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| − | [[Image:Abraham-and-Melchizedek_lgr.jpg|right|"Abraham meeting Melchizedek"]] | + | [[Image:Abraham-and-Melchizedek_lgr.jpg|right|frame|<center>"[[Abraham]] meeting [[Melchizedek]]"</center>]] |
| − | '''Abrahamic mythology''' is a term used in [[comparative mythology]] to refer to those aspects of religious belief and tradition common to the [[Abrahamic religion]]s, as distinct from those of the "[[Paganism|Pagan]] religions" from which most mainstream research in this field suggests they developed.
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| − | ==Controversy of terminology==
| + | '''Abrahamic philosophy''', in its loosest sense, comprises the series of philosophical schools that emerged from the [[study]] and commentary of the common ancient [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic Semitic] [[tradition]] which can be traced by their adherents to [[Abraham]] ("Father/Leader of many" [[Hebrew]] אַבְרָהָם ("Avraham") Arabic ابراهيم ("Ibrahim"), a patriarch whose life is narrated in the Hebrew Bible/[[Old Testament]], and as a prophet in the [[Qur'an]] and also called a prophet in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis 20:7]]). |
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| − | Some Abrahamic religionists reject the categorisation of their beliefs as ''mythology'', arguing that the term [[Connotation|connotes]] untruth and has more commonly been used to refer to beliefs they regard as [[fiction]]. Comparative mythologists might respond that mythology is not necessarily ahistorical nor counterfactual, and correct use within its field of such terminology which in this case uniquely encompasses the shared religious conceptions of the Abrahamic faiths is not intended to be argumentative, nor to imply disrespect.
| + | The standard text common to all of these subsequent traditions are what is known as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible Hebrew Bible], roughly the first five books of the [[Old Testament]], starting with the book of Genesis through to [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]]. However, each of them added substantially different texts to their emerging [[canons]], and hence their respective philosophical developments varied widely. |
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| − | ==Abrahamic views==
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| − | [[Image:Call_of_abraham.jpg|right|Call_of_abraham.jpg]]
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| − | The traditional perspective of adherents of the Abrahamic faiths is that there is indeed a common source and history for the world's religions, and borrowing which has produced a shared folklore, which is a kind of shared memory of the truth, partially obscured elsewhere, but preserved in Scripture by divine revelation. The view does not claim, as it may at first seem, that the pagans borrowed from Scripture; but rather the view is that Scripture directly confronts the history, folklore and religious perspectives of the surrounding peoples, contradicting its connection to idols, and in contrast re-orienting religion toward one God, creator, and ruler over all, who is described as an attentive actor in history. The constant refrain of these religions is, "remember".
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| − | This view has recently been challenged on multiple fronts, by modern scholarship, as partially described below.
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| − | ==Secular views==
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| − | [[Image:gilgamesh.jpg|right|"Gilgamesh"]]
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| − | Although not all agree on the reliability of [[Old Testament]] accounts of [[Abraham]], most scholars who use the term "Abrahamic Mythology" believe these belief systems originated four to five thousand years ago under the influence of earlier traditions — primarily [[Mesopotamian mythology|Chaldean mythology]] — and subsequently developed through interaction with contemporaneous religions such as [[Zoroastrianism]]. Many historians, comparative mythologists and archeologists came to hold this view towards the end of the 19th Century, as academia became increasingly secularized and non-Abrahamic analogues of the central stories came to light.
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| − | Typically, features of resemblance are pointed out between the ''Abrahamic'' traditions and those of far greater antiquity, in the effort to trace the borrowing and amendations that may have resulted in the Abrahamic stories. While there are obvious and striking similarities between, for example, the [[Sumerian mythology|Sumerian myth]] of [[Enuma Elish]] and the later Abrahamic stories of creation, and the cataclysmic flood in the 11th tablet of the [[epic poem]] [[The Epic of Gilgamesh]] and the [[Noahic Deluge]] of Abrahamic legend, there are also a number of other, finer points of similarity shared with other religions of Middle-East. On the basis of such numerous similarities, it is theorized that the Abrahamic myths either originated in Chaldean mythology itself, or at least borrowed heavily from it, as such similarities seem unlikely to have appeared by chance. [[Higher criticism|Higher critics]] in the academic mainstream have tended to incorporate some of these secular historical perspectives, including the point of view that the Bible, the [[Qur'an]] and [[Hadith]]s represent a tradition of mythology, which was originally based on some true historical events that were gradually [[supernaturalization|supernaturalized]], incorporating a mythical and allegorical character. Consequently, theologians who have adopted this perspective might argue that if the stories are to be seen as true, they should be judged true by other standards than those of modern historical science.
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| − | Abrahamic mythology as includes (but not limited to):
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| − | *[[Jewish mythology]]
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| − | *[[Christian mythology]]
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| − | *[[Islamic mythology]]
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| − | Closely related, but distinct from Abrahamic mythology are:
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| − | *[[Babylonian and Assyrian religion]]
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| − | *[[Babylonian mythology]]
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| − | *[[Egyptian mythology]]
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| − | *[[Habiru mythology]], the early [[Paganism]] of the ''Habiru'' (Hebrews) before converting to [[monotheism]]
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| − | Religions whose mythologies represent a blend of Abrahamic and Pagan myths or other sources include:
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| − | *[[Stregheria]] (a mixture of [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]], [[Roman mythology]], and [[Etruscan mythology]])
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| − | *[[Voodoo|Vodun]] (a mixture of [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] and [[African mythology]])
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| − | *[[Gnosticism|Gnostic mythology]] (largely a mixture of [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] mythology and [[Greek philosophy]], in particular [[Neoplatonism]])
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| − | ==Recent developments==
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| − | In recent times, modern [[historical method]] has been applied to the sacred texts. These efforts seek to discover whether aspects of the ancient stories can be shown to be historical by the standards of historical science. For example, a leading archaeologist [[Kenneth Kitchen]], who authored the work ''On the Reliability of the Old Testament'', offers the opinion that the patriarchal narratives of the Bible are historical, in contrast to myth (Kenneth A. Kitchen, The Patriarchal Age: Myth or History?, Biblical Archeological Review 21:02, Mar/Apr 1995). Prominent Yale archaeologist, Millar Burrows stated the following: "On the whole, however, archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record...Archaeology has in many cases refuted the views of modern critics." [http://www.greatcom.org/resources/know_why_you_believe/chap07/default.htm]. Apologists working from an historical perspective, offer evidence that archaeology greatly corroborates the Bible. [http://www.probe.org/content/view/31/77/][http://godisforus.com/information/bible/evidence/archaeology.htm]
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| − | [http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i1/speak.asp]
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| − | == See also ==
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| − | * [[Religion and mythology]]
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| − | * [[Enûma Elish]]
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| − | * [[Epic of Gilgamesh|The Epic of Gilgamesh]]
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| − | [[Category: General Reference]]
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| | [[Category: Religion]] | | [[Category: Religion]] |
