13 Apr
2009

Posted in: Old Testament
By Eddie    2 Comments

The Old Testament as Myth

Now before you start with the sighs and eyes rolling around, check out the title of this post again: “The Old Testament as Myth.” That’s different than “is myth.” What do I mean by that?

It’s simple really. Practically speaking Christians tend to use the Old Testament for the stories we find in the massive collection, and then we use those stories to develop or support an ethical and moral standard. For parents, think about what you read to your kids. Tonight I was reading a a volume of a Bible Story Book set to our three older ones; the littlest one just isn’t in the listening mood quite yet. This volume was about every child’s favorite choice, David and Goliath.

As I finished up I was struck by how much the story sounded just like the Ancient Greek and Roman myths I’ve studied for years. Being a classical lover I have taken a lot of time to familiarize myself with the ancient stories that tried to give answers for all the questions about the world and people in general. And when you read this Old Testament stories—creation, the flood, the creation of many languages, Moses leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt, David and Goliath, Daniel, Esther, and so forth—at least I cannot help but understand completely when someone considers these stories myths and legends. Yet that is an idea the Church in general, at least the conservative end, battles against. They want to ensure everyone that the Old Testament is God Breathed, accurate and infallible history.

But despite such a desire, for so long the stories of the Old Testament have been treated as nothing more than myths and legends usable for ethical and moral teaching. In a very practical way, the history is treated no differently than the myths of Ancient Greece and Rome. We’ll read the story of David and Goliath to our kids in a very simple way, according to their level of understanding, and then sum it all up into an ethical package along the lines of, “See, we just need to trust in God and not in our own strength. He takes care of us.”

In reality I could have garnered that message from any number of Greek and Roman tales. And I could do it without having to then explain to our kids that it’s not ok to have or use a sling shot. Even though he didn’t use a sword he still used an act of violence to vanquish the enemy and that is not alright. But that goes on a tangent from there.

And consider this: do you treat the Old Testament the same way you do the New Testament? Do you sum up the teachings and work of Christ into some generalized moral lesson? Or are you a little more serious about Christ’s teachings and commands? Or the travels and activities of Paul? Are they merely ethical guides?

My point is simply this: whether the Old Testament is accurate, reliable, God Breathed history or not, the text gets treated and used as myth and legend by the Church. And that is very easy to do. The text is written no differently than myths and legends from various cultures. But is that good or bad? Is that in and of itself right or wrong? Personally speaking, I have no problem with that idea. If we found out beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Old Testament was actually a collection of mythological tales created and told by the Hebrew people over the centuries, I would be fine with that. I consider even today the New Testament as more historically viable and important than the Old Testament. But that’s just me.

Share/Save