History & the Bible
Dateline: March 21, 1999
Myths of History
Christians like to tell others about how their religion is a "historical religion," which is to say that they claim that their religion is historically factual, unlike other faiths. If Christianity has a reliable, verifiable historical basis, then that would weigh heavily in its favor. This is supposed to distinguish Christianity from other religions which are supposedly "only" based upon myths, like Hinduism.
But one question which we can reasonably raise is just how reliable our general historical knowledge actually is. After all, if what we commonly regard as "common knowledge" of history isn't true after all, then perhaps the same can be said of the purported history of Christianity. Richard Shenkman's book Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History addresses just that point, and brings home the fact that we definitely do not know as much as we think we do.
Another very closely related question, also well covered by Shenkman's book, is that of the development of myths. Many Christians like to claim that stories about Jesus and early Christians must be true because myths and legends could not possibly have developed so quickly. But reading about how often exactly that has happened in other situations demonstrates just how feeble that argument really is. The study of mythology reveals quite clearly that myths can develop very, very quickly.
The American "Wild West" is an excellent model since it produced larger than life heroes and villains who were rarely, if ever, quite as large as their press stories. Curiously, those myths about them circulated widely even as they were still alive and attempting to refute them. Unsurprisingly, most people were not very interested in hearing about the "truth" of what happened and were much more excited about the thrilling stories put out in dime novels. It simply isn't all that unusual for people to prefer a good story over a boring truth.
Both of the aforementioned issues are very important in any discussion about Christianity in particular or religion in general, and I am very happy to have found Shenkman's book. He begins with ancient history with the Trojan War and Socrates and proceeds on to World War II and Hollywood's portrayal of historical events. None of his work is especially theoretical - he doesn't much discuss how myths develop, why they develop, why people believe them, what functions they serve, etc. Instead he goes right to the heart of the issue: he examines what people have traditionally believed, tells us what's wrong with that, and then attempts to explain what is more likely true.
He doesn't really deal at all with American history, except insofar as American's have acted abroad. But he does have out three other books on myths in American history, and I can recommend them equally highly.
The book is made up of mainly short chapters - so it doesn't take too long to read and can in fact be read in short bursts - perfect for lunch breaks or during commutes. I wish I could go more in depth into what is in the book, but I don't think that I could without simply repeating all of the stories. Some sections, however, are especially interesting. In one case, he devotes three sections just to sex and how it has been treated through history. One of the most amusing facets of this was the development of pornography:
The Age of Reason was also an important era for pornography. It was in the eighteenth century that the masses were first exposed to the stuff. Nobody ever mentions it, but one of the first things people began reading once they learned how was pornography.
A related development was the invention of the newspaper sex advertisement. One advertisement in a London paper enticed couples to reactivate a dull sex life by renting a "celestial bed" in the "Temple of Hymen." Cost: fifty pounds a night.
The English may very well have been the first people on earth to advertise sex in the papers. But I've never once heard them take credit for this.
I think that you can also see one of the other things which I enjoyed a lot about this book: although it is dealing with a very serious subject, it doesn't get pedantic and doesn't take itself too seriously. Instead, most sections are written with a nice sense of humor lurking around the fringes.
Shenkman is also daring enough to include a section about religion, debunking common misconceptions about religion in general and Judaism and Christianity in particular. This somewhat daring because although people may be prepared to accept that what they thought they knew about Alexander the Great and Winston Churchill isn't entirely true, they aren't always ready to accept the same about Moses and Jesus. Truth be told, Shenkman doesn't reveal dramatic new scholarly information about religion - instead, he presents information which is essentially common knowledge among those genuinely familiar with the bible. However, I imagine that much the same can be said about most of the rest of the information in his book - but what is common knowledge among scholars can often come as a rude shock to the rest of us.
But perhaps his presentation of religion buried in among a myriad of other historical topics would be a good start for people without much familiarity or interest in religious scholarship - for example, young people.
What is the most interesting thing that I learned? That is a really difficult question - I love history and learned quite a few things from this book. Some of the most bizarre and perhaps most distressing information I learned was about Gandhi. If ever there was a good candidate for myth-making, his story is it. Like Jesus, everyone seems to have an impression of Gandhi as being as sweet, kind, but determined pacifist without a mean bone in his body. I, too, thought that - but have since been relieved of that notion through Shenkman's book.
Gandhi, for starters, had some very strange beliefs. When he was older, he preached that a couple should have sex only three of four times in their lives - although he engaged in a lot of sex when he was younger. He liked to sleep in the nude with naked young women to test his vow of chastity - apparently, sleeping nude with his wife wasn't much of a test. History doesn't record what she thought of this, but I can imagine *my wife having a few choice words to say about such a situation.
Speaking of his wife, she died when he refused to allow her to get life saving shot of penicillin after she contracted pneumonia. He was, you see, opposed to modern medicine. But not fanatically opposed, since after her death he allowed himself to be treated with quinine for his malaria and allowed his appendix to be removed by surgeons. Nice guy, huh?
There's a lot more, like the fact that he wasn't always the pacifist that he has been made out to be and his odd fascination for bowel movements - I'll spare you the details of that last one.
I can quickly and easily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history and/or mythology. I can almost guarantee that you will learn things in this book, and you'll certainly enjoy the learning with Shenkman's easy and witty writing style.
If you know of any good books which address this topic, please take the time to let others know about them either on the Bulletin Board or in the Chat Room. Share your experiences with others!
Other books by Shenkman:
Presidential Ambition: How the Presidents Gained Power, Kept Power, and Got Things Done
One-Night Stands With American History: Odd, Amusing, and Little-Known Incidents
Don't miss the other section:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Learning about the Bible
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