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Comparitive Mythology Books
November 24, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Greetings all,
I've been looking for a good book on comparitive mythology. I was looking at one, called Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein, but was put off by the fact that it was kind of bare bones and in the end tried to justify irrational belief in myths.. I'm looking for a good source guide, not propaganda. I'm also not really looking for a Christ myth book, as interesting as those are, because I'm actually mostly interested in comparing the Semitic beliefs like Judaism to each other and to Indo-European myths.
Does anyone know a good book like that?
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RE: Comparitive Mythology Books
November 24, 2011 at 8:57 pm
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Comparitive Mythology Books
November 27, 2011 at 12:55 pm
(November 24, 2011 at 8:57 pm)Rhythm Wrote: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?u...ll&x=0&y=0
Thanks! His work looks very interesting.
I went on a wee shopping spree since a lot of stuff was on sale and picked up some cheap books, including one of his :
A Dictionary of World Mythology by Arthur Cotterell ; The Masks of God, Vol. 3: Occidental Mythology by Joseph Campbell, The Human Faces of God: What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong (and Why Inerrancy Tries to Hide It) by Thom Stark, and How Jesus Became Christian by Barrie Wilson.
These all look much more solid than books like The Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S, The World's 16 Crucified Saviors by Kersey Graves, and The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke. Those three books at least have very dubious scholarship, and often have a new-age like agenda to establish Christ as some mystical spirit being of Gnosticism or something. At least Robert M. Price is reliable for the Jesus Myth hypothesis, even though he concludes we have to be agnostic about the historicity of Jesus, not that he was for sure a myth.
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RE: Comparitive Mythology Books
November 27, 2011 at 1:14 pm
(This post was last modified: November 27, 2011 at 1:14 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Agnostic about the existence of a human being named Jesus, sure. Not so much about the mythical christ (and all of it's baggage), which is so ridiculous a notion as to be embarrassing to our entire species.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Comparitive Mythology Books
November 27, 2011 at 4:38 pm
(November 27, 2011 at 1:14 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Agnostic about the existence of a human being named Jesus, sure. Not so much about the mythical christ (and all of it's baggage), which is so ridiculous a notion as to be embarrassing to our entire species.
Yes, exactly. We can't know for sure that there was a Jewish rabbi named Yeshua, but the "Jesus Christ" of Christianity is surely a fabrication made by Paul and others. That's what the How Jesus Became a Christian book is about that I mentioned above. Bart Ehrman also has done some good work on separating Yeshua from Christ.
As I read these books, I'll be posting reviews of them on my blog (which is linked in my signature)
Any other good scholars of comparative religion/mythology besides Joseph Campbell?
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RE: Comparitive Mythology Books
November 27, 2011 at 4:54 pm
(This post was last modified: November 27, 2011 at 4:59 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
None that aren't standing directly in his shadow, lol. If you want some good reading on the judeo-christian god specifically, go with Karen Armstrong, A History of God.
Another one of my favorites is Jonathan Kirsch's God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism.
http://www.amazon.com/History-God-000-Ye...0345384563
http://www.amazon.com/God-Against-Gods-M...0670032867
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Comparitive Mythology Books
December 5, 2011 at 10:39 am
Awesome! I'm looking forward to reading A History of God, it looks like the kind of book I've been looking for.
~*~Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does ~*~
~*~Live a good life. If there are Gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are Gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no Gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones - Marcus Aurelius~*~
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