Re: Huh?

On 7/24/12 12:23 PM, Sibyl Smirl wrote:
> On 7/24/12 11:57 AM, Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney wrote:
>> On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 8:23 AM, Kris Howell <aneerieangle@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>> Thank you all for your responses! I think my issue with calling SiaSL
>>>> christian mythology is the fact that no actual Biblical figures
>>>> appear in
>>>> the story. I agree that it uses Biblical themes. If the theme is
>>>> enough to
>>>> warrant its inclusion in christian mythology, then I'll go back to
>>>> the LJ
>>>> post and suggest Eifelheim by Michael Flynn as it includes the same
>>>> themes.
>>
>> Of course, if you include everything that uses Christian themes,
>> that'd encompass at least half of Western literature, right? :)
>
> The Archangel Michael is a Biblical figure, and he appears throughout
> the story, in the "incarnation" of Valentine Michael Smith. The
> Jehovah's Witnesses are extreme Biblical literalists, with some twists,
> and they suggest, though do not dogmatically state, that Jesus himself
> was the Archangel Michael (they don't believe that he's the Son of God,
> except in the same sense that Adam was, having no other father, but
> being directly created, and do not believe in the Trinity, with Jesus as
> God the Son and present at Creation.

A "myth", anthropologically speaking, is a story about God, or a god, or
the gods. Its truth or falsity has no bearing. Therefore, even though
"Stranger" is modern fiction, it could be myth, Christian, (well, duh,
it's clearly about Jesus) or otherwise.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/myth

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

myth audio (mth) KEY

NOUN:
1 A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with
supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental
type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the
natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of
society: the myth of Eros and Psyche; a creation myth.
Such stories considered as a group: the realm of myth.
2 A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person,
institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a
cultural ideal: a star whose fame turned her into a myth; the pioneer
myth of suburbia.
3 A fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology.
4 A fictitious story, person, or thing: "German artillery superiority
on the Western Front was a myth" (Leon Wolff).

ETYMOLOGY:
New Latin mthus, from Late Latin mthos, from Greek mthos


--

Sibyl Smirl
mailto:polycarpa3@ckt.net
Asperges me, Domine!