Chapter Summary: The Bible Among the Myths

Introduction Oswalt first learned about the issues in “The Bible Among the Myths” while taking a class taught by Dennis Kinlaw at Asbury Theological Seminary. His interest in the subject has grown since with graduate study and his own classes which he taught. William F. Albright, his students, and G. Ernest Wright led the rethinking of the evolutionary paradigm within the philosophy of Idealism. Although they believed the differences between the ways the Israelites thought and their neighbor’s thoughts of reality caused no evolutionary explanation to show, today it is found that Israelite faith can be explained by evolutionary change. Scholars today say that it is no longer about the differences between the two, but more about the similarities. Oswalt believed this was due to previous theological and philosophical convictions and not a change in data. From the 1950’s on, this change became hard for people to accept because it meant that we did not have control of our lives, and could not fend for ourselves. Wright believed that the similarities between Israel and her neighbors are “accidentals”. He and others believed that while there were similarities, they were not important. Oswalt gives the example of both groups worshiping in temples, but the Israelites not having idols in their temple. The major difference between the two is how the God or gods is identified. The surrounding areas of Israel know gods through nature, while Israel knows God through man and their experience with Him. The truthfulness of scripture is challenged today but skeptical people who present the question, “Did the things presented in the Old Testament really occur?” If scripture is written by man, can we trust it to be true? This also raises the issue of how this theology came to be within the Israelites if it is false. When asked this question, they say they did not make up this theology, but that it was given to them by God himself. He gave them the understanding