Christianity and Mythology
Author: John Mackinnon Robertson
Publisher:
Published: 1900
Total Pages: 518
ISBN-13:
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Christian Mythology
Author: Philippe Walter
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2014-11-20
Total Pages: 221
ISBN-13: 1620553694
DOWNLOAD EBOOKReveals how Christian mythology has more to do with long-standing pagan traditions than the Bible • Explains how the church fathers knowingly incorporated pagan elements into the Christian faith to ease the transition to the new religion • Identifies pagan deities that were incorporated into each of the saints • Shows how all the major holidays in the Christian calendar are modeled on pagan rituals and myths, including Easter and Christmas In this extensive study of the Christian mythology that animated Europe in the Middle Ages, author Philippe Walter reveals how these stories and the holiday traditions connected with them are based on long-standing pagan rituals and myths and have very little connection to the Bible. The author explains how the church fathers knowingly incorporated pagan elements into the Christian faith to ease the transition to the new religion. Rather than tear down the pagan temples in Britain, Pope Gregory the Great advised Saint Augustine of Canterbury to add the pagan rituals into the mix of Christian practices and transform the pagan temples into churches. Instead of religious conversion, it was simply a matter of convincing the populace to include Jesus in their current religious practices. Providing extensive documentation, Walter shows which major calendar days of the Christian year are founded on pagan rituals and myths, including the high holidays of Easter and Christmas. Examining hagiographic accounts of the saints, he reveals the origin of these symbolic figures in the deities worshipped in pagan Europe for centuries. He also explores how the identities of saints and pagan figures became so intermingled that some saints were transformed into pagan incarnations, such as Mary Magdalene’s conversion into one of the Celtic Ladies of the Lake. In revealing the pagan roots of many Christian figures, stories, and rituals, Walter provides a new understanding of the evolution of religious belief.
Myth and Ritual In Christianity
Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 1971-06-01
Total Pages: 292
ISBN-13: 9780807013755
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“Our main object will be to describe one of the most incomparably beautiful myths that has ever flowered from the mind of man, or from the unconscious processes which shape it and which are in some sense more than man.… This is, furthermore, to be a description and not a history of Christian Mythology.… After description, we shall attempt an interpretation of the myth along the general lines of the philosophia perennis, in order to bring out the truly catholic or universal character of the symbols, and to share the delight of discovering a fountain of wisdom in a realm where so many have long ceased to expect anything but a desert of platitudes.” —from the Prologue
Exposing Myths About Christianity
Author: Jeffrey Burton Russell
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2012-05-15
Total Pages: 362
ISBN-13: 0830866876
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRenowned historian, Jeffrey Burton Russell, famous for his studies of medieval history, sets the record straight against the New Atheists and other cultural critics who charge Christianity with being outdated, destructive, superstitious, unenlightened, racist, colonialist, based on fabrication, and other significant false accusations.
Christian Mythology for Kids
Author: Chrystine Trooien
Publisher: Mascot Books
Published: 2016-04-05
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781631775239
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"The famous Bible stories are explored through a secular lens, providing secular families a guide to modern Christianity."--Publisher website.
Christianity and Mythology
Author: Thomas Sawyer Spivey
Publisher:
Published: 1927
Total Pages: 176
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMyth & Christianity
Author: Karl Jaspers
Publisher:
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781591022916
DOWNLOAD EBOOKTwo of the most brilliant German thinkers of the twentieth century were Karl Jaspers and Rudolf Bultmann. Jaspers, the philosopher, and Bultmann, the theologian, were both influenced by the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and the rise of the existentialist movement. Late in their careers they interacted on the subject of Bultmann's attempt to divest Christianity of its mythical components and make sense of it in more modern terms. This work is a compilation of articles by Jaspers and Bultmann that formed a running debate originally published in various scholarly journals. The first half of the book is Jaspers' lengthy and critical analysis of Bultmann's interpretation of Christianity, in which Jaspers essentially rejects the premise that Christianity or any other religion can or should be understood without its mythical framework. Jaspers charges that Bultmann has radically misunderstood the nature of myth and that myth is an irreplaceable form of symbolic communication. In the second part, Bultmann defends his approach, suggesting that Jaspers has not really understood his intent or meaning. Contemporary people today, schooled in the scientific tradition, are likely to reject the biblical texts because of their miraculous claims and supernatural content. Bultmann insists that the scholarly, scientific study of the Bible is a legitimate way to reveal its true message, apart from all the supernatural trappings. Finally, in response, Jaspers accepts some of Bultmann's clarifications but takes him to task on the subject of justification by faith, which he feels Bultmann defines too narrowly and too exclusively. This stimulating work by two penetrating minds will give anyone interested in perennial philosophical and theological questions much to ponder.
Commentaries on Hebrew and Christian Mythology
Author: Parish B. Ladd
Publisher: Pantianos Classics
Published: 1896
Total Pages: 352
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLadd's commentaries on the mythological aspects of Judaism and Christianity are illuminated by his depth of scriptural knowledge and thorough researches. This eclectic work examines extant writings of a variety of ancient civilizations to shed light upon the myths and stories of the Hebrews. Ladd looks into the ancient Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Greeks and even the Hindus of the East to arrive at his conclusions. The author's desire is to uncover how Judaism and later on Christianity began, in the context of the religious and cultural events which preceded their establishment. Spending years amid volumes of disparate and obscure sources, Ladd sought to condense and combine their insights into this single book, that curious readers may discover such history with relative ease. Individual monuments and stone tablets, plus surviving examples of writing upon papyrus, are among the original sources Ladd consults. The Bible, from the life of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt onwards, is examined at length. The author disagreed with the conventional explanations, whether regarding the life of certain figures, or the authorship and origins of various texts. Thus, much of this work seeks to validate and support the author's assertions to the farthest extent possible.
Influences of Pre-Christian Mythology and Christianity on Old Norse Poetry
Author: Andrew McGillivray
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Published: 2018-10-08
Total Pages: 228
ISBN-13: 1580443362
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Eddic poem Vafþrúðnismál serves as a representation of early pagan beliefs or myths and as a myth itself; the poem performs both of these functions, acting as a poetic framework and functioning as sacred myth. In this study, the author looks closely at the journey of the Norse god Óðinn to the hall of the ancient and wise giant Vafþrúðnir, where Óðinn craftily engages his adversary in a life-or-death contest in knowledge.
The Myth of a Christian Nation
Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
Published: 2009-05-18
Total Pages: 261
ISBN-13: 031056591X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe church was established to serve the world with Christ-like love, not to rule the world. It is called to look like a corporate Jesus, dying on the cross for those who crucified him, not a religious version of Caesar. It is called to manifest the kingdom of the cross in contrast to the kingdom of the sword. Whenever the church has succeeded in gaining what most American evangelicals are now trying to get – political power – it has been disastrous both for the church and the culture. Whenever the church picks up the sword, it lays down the cross. The present activity of the religious right is destroying the heart and soul of the evangelical church and destroying its unique witness to the world. The church is to have a political voice, but we are to have it the way Jesus had it: by manifesting an alternative to the political, “power over,” way of doing life. We are to transform the world by being willing to suffer for others – exercising “power under,” not by getting our way in society – exercising “power over.”
