Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 53:1 (Mar 2010)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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JETS 53:1 (March 2010) p. 151

Book Reviews

The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? By John N. Oswalt. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009, 195 pp., $17.99.

In his introduction to The Bible Among the Myths, John Oswalt indicates that the topic of this book has occupied his thoughts for decades. This fact is manifestly evident in his footnote citations, as a number of these books were published in the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time, Oswalt makes it clear that the subject matter in these books is just as relevant today as it was then. Subsequent to this seven page introduction, Oswalt goes directly to the main body of the book, which is divided into two major sections: (1) The Bible and Myth; and (2) The Bible and History.

Revelation, myth, and history are the main topics of this book, where they are nearly always treated on a grand scale. While Oswalt does deal with specific mythological materials, these treatments are always and only in service to his greater themes. That is, by any scholarly definition, the term “myth” cannot be applied to the Bible. One cannot divorce “fact” from “meaning,” and “contrary to the nineteenth and twentieth century delusion, science and logic are not self-evident” (p. 26). These points are all subsumed under the main point he makes. That is, “the Bible, essentially different from all other religious literature (except that derived from it), claims to be the result of God’s breaking in upon distinct persons and a distinct nation in unique, non-repeatable acts and words” (p. 194). Six decades ago, Bible scholars maintained that Israel’s religion was unique and stood in stark contrast to the religions of its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. According to Oswalt, the view that the Bible must be seen as having appropriated myths from its Near Eastern neighbors is the result of a shift in assumptions over the past five decades or so, and is not the result of new discoveries.

The book itself is divided into two main parts containing five chapters each. The first part, subtitled, “The Bible in Its World,” begins by defining myth. It then situates the creation and transmission of the Hebrew Bible within the context of its ancient Near Eastern historical and geographical contexts at a time and place in which “continuity thinking” prevailed. Continuity thinking was the natural result of humans reasoning backwards from the creation to the unseen. Under this view, the gods look, behave, and feel as humans do. By contrast, the essence of the Bible’s portrayal of reality is consistent with its transcendent vision of reality in which humankind has received revelation from outside of itself.

Having dealt with scholars who categorize the Bible as myth, Oswalt addresses those who claim the ...

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