My Deconversion Story: Realizing the Bible is an Etiological Myth

One thing that began to strike me as I was deconverting from Christianity is how so much of the Bible made more sense as an etiological myth than as a historical account. An etiological myth is a story created to explain the origin or cause of something — such as a natural phenomenon, or a human custom. The word comes from the Greek aitia (αἰτία), meaning “cause,” and logos (λόγος), meaning “account” or “story.” So an etiological myth is literally a “story of causes.” Because humans are hardwired for cause and effect, when they didn't know the cause of something, they would often formulate a story to explain it. This helped early people make sense of the world and to orient themselves within it. Instead of explaining things through natural laws or biology, they explained them through narrative and the actions of a God. God served for them as a placeholder concept to account for the phenomena they observed in the universe. For them, it turned chaos into a narrative that could be passed down through their culture to immediately convey the thoughts and values they wanted to transmit. Through studying ancient people group's etiological myths we gain a great insight into their psychological needs at the time, what scientific questions were pressing to them, and what morals they wrestled with, as they strived to build their society. #deconstruction #atheist #exchristian #myth #mythology