only driven by animal emotions).

 

[Eli G]

I can't think of any event narrated in the Bible that can appropriately be called a myth. The Bible has an advantage that no other religious document has: all its stories are embedded in a historical framework and a completely verifiable chronological order.

PS: Sorry for my English. The topic is: "Learn how to differentiate between myth and legend".

 

[Watchmen]

Just because a story includes a real person or place does not make it true. I have a paperback on my bookshelf about Biden and Obama teaming up for an outlandish spy adventure. Doesn’t mean it happened. So it is with many Bible stories.

 

[Watchmen]

Here’s the definition of “myth” according to Google. “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernaturalbeings or events.”

The Bible is most definitely a myth based in this definition.

 

[Eli G]

My thread is not about saying a story is true or false ... My topic is about calling something a "myth", a term commonly abused by atheists.

PS: The Bible is a compendium of narrations, not just a single "story".

 

[Orbit]

MYTH and LEGEND are not the same.

Atheists use the word "myth" to insult religious beliefs. Most of the time they don't use properly that term because they are ignorant of what a myth is.

The main differences between myth and legend are determined by the inclusion of a specific timeframe and verifiable historical information within the story. Legends can be verified as true stories to the extent that knowledge of the historical facts increases over time. For example, some biblical characters and events were considered legends until archaeological documents were discovered that confirmed them as historical.

Before calling "myth" any Biblical story, learn the truth about the information it includes; do not "speak from the liver" (only driven by animal emotions).

I think your characterization of "myth" is a little strange. A myth is not an "untrue story". A myth is a *cultural* story that has deep symbolic meaning for that culture. "Truth" is not the point.

 

[Eli G]

Sorry for my honesty but calling the Bible a "myth" goes beyond ignorance of the term, extending to ignorance of what the Bible really is.

 

[Eli G]

I think your characterization of "myth" is a little strange. A myth is not an "untrue story". A myth is a *cultural* story that has deep symbolic meaning for that culture. "Truth" is not the point.

???

Re-read my post.

 

[Orbit]

Sorry for my honesty but calling the Bible a "myth" goes beyond ignorance of the term, extending to ignorance of what the Bible really is.

You don't think the story of Adam and Eve, or of Creation in Genesis is an important cultural story that reveals what is important to that culture? Do you think those accounts are meant to be taken literally?

 

[Left Coast]

MYTH and LEGEND are not the same.

Atheists use the word "myth" to insult religious beliefs. Most of the time they don't use properly that term because they are ignorant of what a myth is.

The main differences between myth and legend are determined by the inclusion of a specific timeframe and verifiable historical information within the story. Legends can be verified as true stories to the extent that knowledge of the historical facts increases over time. For example, some biblical characters and events were considered legends until archaeological documents were discovered that confirmed them as historical.

Before calling "myth" any Biblical story, learn the truth about the information it includes; do not "speak from the liver" (only driven by animal emotions).

Typically, legends don't get truer over time. On the contrary, legends often begin with a kernel of truth and then are expanded and exagerrated, often to supernatural levels. Other times, legends are made up whole cloth.

 

[Eli G]

Adam is a person included in a genealogical tree of real characters. The story of Adam and Eve may be called a "legend" by atheists, but NOT a myth. And here again: "Learn how to differentiate between myth and legend"

 

[Eli G]

Typically, legends don't get truer over time. On the contrary, legends often begin with a kernel of truth and then are expanded and exagerrated, often to supernatural levels. Other times, legends are made up whole cloth.

I just mentioned a general case in my first post:

... Legends can be verified as true stories to the extent that knowledge of the historical facts increases over time. For example, some biblical characters and events were considered legends until archaeological documents were discovered that confirmed them as historical.

Before calling "myth" any Biblical story, learn the truth about the information it includes; do not "speak from the liver" (only driven by animal emotions).

A specific example: the King David. What is truth is truth, and no one's opinion can change it.

 

[Orbit]

Adam is a person included in a genealogical tree of real characters. The story of Adam and Eve may be called a "legend" by atheists, but NOT a myth. And here again: "Learn how to differentiate between myth and legend"

You seem to be missing the point, and you keep using an incorrect definition of "myth" for this context. A myth is not "an untrue story" in the context of Religious Studies, Comparative Religion, or Anthropology. A "myth" in this context is a symbolic story meaningful to a particular culture.

 

[Eli G]

You seem to be missing the point ...

You seem to be missing the point of my thread.

 

[Orbit]

You seem to be missing the point of my thread.

So enlighten me. What is the point of your thread?

 

[Left Coast]

I just mentioned a general case in my first post:

A specific example: the King David.

That King David existed is not seriously in question by most historians I don't think. Whether all the Bible's other claims about him are true, however, is. That would be a textbook example, then, of the Bible taking a kernel of truth (some person existed) and then expounding upon their life and incorporating heroic and supernatural elements.

What is truth is truth, and no one's opinion can change it.

That's a tautology that no one disputes. But it doesn't really help us understand anything about the Bible.

 

[Left Coast]

Helpful explanation of myth:

Myth - Origin, Ritual, Belief | Britannica

Myth - Origin, Ritual, Belief: The most obvious function of myths is the explanation of facts, whether natural or cultural. One North American Indian (Abenaki) myth, for example, explains the origin of corn (maize): a lonely man meets a beautiful woman with long, fair hair; she promises to...

www.britannica.com

 

[Eli G]

Some atheists used to say the character "David" in the Bible was a legend.

About history: no one can change it. Someone may think some story is a legend ... but end up knowing it is a historical fact but he needed acceptable evidence.

 

[Left Coast]

Some atheists used to say the character "David" in the Bible was a legend.

So what?

Abot history: no one can change it. Someone may think some story is a legend ... but end up knowing it is a historical fact but he needed acceptable evidence.

Cool. As was already pointed out, the fact that the Bible includes some real people does not mean it doesn't have mythological elements or that everything contained in it is true.

 

[Eli G]

So enlighten me. What is the point of your thread?

You can start on this: I never said "a myth is an untrue story", so you can save some time and effort in some kind of strawman you are constructing, maybe?