page_title: Christian mythology
section_title: Old Testament
hierarchical_section_title: Christian mythology / The Bible / Old Testament
caption_attribution_description: Български: Убиването на Левиатан Čeština: Zničení Leviatana Deutsch: Die Vernichtung des Leviathan Dansk: Tilintegørelsen af Leviathan. Fra Esajas bog 27:1. English: Destruction of Leviathan Español: La destrucción de Leviatán Suomi: Leviatanin tuho Français&#160;: Destruction du Léviathan Italiano: Distruzione di Leviatano 日本語: ギュスターヴ・ドレ製作の彫刻画 Македонски: "Уништувањето на Левијатан". Резбата го претставува Господ како го убива легендарното морско чудовиште Левијатан. Português: A Destruição de Leviatã Русский: Убийство Левиафана Slovenčina: Zničenie Leviatana Svenska: "Leviatans förgörelse". I bilden slaktar Gud det legendariska sjöodjuret, ett motiv konstnären hämtat från Jesaja 27:1. Български: Гравюра от Густав Доре, 1865 г. Čeština: rytina Gustave Doré z roku 1865 Deutsch: Gravur von Gustave Doré, 1865 English: 1865 engraving by Gustave Doré. Español: un grabado hecho en 1865 por Gustave Doré. Français&#160;: gravure de Gustave Doré 1865 Suomi: Gustave Dorén puupiirros vuodelta 1865. Italiano: Incisione del 1865 di Gustave Doré. 日本語: ギュスターヴ・ドレ 1865 Македонски: резба направена во 1865 од страна на Густав Доре Português: gravura de Gustave Doré (1865) Slovenčina: rytina Gustave Doré z roku 1865 Svenska: gravyr av Gustave Doré från 1865
context_page_description: Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and stories, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christian literature, including recurring myths such as ascending to a mountain, the axis mundi, myths of combat, descent into the Underworld, accounts of a dying-and-rising god, flood stories, stories about the founding of a tribe or city, and myths about great heroes of the past, paradises, and self-sacrifice.
  Various authors have also used it to refer to other mythological and allegorical elements found in the Bible, such as the story of the Leviathan. The term has been applied to myths and legends from the Middle Ages, such as the story of Saint George and the Dragon, the stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and the legends of the Parsival. Multiple commentators have classified John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost as a work of Christian mythology. The term has also been applied to modern stories revolving around Christian themes and motifs, such as the writings of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R.
context_section_description: Mythic patterns such as the primordial struggle between good and evil appear in passages throughout the Hebrew Bible, including passages that describe historical events. A distinctive characteristic of the Hebrew Bible is the reinterpretation of myth on the basis of history, as in the Book of Daniel, a record of the experience of the Jews of the Second Temple period under foreign rule, presented as a prophecy of future events and expressed in terms of "mythic structures" with "the Hellenistic kingdom figured as a terrifying monster that cannot but recall [the Near Eastern pagan myth of] the dragon of chaos".
  Mircea Eliade argues that the imagery used in some parts of the Hebrew Bible reflects a "transfiguration of history into myth". For example, Eliade says, the portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar as a dragon in Jeremiah 51:34 is a case in which the Hebrews "interpreted contemporary events by means of the very ancient cosmogonico-heroic myth" of a battle between a hero and a dragon.
  According to scholars including Neil Forsyth and John L. McKenzie, the Old Testament incorporates stories, or fragments of stories, from extra-biblical mythology. According to the New American Bible, a Catholic Bible translation produced by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, the story of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1-4 "is apparently a fragment of an old legend that had borrowed much from ancient mythology", and the "sons of God" mentioned in that passage are "celestial beings of mythology". The New American Bible also says that Psalm 93 alludes to "an ancient myth" in which God battles a personified Sea. Some scholars have identified the biblical creature Leviathan as a monster from Canaanite mythology. According to Howard Schwartz, "the myth of the fall of Lucifer" existed in fragmentary form in Isaiah 14:12 and other ancient Jewish literature; Schwartz claims that the myth originated from "the ancient Canaanite myth of Athtar, who attempted to rule the throne of Ba'al, but was forced to descend and rule the underworld instead".
  Some scholars have argued that the calm, orderly, monotheistic creation story in Genesis 1 can be interpreted as a reaction against the creation myths of other Near Eastern cultures. In connection with this interpretation, David and Margaret Leeming describe Genesis 1 as a "demythologized myth", and John L. McKenzie asserts that the writer of Genesis 1 has "excised the mythical elements" from his creation story.
  Perhaps the most famous topic in the Bible that could possibly be connected with mythical origins is the topic of Heaven (or the sky) as the place where God (or angels, or the saints) resides, with stories such as the ascension of Elijah (who disappeared in the sky), war of man with an angel, flying angels. Even in the New Testament Paul the Apostle is said to have visited the third heaven, and Jesus was portrayed in several books as going to return from Heaven on a cloud, in the same way he ascended thereto. The official text repeated by the attendees during Roman Catholic mass (the Apostles' Creed) contains the words "He ascended into Heaven, and is Seated at the Right Hand of God, The Father. From thence He will come again to judge the living and the dead". Medieval cosmology adapted its view of the Cosmos to conform with these scriptures, in the concept of celestial spheres.
caption: Destruction of Leviathan. 1865 engraving by Gustave Doré
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