John Oswalt's The Bible Among The Myth

Introduction

The author, John N. Oswalt, book The Bible Among the Myths begins with the assertion of how unique the Christian-biblical worldview of ancient stories is a myth and that Jesus Christ is not real no more than Zeus or Osiris being real. Oswalt write that there is a lack of understanding about what constitutes a myth, as some people think it is simply a stories that are false. Oswalt also stated that the book primarily because of the changes between the characteristics of Ancient Israelite way of thought was so different from that of their neighbors West Semitic religions, today’s society, that are naive and the unique features of the Old Testament view of reality are thought to be explicable “on the basis of evolutionary change.” As …show more content…
Oswalt visits several definitions, before defining the word, as well as discussing the problem of defining myth by identifying few key themes of myth definitions that falls into the category of the historical-philosophical. The first definition of myth is known as the etymological definition. Is a Greek word mythos that stress the falsity of the thing being described of an event that or myth, imaginary or fictitious thing or person. The second is described historical-philosophical category is the literary definition. With this definition, the events are not seen as right or wrong. Instead, the narrative employs heavy use of symbolism to express its meaning. The final definition within the sociological-theological definition. In this definition, the truth is seen as relative and something is considered true if it is seen as true by. Oswalt worldview that “blurring of the one and the many” is common to all myths. He describes classification of the Bible as being viewed as a myth, but asserting that the characteristics of the Bible that the data used to support these assertions have remained the same and is fundamentally different from