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[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]]
[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]]
[[Image:Abraham-and-Melchizedek_lgr.jpg|right|"Abraham meeting Melchizedek"]]
[[Image:Abraham-and-Melchizedek_lgr.jpg|right|frame|"Abraham meeting Melchizedek"]]
'''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.
'''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.
[[Image:Call_of_abraham.jpg|right|Call_of_abraham.jpg]]
[[Image:Call_of_abraham.jpg|right|Call_of_abraham.jpg]]
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".
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".
This view has recently been challenged on multiple fronts, by modern scholarship, as partially described below.
This view has recently been challenged on multiple fronts, by modern scholarship, as partially described below.
==Secular views==
==Secular views==
[[Image:gilgamesh.jpg|right|"Gilgamesh"]]
[[Image:gilgamesh.jpg|right|frame|"Gilgamesh"]]
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.
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.
Closely related, but distinct from Abrahamic mythology are:
Closely related, but distinct from Abrahamic mythology are:
*[[Babylonian and Assyrian religion]]
*[[Babylonian and Assyrian religion]]