Advocatus Atheist

In literary criticism there is an entire field of study devoted to archetypal literary criticism . This branch of study focuses on the parallels between the various myths, pointing out such things as common mythemes and things like the hero archetype which are present in many of the ancient stories of myth and religion. Usually, when introducing people to this subject matter for the first time, I like to mention the Raglan scale as a good starting place when discussing the subject of comparative myth and legend and historical figures. The Raglan scale lists 22 basic traits that most mythical and legendary figures typically share. If a figure from antiquity shares many of the traits with other well known myths, then they are more likely to be legendary in nature. Likewise, if they share relatively few of the traits then they are probably more or less historical. The Raglan scale follows as such: 1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin; 2. His father is a king, ...

Jesus the Corn King: Examining the Parallels between Jesus and Dionysus “BEHOLD, God’s Son is come unto this land Of heaven’s hot splendour lit to life, when she Of Thebes, even I, Dionysus, whom the brand Who bore me, Cadmus’ daughter Semelê, Died here. So, changed in shape from God to man…” – Euripides ( The Bacchae ) According to the biblical scholar and historian Dennis MacDonald there are extensive connections between the Gospel stories found in the New Testament and the Greek myths and legends of old. In fact, MacDonald has gone further than anyone by showing that these links are more than just mere parallels but has shown, in many instances, these links to be exact copies of Greek phrases lifted right out of the Iliad and Odyssey. [1] If these borrowings are undeniable, as MacDonald contends they are, then what about other parallels and similarities to the ancient Greek stories and the New Testament? Shouldn’t these exist as well? I cont...

I have always had a difficult time explaining to Christians all the numerous reasons why I have come to detest the Bible and its teachings contained therein. Of the the Bible's contemptible teachings one of the worst is that of it's defense (and in many cases indifference) of slavery.  Many Christians claim that I have read or interpreted the Bible incorrectly. I usually get so frustrated by their hardheadedness and tactless comments that I preemptively end the conversation. Call me "sensitive," whatever, but I out right refuse to have a "serious" discussion with anyone who would defend something as horrible as slavery based on nothing more than the feeling that I am mistaken without giving it any further consideration.  I don't like being talked down to in such a condescending manner--as if I couldn't read or comprehend the book I studied for three long  decades . As if having two college degrees has somehow made me too sop...

Hung Up on Sin The concept of sin can be broken into two parts. Because many Christians believe God and the Bible are sources of all moral authority, they’ve proceeded to set barely conceivable and quite nearly impossible standards for what it means to sin because they believe in the metaphysical nature of sin—namely anything which is a transgression of God’s perfect law—which itself is subject to interpretation—therefore a “sin” becomes anything which the Christian sees as morally reprehensible within the religious context. Therefore the first part of sin require a metaphysical presumption on the behalf of the believer about what God’s moral law actually implies and also what constitutes a breaking or transgression of that law. However, this is obviously a stretch of the imagination, since to presume to know God’s mind is presumptuous to say the least. The other part, the second half of sin, is the application of the metaphysical hypothesis as applied to our daily li...