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When does religion become mythology

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ikurwa89
 
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2010 07:33 pm
I'm curious to know, how does one know when a religion(set of beliefs) turn into mythology/folklore?

I've been thinking, in times of ancient egypt, the egyption believed in alot of God(s) and Goddess(s), but now when we look back at them we know for certain these are just myths..but if we lived back in those times, they were as real as people believing the abrahamic God?

Will one day the abrahamic God turn into mythology and the next generation will be faced to newer and more advanced God(s)?
 
Jebediah
 
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2010 07:53 pm
@ikurwa89,
I guess you could view it one of two ways.

Either it is mythology if it is false, in which case it never turns into mythology, it just is or is not. Or, they become mythology when they are not believed in literally. In which case, it is likely that one day the Abrahamic God will become mythological. It is mythological to most people already under this view.
 
prothero
 
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2010 10:44 pm
@ikurwa89,
ikurwa89;147281 wrote:
I'm curious to know, how does one know when a religion(set of beliefs) turn into mythology/folklore?

I've been thinking, in times of ancient egypt, the egyption believed in alot of God(s) and Goddess(s), but now when we look back at them we know for certain these are just myths..but if we lived back in those times, they were as real as people believing the abrahamic God?

Will one day the abrahamic God turn into mythology and the next generation will be faced to newer and more advanced God(s)?

The term "myth" has several meanings.
There is for instance the concept of myth in Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" where myths communicate deeper truths than the literal can convey.
There is the notion of myth as a false or untrue story.

In general myths are not meant to be historical or factual accountings or taken literally but they still convey values, meanings and truths of a culture or society. Most religions are mythological because they seek to convey truths that are beyond the realm of ordinary sense perception and experience. It is trying to interpret religons and their myths literally, historical and factually that is the mistake or that makes them seem irrational.
 
trismegisto
 
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2010 11:14 pm
@ikurwa89,
ikurwa89;147281 wrote:
I'm curious to know, how does one know when a religion(set of beliefs) turn into mythology/folklore?

I've been thinking, in times of ancient egypt, the egyption believed in alot of God(s) and Goddess(s), but now when we look back at them we know for certain these are just myths..but if we lived back in those times, they were as real as people believing the abrahamic God?

Will one day the abrahamic God turn into mythology and the next generation will be faced to newer and more advanced God(s)?


Usually it is the myths of cultures that turn into religions. All the religions people practice today are based on myths of dead cultures.
 
ikurwa89
 
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2010 11:52 pm
@ikurwa89,
Oh ok, thanks that cleared alot up Smile

cheers guys/girls xD
 
jack phil
 
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2010 10:48 am
@ikurwa89,
ikurwa89;147281 wrote:
I'm curious to know, how does one know when a religion(set of beliefs) turn into mythology/folklore?

I've been thinking, in times of ancient egypt, the egyption believed in alot of God(s) and Goddess(s), but now when we look back at them we know for certain these are just myths..but if we lived back in those times, they were as real as people believing the abrahamic God?

Will one day the abrahamic God turn into mythology and the next generation will be faced to newer and more advanced God(s)?


Well, the issue is tricky. There is a whole mythology hidden in language.

Take the crow, for example, which is named in similitude across various languages- and how its name is derived from the sound it makes- Kaw Kaw!!

It makes think of those Native American stories about how the leopard got its spots or whatever. And the whole point of it is to simply say that it is what it is.

I am not sure that qualifies as a myth, however- nor what is explained by calling it a myth, other than a pretense to not understand it. KAW KAW!!
 
 

 
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