Chapter Six

Interpretation of

Mythology and History

 

Myths are stories that are handed down by the spoken word without a determinable source. History begins where mythology ends. The first five books of the Bible are attributed to Moses. He was born in 1526 B.C.; this corresponds well with the drastic drop in the Egyptian inventory of Semite slaves. This would indicate that Moses was approximately eighty years of age during the Exodus. It marks the move from mythology to Biblical history. These five books make up the Jewish Bible, or Torah. All but one of these books is historical. The Book of Mythology is Genesis. Genesis means “in the beginning.” In Genesis, Moses records the events that have been passed down by word of mouth, generation after generation. The stories told in Genesis are more well-known than all the other stories of the Old Testament. These are presented as follows:

 

·         The Creation--date unknown.

·         The Garden of Eden--date unknown.

·         Adam and Eve--date unknown.

·         The Fall of Man--date unknown.

·         The Great Flood/Noah--date unknown.

·         Tower of Babel--disputed.

·         Abram (Abraham)--2166 B.C.

·         Abraham offers his son to God--a test of FAITH!

·         Destruction of Sodom and Gomorra--2100 B.C.

·         The Tower of Babel--2030 B.C.

·         Isaac, son of Abraham--2065 B.C.

·         Jacob and Esau--2005 B.C.

·         Joseph, Ruler of Egypt--1845 to 1805 B.C.

 

Approximately four hundred years pass between Joseph’s rule of Egypt to the Exodus and Moses recording it. This is confirmed by the four hundred-year history of Jewish slavery under the Egyptians and the drop in slaves in 1446 B.C. Moses probably wrote the Torah during his wander­ing in the desert. Genesis confirms many of the historical events in the last chapter.

 

Genesis is one of the MAJOR DISUNITING and CONTROVERSIAL elements of the Christian Church, the creation being the foremost issue. Modern scientific methods and archeology have established the age of the earth to be approximately forty billion years old. Man is a newcomer. The earliest estimates for modern man’s existence are between forty to one hundred thousand years old.

 

Some linguistic experts argue that these early men had a common or universal language, a mother tongue. This would make sense of the Tower of Babel event. However, others on the opposite extreme argue that man has never shared a mother tongue. There are others who believe something in the middle of these extremes. As was explained in the last chapter, virtually all the ancient civilizations shared the same myths.

 

What is the problem with the these last two paragraphs? Words like “estimate,” “approximate,” “argue,” and “believe.” Note the absence of the word “KNOW”! What we do not know leads to speculation and/or opinion. Speculation and opinion lead to disagreements and disunity. We must deal with what we know is on solid ground.

 

Because a myth is not history, we cannot KNOW the true facts. To know is of the mind. To believe a myth is of the spirit. It is based on faith. We find almost universal agreement on certain myths. Within all of the ancient civilizations we have studied:

 

·         A myth of creation.

·         A myth of man in paradise.

·         A myth concerning the fall of man.

·         A myth about a great flood.

·         A life after death.

 

If we find universal agreement, have we found the next best thing to a fact? Every Christian, every Jew and every Muslim all believe these myths to be true. That represents almost half of the world’s population. Even this is not enough.

 

The problem lies in identifying what is authentic. Then we have to separate the literal word from the figurative word. Jesus Christ is the Word:

 

·         “IN THE beginning was the WORD, and the word was with God, and the WORD was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1-2)

 

It is these issues which lead to the extreme and opposite schools of Literalism and Interpretationalism. They split Christianity into drastically different theologies. Unification is impossible in such an environment.

THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE ONLY TRUTH IS IN THE BIBLE ARE LITERALIST. Their belief system allows for no thinking, only trying to follow the rules in both the Old and New Testaments, an impossible task. Christ came to cancel the Old Testament except for the Ten Commandments. The Old TESTA­MENT is a contradiction of the New Testa­ment. For example, the Old Testament calls for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Christ says to “forgive and love your enemies.” How do you reconcile this?

 

On the other hand, the Literalists pick up a Bible and pretty much decide what they want to believe, how to believe it and when to believe it. This betrays Christ’s Third Covenant. It results in denial. Which is blaspheme!

 

Across this spectrum of opposite polarities lays the main stream of all Christendom. This is a barren waste land of secularism, personal interpretation, lack of faith, ignorance, denial, and indifference. This is what Moses is telling us regarding the Tower of Babel. The people erected a wonder of the world. They did this to glorify themselves instead of God. They all began speak­ing in different languages, and no one could understand the other. They were all saying the same thing! Religion could not reconcile itself. Abraham was born in Ur. History tells us that Abraham left Ur to seek the one true God. Perhaps the “Tower of Babel Syndrome” was his motivation?

 

Put four Christians in a room, one Interpretationalist, one Literalist, one Secularist, and one Disciple of The Third Covenant of Jesus Christ. Say discuss religion for two hours. No one could or would agree on almost anything. One might beg to be let out of the room. Another would be in a fighting rage. Old Satan would be jumping up and down, with joy. HE IS RIGHT NOW! There is one exception. The Disciple of The Third Covenant! Why? Because of Christ’s “Quadrel of Love”!

 

Who would be right? The Disciple of Jesus Christ. Why? Because all of God’s and Christ’s Commandments are extensions of the “Quadrel”! However, it is doubtful if anyone would believe the Disciple. Why? As a society, we are prone to misinterpret. We believe things that are not true. We lack dreams, hope, faith, belief, trust, and love. We tend to try to socio-secularize everything we do. We are afraid and mistrustful. We feel betrayed. We get angry because we cannot find the words to say what we think we are trying to say. We cannot find them because they do not exist. Sociologists confirm that when a person becomes most angry, he is usually consciously or subconsciously lying. Our human nature is prone to rejecting our dreams. We are just as prone to reject hope, belief, faith, trust, and love. We lust for knowledge. The who, what, where, when, and why is what we want. Not love and faith!