Agnostic Atheism? Your opinions..

[Whateverist]

To commence a study on mythology with a preconception of the magnitude that myth is the product of the imagination was his fatal mistake.

I'm afraid you may be interpreting his use of "imagination" to mean "stuff we just make up". The difference between that and what he means involves intention. He isn't saying that any one "made up" the gods or myths about the gods just to deceive people. It is more accurate to say that when one's imagination is unleashed, these common motifs just seem to arise everywhere.

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- but reason has its limits. Pascal came to this conclusion long ago when analyzing rationality.

I quite agree and thank you for such a thoughtful and thought provoking post.

Regarding absolute truth (knowledge). The only field of study which can possibly provide an absolute truth is mathematics.

If by knowledge we mean something like: objectively correct beliefs which we hold for conclusive reasons, then mathematics is probably the only place we really have any. Something like this is what we mean by the word "knowledge" but in our actual lives we settle for much, much less - by necessity of course. I teach algebra to middle school students and am fond of telling them that mathematics is the easiest kind of reasoning. Everything else is much, much harder. But I think that in mathematics we get a firm idea of what truth and validity really are so that we can judge realistically how far short we fall when we make claims about anything else.

Peterson, Gregory R. "Are Evolutionary/Cognitive Theories of Religion Relevant for Philosophy of Religion?" Journal of Religion and Science 45.3 (2010): 545-57. Academic Search Premier. Web. October 3, 2011

Thank you for these. Do you happen to know if they are available online? If not I can probably find them in the psychology or philosophy department libraries at our local university.