What is the difference between ancient Greek and Christian mythology?

[TheBDB]

Let's say I was a person who had never heard of any types of religion, or was an alien from space, or some such situation where I had no prior knowledge about Greek and Christian mythology. I am given two books such as Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Bible. What reason is there for me to believe that one is a fictional story about mystical Gods and the creation of the universe that was written by man thousands of years ago, and the other is the Factual Word from The One True God about the creation of the universe written by men thousands of years ago? How would you convince me to base my life on the teachings of one, and dismiss the other as merely a story?

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

flamewar in 10...9...8...

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: TheBoyBlunder
flamewar in 10...9...8...

Awww, I sure hope not. I am curious how people choose what to have faith in.

 

[TheBDB]

 

[Spoooon]

monotheism and polytheism



I suppose one reason to dismiss Greek mythology is the fact that it has largely been abandoned for other religions. And the fact that in Greek mythology, the gods were very active and would meddle in the lives of mortals.

While my life will sometimes seemingly spin out of control, I doubt that it is due to the whim of some god that I inadverdantly angered.

 

[Jittles]

Well there are archeological digs that give evidence of events in the Bible. The Bible is considered a great history book as a matter of fact, if you aren't the religious type even.

 

[Kadarin]

Religions are based on faith, meaning you have to make an active committment to believe in something without evidence. I'm inclined to believe that at some fundamental point, all religions are essentially arbitrary in this regard, meaning that someone (human, alien, whatever) who has never been exposed to any form of religion would most likely find them all equally silly.

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: Jittles
Well there are archeological digs that give evidence of events in the Bible. The Bible is considered a great history book as a matter of fact, if you aren't the religious type even.

There is a real city of Troy and other Greek historical sites. I don't know of any archaelogical digs that show evidence of the Christian god.

 

[Spoooon]

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: Jittles
Well there are archeological digs that give evidence of events in the Bible. The Bible is considered a great history book as a matter of fact, if you aren't the religious type even.

There is a real city of Troy and other Greek historical sites. I don't know of any archaelogical digs that show evidence of the Christian god.

I saw a show on the History Channel a while back where archaeologists think they found a few ancient cities like Sodom and Gomorra. I doubt that they said that "Yes, these are the cities that were depicted in the bible" and they did not say that the cities destroyed by a wrathful god or anything like that.

 

[Dragnov]

Jesus actually existed as acknowledged by just about all historians. (Now whether he was the son of God, is the debate...)

The Ancient Greek Gods... don't know anyone willing to back that one up, but theres probably a few nutjobs out there who do.

But basically everything boils down to faith. You have faith that there is no God, and people have faith that there is a God. Neither side can prove either 100%, w/o saying "just have faith."

What makes you have faith that your SO won't cheat on you? What makes you believe you are going to wake up in the morning? What makes that I'm actually giving you a legit response? Just simple blind faith no?

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: Spoooon
monotheism and polytheism



I suppose one reason to dismiss Greek mythology is the fact that it has largely been abandoned for other religions. And the fact that in Greek mythology, the gods were very active and would meddle in the lives of mortals.

While my life will sometimes seemingly spin out of control, I doubt that it is due to the whim of some god that I inadverdantly angered.

I'll buy the argument that Greek mythology has been abandoned. But does that suggest that it is logical to believe in Christianity BECAUSE a lot of people believe it?

 

[Gyrene]

How about Noah's ark...geez, what's it doing sitting 13,000 feet up on Mount ....something or other. I'm drunk right now, and can't really think of the name.

 

[KokomoGST]

Actually, because of the extreme influence of Greek thought into early Christian theologians and educated people in the Church (so called "Doctors of the Church" in charge of forming doctrines) there's a lot of crossover as the language of Paul was GREEK(Latin as well) and not Aramiac or Hebrew.

Besides... I see no real correlation between Metamorphoses and the Christian Bible. And the fact that Biblical Archeology is so friggin successful validates it as more than a mere "myth" moreso than any other historical document.

 

[Spoooon]

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: Spoooon
monotheism and polytheism



I suppose one reason to dismiss Greek mythology is the fact that it has largely been abandoned for other religions. And the fact that in Greek mythology, the gods were very active and would meddle in the lives of mortals.

While my life will sometimes seemingly spin out of control, I doubt that it is due to the whim of some god that I inadverdantly angered.

I'll buy the argument that Greek mythology has been abandoned. But does that suggest that it is logical to believe in Christianity BECAUSE a lot of people believe it?

It's not logical to become a christian just because a lot of other people believe in it. But it doesn't seem too farfetched a notion to abandon Greek mythology as an alternative faith. 😀

Besides, it's not like anyone is going to convince you to become christian or whatever. It doesn't work that way.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: dtyn
How about Noah's ark...geez, what's it doing sitting 13,000 feet up on Mount ....something or other. I'm drunk right now, and can't really think of the name.

It's one thing to find evidence of some wood near the summit of Mt. Ararat (if in fact they did); it's quite another to use that as "proof" to validate the story as presented in the Bible as literal truth.

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
Actually, because of the extreme influence of Greek thought into early Christian theologians and educated people in the Church (so called "Doctors of the Church" in charge of forming doctrines) there's a lot of crossover as the language of Paul was GREEK(Latin as well) and not Aramiac or Hebrew.

Besides... I see no real correlation between Metamorphoses and the Christian Bible. And the fact that Biblical Archeology is so friggin successful validates it as more than a mere "myth" moreso than any other historical document.

I don't doubt the historical accuracy of a lot of the Bible. But does that mean the whole thing is true? Does the inclusion of historical facts mean that completely unproven ideas should be taken at face value?

 

[Gyrene]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33

Originally posted by: dtyn
How about Noah's ark...geez, what's it doing sitting 13,000 feet up on Mount ....something or other. I'm drunk right now, and can't really think of the name.

It's one thing to find evidence of some wood near the summit of Mt. Ararat (if in fact they did); it's quite another to use that as "proof" to validate the story as presented in the Bible as literal truth.

That's the thing I've never understood. Everyone says that the bible is figurative in parts, and literal in parts, but how do we determine which parts are literal and which parts are figurative?

 

[KokomoGST]

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
Actually, because of the extreme influence of Greek thought into early Christian theologians and educated people in the Church (so called "Doctors of the Church" in charge of forming doctrines) there's a lot of crossover as the language of Paul was GREEK(Latin as well) and not Aramiac or Hebrew.

Besides... I see no real correlation between Metamorphoses and the Christian Bible. And the fact that Biblical Archeology is so friggin successful validates it as more than a mere "myth" moreso than any other historical document.

I don't doubt the historical accuracy of a lot of the Bible. But does that mean the whole thing is true? Does the inclusion of historical facts mean that completely unproven ideas should be taken at face value?

Ask that about everything... does the reliability of one section mean that the rest (if evidence suggests but doesn't PROVE)... that's your decision. That decision is "faith"

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: KokomoGST

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
Actually, because of the extreme influence of Greek thought into early Christian theologians and educated people in the Church (so called "Doctors of the Church" in charge of forming doctrines) there's a lot of crossover as the language of Paul was GREEK(Latin as well) and not Aramiac or Hebrew.

Besides... I see no real correlation between Metamorphoses and the Christian Bible. And the fact that Biblical Archeology is so friggin successful validates it as more than a mere "myth" moreso than any other historical document.

I don't doubt the historical accuracy of a lot of the Bible. But does that mean the whole thing is true? Does the inclusion of historical facts mean that completely unproven ideas should be taken at face value?

Ask that about everything... does the reliability of one section mean that the rest (if evidence suggests but doesn't PROVE)... that's your decision. That decision is "faith"

So back to the original question I had. Why do you have "faith" in Christianity and not in Greek mythology? I have faith in many things. It's how do you choose what to have faith in that I am looking for.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: KokomoGST

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
Actually, because of the extreme influence of Greek thought into early Christian theologians and educated people in the Church (so called "Doctors of the Church" in charge of forming doctrines) there's a lot of crossover as the language of Paul was GREEK(Latin as well) and not Aramiac or Hebrew.

Besides... I see no real correlation between Metamorphoses and the Christian Bible. And the fact that Biblical Archeology is so friggin successful validates it as more than a mere "myth" moreso than any other historical document.

I don't doubt the historical accuracy of a lot of the Bible. But does that mean the whole thing is true? Does the inclusion of historical facts mean that completely unproven ideas should be taken at face value?

Ask that about everything... does the reliability of one section mean that the rest (if evidence suggests but doesn't PROVE)... that's your decision. That decision is "faith"

So back to the original question I had. Why do you have "faith" in Christianity and not in Greek mythology? I have faith in many things. It's how do you choose what to have faith in that I am looking for.

It's a cultural/sociological thing. You have "faith" because your parents have faith and the people around you have faith. Had you been brought up in the ancient Greek environment, you'd have an equal amount of faith in that particular belief system. Not because any one belief system is inherently more valid than any other.

 

[clamum]

Good question TheBDB, and it raises a point.

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

- Stephen Roberts

 

[Flyermax2k3]

This is easy enough: Greek Mythology is simply that; mythology. The history of Christianity is not mythology. Debate it all you like "G-d doesn't exist, yuo are teh foolz0r! Christians are teh st00pid, G-d is teh fake" blah blah blah.

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3
This is easy enough: Greek Mythology is simply that; mythology. The history of Christianity is not mythology. Debate it all you like "G-d doesn't exist, yuo are teh foolz0r! Christians are teh st00pid, G-d is teh fake" blah blah blah.

In a few thousand years it will be called "Christian Mythology."

 

[Flyermax2k3]

In a few thousand years not a single one of us will be alive so your point is moot. There is no date set in the Bible on the prophecies of Revelation so they never "expire." Therefore, it cannot become mythology.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3
This is easy enough: Greek Mythology is simply that; mythology. The history of Christianity is not mythology. Debate it all you like "G-d doesn't exist, yuo are teh foolz0r! Christians are teh st00pid, G-d is teh fake" blah blah blah.

Sure, the Greek polytheistic belief system is mythology now, but it wasn't mythology then. Same goes with the ancient Egyptians who believed in Ra the sun god (and various other gods).