Etiology Questions; Christianity and Judaism

Etiology Questions; Christianity and Judaism

The idea of etiology is the study of causation -- usually used to refer to the study of why things occur or the reasons behind certain stories, etc. Tracing the origin of stories, myth, parables, and legends is often helpful for archaeologists, sociologists, and religious scholars for it helps solidify and structure the historical ways people described and understood the universe. Understanding the way that the Torah, or the first books of the Bible were written, can be explained beyond etiology when one looks at the similarities between other cultures and building upon the beliefs of the Sumerian civilization. It is in the nature of humans to wonder about the unknown and search for answers. At the foundation of nearly every culture is a creation myth that explains how divine inspiration created the world, nature, and humanity. Within each culture, creation mythology provides the very basis of fundamental structure -- who are we? From where did we come? Why are we here? What is our purpose? Creation myths, in fact, influence the way cultures viewed themselves and their place in nature and with the divine.

In fact, myths from different cultures seem to tell the same story -- the nuances may be different, but overall themes are the same (Sproul, 1979).

Scholars like Joseph Campbell and Claude Levi-Strauss believed that myth is a mode of communication between generations, outside the temporal realm and, rather than referring to objective reality over time it may describe an abstract, conceptual or emotional reality. As it tries to describe the unknowable, which changes over time, it becomes a language of symbols, of metaphors, and a language of correspondence meant to communicate truths as opposed to references (Doty, 2000). This is particularly true in creation mythology, which is interesting in and of itself because of the amount of commonality cultures share. One difficulty, though, is answering the question; to what degree did the ancient cultures believe the creation myths as literal? Archaeological evidence does not always present the correct picture, only a partial picture -- what if 5,000 years from now, an archaeologist were to dig up a department store vignette from December in New York City? Would they say -- this culture worshiped a jolly older man in red who had flying reindeer? So, when we look at creation myths, we must ask if that is how the culture really saw creation, or if that culture represented creation in some way? (Bittarello, 2008; Campbell and Moyers, 1991).

Question 2 -- the Inquisition, also known as the Inquiry on Heretical Perversity began in the 12th century in Europe and was the Catholic Church's response to perceived heresy and disagreement with papal doctrine. Prior to this, the Church suppressed ideas it considered heretical, but did not use torture in a widespread manner. The process lasted several hundred years, and was justified because the Church needed to ensure that the whole of Christendom followed a singular view of doctrine…. "for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit"(Thomsett, 2010).

Some could certainly say that for part of the Church's history it was an institution designed to promote social order, uphold the Papacy and monarchies of Europe, and subjugate all other populations that might have a different viewpoint. Certainly, interpretations of the Crucifixion story held that a nation of Jews killed Christ, and how many people were killed in the name of God during the explorations of the New World?