Religious Myths in Modern Times

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how mythology may be discriminated from theology in that the stories may be discriminated from the beliefs arising from them and how most religions are made up of stories which become part of the belief system of the believer. It looks at how most religions in the world have as their source the writings of the Koran and Pentateuch, or the Old Testament. The stories in these books were written down sometime within recorded history, and, in fact, make up part of recorded history. It also discusses how myths continue to be made and how today the Internet has spawned thousands of "myths" that tell new stories about "miracles" and strange happenings related to participants' religions. Over the Internet, these stories travel at the speed of light around the globe and are changed and twisted till they become as believable and astounding as the first myths were. Often they are based on some former, or biblical happening or related to something in the Bible or concern some religious leader.

From the Paper:

"The myths that Christians and others who follow the teachings of the New Testament believe today are constantly changing in form and content. The Church has something to do with this. The Catholic Church regularly makes edicts that tell believers how they are to act and believe from that point on (dogma). One example is the myth of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Paul makes no reference to her being a virgin when Jesus was conceived and his books predate all the four gospels. He had not heard of this "myth." It was a story that evidently was circulated and gained acceptance after 50 A.D. The story of Mary continued to grow and her character was modified and changed to suit the times (Symes 2007)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bryces, Steve, Worldwide Adherents of All Religions, Mid-2005', Encyclopaedia Britanica. 1999.<ref>http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9432620/Worldwide-Adherents-of-All-Religions-Mid-2005</ref>
• New Advent. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. V. 1909. New York: Robert Appleton Co.
• New Life. Christian Myths and Urban Legends (website). 2007. <http://www.new-life.net/myths.htm.>
• Symes, R.C. "Myths surrounding Jesus' birth," Religious Tolerance. 2007. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_lib.htm>.

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