Mention the word MYTH and people get all freaky and many different ways. And you can get killed, burned at the stake, or just ostracized by mentioning the word MYTH with any Bible concepts. Well, here I go.
We need to demythologize the Bible in many ways. Etiology is the study of “causation“. What caused this or that to happen. More specifically, what’s the message, the point, of many Old Testament stories?
An etiological myth is a myth intended to explain a name or create a mythic history for a place or family. In Biblical criticism, etiologies give theological explanations or understandings for names or occurrences. Here are some examples.
Our forefathers, and I am talking thousands of years ago, had little understanding of the things that we do today (did you just come from the LRCHouston commentary?). Because of their limited “understanding” of many things, they wrote in “ways” that they could grasp what was going on and then we, today, need to pick the wheat of the concepts from the chaff.
I know, who wants to do that!
Can’t someone just tell me what to believe and let me do that?
Nope! That’s not really what your Spirit man wants. That’s just your stinking flesh looking for the wide road, the BIG gate. We comprehend so many things NOW they those who wrote centuries ago did not know; however, the principles (causes) still remain true, even if the FACTS are not there to support the premises.
1-There is no “heaven up there“.
2-There is no “hell down there“.
3-The moon is not a star!
4-Nor does the moon shine (two separate words there).
5-There are no pillars to shake the earth loose off.
But, those with spiritual ears-eyes knows how to gather the proper understanding, see the grains of wheat, and discover the causes-truths. We don’t have to go out into the world yelling about how the Bible is literal and how this (loving God?) will send you to hell for ETERNITY for not asking for forgiveness for some minute and finite crime (sin).
Our “witness” is much more credible when we allow the Bible to be so as well.