Are religions morphs of their mythology?

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   Lady Guinevereposted 9 years ago

   Are religions morphs of their mythology?
   
   Certain religions come about and have absorbed some of the mythology prior to becoming a religion.  For instance I would like to know about the Roman Mythology and the Catholic religion and Greek mythology and the Greek Orthodox religion and so on and so forth.  If you have any other corrolations speak them here too. I do not have an asner to this one so I would like to be enlightened.

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2. 82

   Say Yes To Lifeposted 9 years ago

   The Bible is full of stories that can be seen as myths.  Examples:  in the Old Testament, many miracles are performed that cannot be done today, such as calling fire down from heaven, talking animals, and water flowing from rocks in the desert.  In the New Testament, Jesus takes on mega proportions, being able to heal the most atrocious diseases simply by touching the patient or even speaking the word.  Ultimately, He transcends His own death.  After ascending into heaven, He leaves His disciples with those same powers.  Yet, when we ask why no one has those powers today, lame excuses are given, such as people not having enough faith.  Instead, we have modern day medicines and surgery for cures; in fact, we have the knowledge to prevent a lot of those diseases in the first place.
   Hawaiians have myths to explain their world; so does the Japanese religion of Shinto.  All native religions do this.  I have come to believe religion is ancient science, designed to explain the unexplainable and how to best live in this world.  Yes, they're all man-made, so none are perfect, but they all hold validity.  Ultimately, it's up to mankind to solve its problems; we have yet for a Voice to boom out of the sky telling us everything.  So let's stop the fighting and share our opinions.

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      Lady Guinevereposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      My question has nothing to do with the Bible and I am not fighting. Water does come from rocks and mountain and that isn't a myth.  You did not answer my question at all.

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      Say Yes To Lifeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      LG - I did not mean to imply you were fighting. I just said that because a lot of people fight over religion. As for the Bible - I noticed you mentioned various denominations of Christianity, so I pointed out there are myths in the Bible as well.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 9 years ago

   The only difference between religion and mythology is that religion is mythology still in practice. It's a survival-of-the-fittest scenario: the religion that defeats and/or assimilates its competition, and can evolve over time, is the one that survives. Those that don't, get re-designated as mythology.

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      Lady Guinevereposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Tnx.  The question was more in the line of deities, life events or worship practices that were prior known as Myths that became the roots for those religions.

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   Michael-Milecposted 9 years ago

   Definitely, they are all man founded; spiritually short lived, subject to changes, ' an opium to peoples mind .)

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   Oztinatoposted 9 years ago

   Yes religions can morph or "evolve". Look at Buddhism and Hinduism, they started in India and changed into different cultural forms in Indonesia, China and Japan. As these religions spread they adopted the artistic and cultural expressions of the new societies they merged with.

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   MizBejabbersposted 9 years ago

   I say definitely "yes." Read the works of the Jewish scholar Zechariah Sitchin for the basis of religions, including Greek and Roman gods and Hebrews, Jews and Christians. His works are the best reference that I know of to fully answer your question. He translates the old Babylonian tablets for his information, so he has a basis for his opinions on how these religions originated. Many people don't like him because his findings shake up their "faith". I recommend starting with his condensed version, "Genesis Revisited", then if you want more, read his other six books. They are available on Amazon, they're inexpensive, and very enlightening.

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      Lady Guinevereposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks and I have read some of his books.  I read somewhere that the Catholic religion assimulated the gods of the pagans into the religion as the Saints.  That is what got me to ask this question.  I don't know if it is true or not.

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   2. 95

      MizBejabbersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know about the saints, but the Catholics did assimilate some of the dates and festivities of the pagans to attract converts, like the Spring Equinox, but don't tell them that. LOL

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7. 69

   Rod Marsdenposted 9 years ago

   Religions do change over time. Morph you might say to take on new situations. In Greece there's a Christian church dedicated to Saint George. Here we have Saint George slaying the dragon. The Catholic authority nowadays agrees that the dragon slaying was a myth. But why have Saint George slaying the dragon on one of the walls of this church? Well, underneath this church you have the remains of a structure dedicated to Hercules and the gods of Olympus. Here you have Hercules slaying the hydra. The hydra being something like a multi-headed dragon. Did Christianity long ago borrow a slice of ancient Greek mythology to help along Greek converts? Probably. The idea of a warrior saint also appealed to the English. And you do have a red dragon associated still with Wales.
   
   Before the Roman Empire decided to take on Christianity as the prime religion there was a similar, earlier experiment with the sun god Sol. It didn't work out but when the Roman Emperor of the day decided to try Christianity he allowed some aspects of Sol worship to become part of Christianity. The hallow for example. Celebrations of the seasons was such a part of Roman life as well as the life of Europe that to put a halt to it would cause a lot of trouble. Hence it was better to convert the holy days of the old worship to Christian holy days.

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   Old-Empresarioposted 9 years ago

   Hello Debra,
   Let's take the monotheistic religions. The Jewish testament and much of its entire religion is a conglomeration of religious practices and historical traditions taken from the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. Then some history and twists on this and that were added. Ultimately the whole thing ended up as an odd justification for owning piece of land between Phoenicia and Egypt. Christianity as we know it today relied on the Jewish testament as the backdrop for its so-called "New Covenant". The most important aspect of Judaism from which it draws its doctrine is in the stories about the prophets. Christianity itself, apart from the Jewish Testament, drew from elements of Confucius, Zoroaster, Mithras and, as you mentioned, Greek mythology. Last we have Islam. Islam is little more than a plagiarism of Judaism and Christianity mixed in with aspects of Arabic cultural traditions.

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