Sam Harris

http://www.eridu.co.uk/Author/Bookshop/Book3/book3.html

After reading When The Gods Came Down a few years ago, it took me quite a while to get over the belief that myth HAD to have some element of truth in it.  Turns out, it usually has nothing of the sort.

Alford's contention is that symbolism has ruled religious archetypes for millenia but many of us were/are stuck in literalist interpretations of events (great flood/Noah, Moses going up the mount, Jesus, et. al.).

Anyway, I thought his quote was quite revealing.

JL

Myth does have elements of truth in it.

Think of myths as if you could look into the mind of a man by gazing into his eyes and there you can watch the myths, fantasies and imagination of man play out much the same as you see fictional stories portrayed on television.

[quote author=“lawrence”]Myth does have elements of truth in it.

***
Not at all.  Myths are BELIEFS.  Sure, they’re anthromorphized a lot of the time, but they’re simply BELIEFS.

Think of myths as if you could look into the mind of a man by gazing into his eyes and there you can watch the myths, fantasies and imagination of man play out much the same as you see fictional stories portrayed on television.

***
Moses, Noah, Jesus, Mithra, Zeus, god, God, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Seth, et. al.  They’re ALL myths.  The only “basis in fact” is that meteorites were at the core of the BELIEF system of those who created these characters.

JL

Myths are myths, nothing more nothing less. religious belief systems are based on myth.

The elements of truth are the ones in which the human psyche reveals its needs

The elements of truth are the ones in which the human psyche reveals its needs

Right on.  Rather than saying that there is truth in myths, it is more accurate to say that we see it there.  In other words, it takes an idea to find an idea.  Some cultures are unmoved by our stories.

Of course, we must consider why certain stories endure.

[quote author=“child”]

Of course, we must consider why certain stories endure.

It seems to me that certain stories endure because they bring us to a common ground were most individuals can relate. Different cultures will have different stories. Brought up as a Christian I did not ‘see’ any value in Hindu thought. As a matter of fact I thought Hindu’s were pantheists which most are not. Now looking from a different perspective I can see that there are many things that appear to be ‘true’.