Two Meanings of “Myth”
This book was inspired by another Wiley Blackwell book, 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology by Scott Lilienfeld et al. (2010), in which “myth” means a widespread belief that is not well supported by evidence. Some of our myths are like that, such as the beliefs that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, and that Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem on December 25. But we also count as myths common beliefs that are questionable for other reasons, such as that they conflict with the teachings of the religions of the believers. Some Muslims (and countless non-Muslims), for example, believe that the Qur’an promises suicide bombers 72 heavenly virgins. In the Qur’an, however, both suicide and terrorism are condemned as grave sins. Many Christians believe that Satan and his devils torture humans in hell, but that actually conflicts with basic Christian teachings. When we call something a “myth,” then, our meaning is close to the dictionary definition for “misbelief”: a myth is a wrong, false, or unorthodox belief or opinion, especially in religion.
There is a second meaning of “myth” that we should mention, because it is important in the academic field of Religious Studies. When scholars of religion talk about “myths,” they generally mean traditional stories that explain important aspects of life, such as where we came from, why we’re here, who our heroes are and what makes them special, and how we should live. A good example is the story in Genesis about Adam and Eve disobeying God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then being cast out of the Garden by God. This description of the origin of evil, and stories like it, are often characterized by extraordinary and even supernatural events, and some people believe they are literally true – true in the same way that a traffic report or a medical diagnosis is true. They believe the stories are accurate representations of things that really happened. But many scholars believe that such myths are not to be judged on the basis of historic or scientific accuracy. In fact, these stories generally developed before modern criteria of historical and scientific accuracy. They are often about things in the deep recesses of prehistory, and sometimes about things in the far distant future. As such, they are beyond the realms of history and science. But we cherish them anyway because they help us understand who we are and answer some of the most pressing questions in life, including why bad things happen, who can be trusted, and what might happen next.
As we listen to stories like Adam and Eve in the Garden, we sometimes get a sense that we are in touch with higher reality. We are in the realm of the transcendent, a realm beyond the frailties and limitations that characterize everyday reality. Myths of this kind are commonly transmitted in religions, so much so that many scholars include myths as essential components of religions. Another example of this kind of myth is the Creation Story in the Bible and the Qur’an. According to that story, a single almighty personal God created the earth and everything upon it in just a few days, and provided all that was needed for his most cherished creatures, human beings. Stories like this provide a measure of assurance that things are basically as they should be and there is a reason for us to carry on, even in the most difficult circumstances.
When viewed from this perspective, myths in religion – in their own unique way – can be considered true. They provide context, continuity, and comfort for the communities who share them. They are thus true for the people who believe them. The fourth-century Roman historian Sallustius spoke from this perspective when he said, “Myths are things that never happened but always are” (Sallustius, 1996). Joseph Campbell, among the twentieth century’s best known mythologists, called myths “the womb of mankind’s initiation into life and death” (1969: 12). The University of Chicago’s Wendy Doniger (1998) presents myths as imaginative expressions of universal human experiences, which allow us to communicate across cultures. British scholar Karen Armstrong (2005: 4) stresses the sacred aspect of myth, saying that myths speak “of another plane that exists alongside our own world, and that in some sense supports it. Belief in this invisible but more powerful reality, sometimes called the world of the gods, is a basic theme of mythology.” For scholars such as these, myths are very much like what Pablo Picasso said about art: “a lie which makes us realize truth” (Borofsy, 1923).
Other scholars caution against such a romantic view of myth. The University of Chicago’s Bruce Lincoln (2000: 147) describes myths as “ideology in narrative form.” As such, like any other ideology, myths establish identity and distinguish “us” from “them.” They also establish and legitimatize a group’s internal order. Lincoln is primarily concerned with myths that have condoned and even encouraged exclusivist identities of the type that devalue other groups, such as those promoting Europe’s anti-Semitism. Far from the comfort of sacred planes, the myths discussed by Lincoln have profound – and sometimes disastrous – practical implications.
Writers such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins also advocate a critical approach to religious myths. They are concerned that too many people can’t tell the difference between the “special” or “sacred” kind of truth conveyed in the imaginative stories of mythology, and ordinary truth like that found in newspapers. Too many people can’t distinguish between transcendent myth and literal truth. They fail to recognize the importance of verifying truth claims instead of blindly accepting them on the basis of unaccountable authority. Again, that can lead to serious problems in real life. Take the example of the creation story. It is one thing to find in it assurance that life has a purpose and a goal, but quite another to insist that this story is literally true and that any science that demonstrates otherwise, such as the theory of evolution, must therefore be dismissed as an attack on a higher, unquestionable authority. Yet that seems to be what is happening. A 2012 Gallup Poll indicates that 46% of Americans believe that the description of creation in Genesis is literally true. This figure represents an increase of 2% from 1982, no doubt reflecting a tendency to teach “creationism” instead of – or as a suitable alternative to – science. In 2013, The New York Times reported that a survey of more than 900 biology teachers in the United States revealed that nearly 13% teach various forms of the creation story as “valid scientific alternatives to Darwinian evolutionary theory” (Rich, 2013) – this despite a US Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the teaching of “creation myths” as science (Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 US 578, [1987]). Similarly, the spread of creationism in Europe prompted the Parliament of the Council of Europe to pass a resolution in 2007 entitled “The Dangers of Creationism in Education.” The resolution warns that denying the science behind the theory of evolution in favor of unquestioning belief in a particular group’s creation myth could undermine the research necessary to deal with the major challenges facing humanity today, such as epidemic disease and environmental disasters.
We recognize and respect the scholarly notion of myths as stories conveying transcendent truths – truths immune from the rigors of scientific method. But for the purposes of this book, we use the skeptical view of myths: widely believed claims that are not well supported by historic or scientific evidence. Our emphasis will be on the major traditions of the West – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But we will include some stories about smaller Western traditions, as well as some Western myths about Eastern traditions. We will also discuss some common misbeliefs about people who lack religious beliefs – atheists and agnostics.
Where Do Myths Come From?
There are several things about human beings that predispose them to create and circulate myths like the ones in this book. We’ll suggest eight. The first, and most flattering to our human self-image, is that, as the ancient philosopher Aristotle said, we are rational animals. We are constantly trying to understand the world around us and make sense of what we experience. We want to know why some people are allies and others enemies, how we can be successful, why we failed, and countless other things.
In trying to understand the world, we look for similarities between current experiences and past experiences. We link new things to what we already know, thus creating concepts of types of things, as when we classify a new acquaintance as “a student” or “a Muslim.” In thinking this way, we naturally create generalizations about all or most members of a group, based on a certain feature that some members of that group may have. If we have had a negative encounter with someone, for example, we often form a negative stereotype of all members of whatever group that individual represents to us.
A second feature of human beings that leads us to create myths is that we are social animals. We are born into groups and are nurtured by them. Our family and community are the initial source of our safety and security. We must therefore be able to identify our own group and learn to live in harmony with them, and be able to distinguish between them and those who might be a threat to us. Early humans lived in tribes, as many still do. Getting along wi...
