Editing Christian mythology (section)

===Old Testament===
[[Image:Destruction of Leviathan.png|right|thumb|''Destruction of [[Leviathan]]''. 1865 engraving by [[Gustave Doré]]]]
Mythic patterns such as the primordial struggle between good and evil appear in passages throughout the [[Hebrew Bible]], including passages that describe historical events.<ref name="mcginn18-20">McGinn 18–20</ref> 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".<ref name="mcginn18-20"/>

[[Mircea Eliade]] argues that the imagery used in some parts of the Hebrew Bible reflects a "transfiguration of history into myth".<ref>Eliade, ''Cosmos and History'', 37</ref> 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.<ref name="Eliade, Cosmos and History, 38">Eliade, ''Cosmos and History'', 38</ref>

According to scholars including Neil Forsyth and [[John L. McKenzie]], the Old Testament incorporates stories, or fragments of stories, from extra-biblical mythology.<ref>Forsyth 9–10</ref><ref>McKenzie 56</ref> 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".<ref>Footnotes [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis6.htm#foot2 on Revelation 6:1–4] and [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis6.htm#foot2 on Revelation 6:2] in the New American Bible.</ref> The New American Bible also says that Psalm 93 alludes to "an ancient myth" in which God battles a personified Sea.<ref>[http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm93.htm#foot1 Footnote on Psalm 93] in the New American Bible</ref> Some scholars have identified the biblical creature [[Leviathan]] as a monster from [[Canaanite religion|Canaanite mythology]].<ref group="n">In a [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm29.htm#foot3 footnote on Psalm 29:3], the New American Bible identifies Leviathan as "the seven-headed sea monster of Canaanite mythology".</ref><ref group="n">Forsyth 65: "[In Job 26:5–14] Yahweh defeats the various enemies of the Canaanite myths, including Rahab, another name for the dragon Leviathan."</ref> According to [[Howard Schwartz]], "the myth of the [[Fallen angel|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".<ref name="Schwartz 108">Schwartz 108</ref>

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.<ref group="n">David and Margaret Leeming contrast the "structured, majestic, logical, somewhat demythologized" creation story in Genesis 1 with the "high-paced, capricious, ritualistic, magic-filled drama" of other Near Eastern creation myths (Leeming, ''A Dictionary of Creation Myths'', 113-14). They add, "One could […] say this story was written in reaction to creation myths of nearby cultures […] In other Near Eastern mythologies, the sun and moon are gods who have names and rule. '''P''' [i.e., the hypothesized "Priestly" textual source from which Genesis 1 is drawn] tells of their creation on the fourth day as simply luminaries without name or function except to keep time. […] While in the [[Enuma Elish]] the earth and its inhabitants are created almost haphazardly, as needed, [[Elohim]] creates with an unalterable plan in mind" (Leeming, ''A Dictionary of Creation Myths'', 116).</ref><ref group="n">John L. McKenzie calls Genesis 1 "a deliberate polemic against the [Near Eastern] creation myth. Polytheism is removed, and with it the [[theogony]] and the [[theomachy]] which are so vital in the Mesopotamian form of the myth. […] The act of creation is achieved in entire tranquility" (McKenzie 57).</ref> In connection with this interpretation, David and Margaret Leeming describe Genesis 1 as a "demythologized myth",<ref>Leeming, ''A Dictionary of Creation Myths'', 116; see also Leeming 115</ref> and John L. McKenzie asserts that the writer of Genesis 1 has "excised the mythical elements" from his creation story.<ref>McKenzie 57</ref>

Perhaps the most famous topic in the Bible that could possibly be connected with mythical origins<ref>{{cite book
| last1       = Ringgren
| first1      = Helmer
| title       = Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament
| chapter     = Yarad
| editor1-last     = Botterweck
| editor1-first    = G. Johannes
| editor2-last     = Ringgren
| editor2-first    = Helmer
| year       = 1990
| publisher  = Eerdmans
| isbn       =9780802823304
| chapter-url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=MCOd-uAEQy0C&pg=PA322 
}}</ref> is the topic of [[Heaven]] (or the sky) as the place where God (or angels, or the saints) resides,<ref>{{cite book
|last     = Pennington
|first    = Jonathan T.
|title    = Heaven and earth in the Gospel of Matthew
|publisher= Brill
|isbn    =978-9004162051
|year    = 2007
|url     = https://books.google.com/books?id=EGTaBJDQoD0C&q=ancient+Israelite+ideas+about+the+heavenly+realms&pg=PA42
}}</ref><ref>Psalms 68:5</ref><ref>Psalms 104:2-4</ref><ref>Psalms 29:10</ref><ref>Matthew 6:26. Greek original uses the word ''ουρανού'' (''ouranou'', like the Greek god of heavens, [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]]) to describe the birds, the same later to describe the Father. [http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/mat6.pdf Read here]</ref> with stories such as the ascension of Elijah (who disappeared in the sky),<ref>2 Kings 2:1–12</ref><ref>Sirach 48:9–10</ref> war of man with an angel, flying angels.<ref>Isaiah 6:1–8</ref><ref>Ezekiel 1:4–2:1</ref><ref>Genesis 22:1–18</ref><ref>Genesis 28:12</ref><ref>Exodus 25:20</ref> Even in the New Testament Paul the Apostle is said to ''have visited the third heaven'',<ref>{{cite book
| last1       = Lee
| first1      = Sang Meyng
| title       = The Cosmic Drama of Salvation
| year       = 2010
| publisher  = Mohr Siebeck
| isbn       =9783161503160
| url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=64p8Dmw8f-cC&pg=PA146 
}}</ref><ref>2 Cor 12:1-5</ref> and [[Jesus]] was portrayed in several books as going to return from [[Heaven]] on a cloud, in the same way he ascended thereto.<ref>Acts 1:1–11; Luke 24:50–51; Mark 13:26–27; Matthew 24:30–31; Mark 14:62; Luke 21:26–27; Matthew 26:64; Matthew 17:5–6; Mark 9:7–8; Luke 9:34–35; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 10:1; Revelation 11:12; Revelation 14:14–16</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} 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".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c2a6.htm |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - "He ascended ino heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father" |access-date=2020-03-15 |archive-date=2020-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309091650/http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c2a6.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Compare also with the [[Lord's Prayer]], a central prayer in Christianity.</ref>