By Michael Sherlock ~ 1. Function of Myth Gerard Seghers, Christ and the Penitents, 17th century A ccording to Professor Vandiver’s definition, a myth will often serve one or more of the following functions. In the professor’s words: “Myths do many things. Among the most obvious functions that they fulfil is; myths often explain, justify, instruct, or warn.” (1) So, the various functions of myths are categorized as follows: Explanatory Myths Warning Myths Instructive Myths Justification Myths (2) Professor Vandiver sums up these functions, saying: “Explanatory myths are often called etiological myths . The word etiological comes from the Greek word ‘etion,’ which means ‘cause.’ Explanatory myths may explain why things are as they are, how certain events or entities came into being, why conditions in the world are the way they are….Another function that myths fulfil is to offer a justification for certain rites and social institutions…Myths that provide justific...

By Michael Sherlock ~ 4. Myths Are True. D iscussing this aspect of the definition of myth, Professor Vandiver says: They (myths) present themselves within the society in which they develop, as factual accounts of how things actually happened in the past. It would be very rare for any culture to recognise its own mythology as mythology. Myth is only a category when you are outside a culture looking in. From within any culture, myths are accounts of the way things really are. It is only when we step outside the culture and look in, that we can say; these stories are myths. (1) Such is the case not only with Christianity, but almost all religions, especially the Abrahamic ones, which have attempted to weave myth into the very fabric of history. Ask a true-believing Christian whether or not, they believe the Gospels describe real history and they may respond with any of the following remarks: …"historicity, however, should be determined not by what we think possi...

By Michael Sherlock ~ 1. Set in the (remote) Past W ith regards to this limb, Professor Vandiver says: “Myths are stories set in the past. Myths do not deal with what is happening today, or this week, or even last year, we don’t have myths about current time. Myths are set in the past, often in the very remote past.” (1) I think first, we need to establish what exactly constitutes the remote past, and what the likely purpose would be, for setting a myth in the remote past. The word, ‘remote’ as it relates to the term, ‘remote past,’ is defined by the World English Dictionary, as being: distant in time (2) This is a rather vague definition and doesn’t really help us define what Professor Vandiver meant, when she said; a myth is often set in the remote past. The etymological root of the word, remote, may be of more assistance. The English word, ‘remote’ stems from the Latin ‘remotus,’ being the past participle of the word, ‘remove.’ (3) So, the remote past is a...

By Michael Sherlock ~ Change Over Time Continued W e have, as a result of various socio-political factors, only four official sources for the myths surrounding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Four pseudepigraphical (falsely named) works called; The Gospel According to Mark, which the majority of modern scholars agree, was the earliest of the four (9) . The Gospel According to Matthew, The Gospel According to Luke, and The Gospel According to John. These are our primary sources for the myths surrounding the alleged life of Jesus Christ. Being this is the case, we need to examine the origins and development of these manuscripts, to ascertain whether or not the Christian myths have changed over time. How were the stories in these Gospels originally transmitted? Who told them? And where can we find evidence of change over time? These are the issues we need to address. According to Professor of New Testament Studies, Bart D. Ehrman , the Gospels were ...

By Michael Sherlock ~ T he purpose of this series of articles is to provide the reader with a cursory understanding of not only what constitutes myth, for the purposes of analysis, but of how the narratives which form the basis of the Christian religion, fit into this category we call myth. First of all, myth, as distinct from mythology, refers to the body of traditional tales told by a given culture, or religious group. Mythology, on the other hand, connotes the theoretical study of that body of traditional tales, or myths. Quite often these terms are used interchangeably, and thus have become conflated to such a degree that, one can use either term and be understood. To be perfectly accurate however, mythology, like any other ‘ology,’ refers to the study of, myth. This article will be employing the characteristics of myth, as laid out by one of the world’s foremost scholars of classical mythology and classical literature, Professor Elizabeth Vandiver . (1) In her lecture se...