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Welcome to Comparative Mythology
Welcome to Comparative Mythology.
Why do so many peoples tell of a great flood, a hero who descends into the land of the dead, a god or goddess who dies and returns, a child born in a miraculous way? This course compares the sacred stories of the world, from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, India, China, Africa, Scandinavia, and the Americas, and asks what their similarities mean.
It also looks honestly at the Bible as part of this world of story. Many biblical stories share features with older myths of the ancient Near East, and some Christian beliefs and images echo those of the Greco-Roman world. You will learn which parallels scholars agree on, which popular claims are not supported by the evidence, and how Jews, Christians, and skeptics understand these connections.
A word about the word myth: in this course, myth does not mean a lie. It means a sacred story that tells a people who they are, how the world came to be, and how to live in it. Whether a myth is historically true is a separate question, and the people who hold a story sacred deserve respect.
How This Course Works
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite | None. Titles and degrees begin with ordination through the Ordination Orientation. |
| Pace | Self-paced. Most students finish in four to six weeks, studying about four to five hours a week. There are no deadlines. |
| Structure | Eight modules. Each module has a lesson, a reading assignment, and a ten-question quiz. |
| Book report | Read one of the books offered, pass its ten-question quiz, and write a one-paragraph summary, after Module 8. |
| Final exam | Fifteen multiple-choice questions and one essay of 1,500 to 2,000 words, taken after Module 8. |
| Credit | 3 credit hours toward further titles and degrees. |
Grading
| Part | To pass |
|---|---|
| Module quizzes (8) | Pass each with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Book report quiz (10 questions) | Pass with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Book report summary (one paragraph) | Approved by the school |
| Final exam, Part 1 (multiple choice) | Pass with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Final exam, Part 2 (one essay, 1,500 to 2,000 words) | Approved by the school |
Required texts
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
- A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong
- The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth, Wendy Doniger
Many of these books are available from public libraries, used bookstores, and as ebooks.
What you will study
Module 1: What Is Myth? Module 2: In the Beginning: Creation Myths Module 3: The Great Flood Module 4: Heroes and Heroines Module 5: Descent, Death, and Rebirth Module 6: Myth and the Bible Module 7: Why Myths Are Alike: Theories of Myth Module 8: Myth Today and in Ministry
Book report choices
A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong; The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
Academic honesty
All written work must be your own. You may quote and discuss the course readings and other sources, but you must say where the words and ideas came from. Submitting work written by someone else, including work generated entirely by AI tools, is not permitted.