Slaying the dragon: mythmaking in the biblical tradition

Reviewed Book: Batto, Bernard F. Slaying the dragon: mythmaking in the biblical tradition. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992

Contributors

Contributors to Ethnic Studies Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, April 2003

Root and Neal\u27s The surprising imagination of C. S. Lewis (Book Review)

A review of Root, J. & Neal, M. (2015). The surprising imagination of C. S. Lewis. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. 270 pp. $34.99. ISBN 978142679510

Fact, fiction, and function: mythmaking and the social construction of ecstasy use.

Myths and folklore about drugs represent important aspects of users subcultures. This paper explores Ecstasy users' perceptions about drug folklore as it relates to the social relationships of drug user lifestyles. The data for the study were collected through in-depth interviews with 50 current or former Ecstasy users in Northern Ireland. The findings indicate that although some Ecstasy users perceive the folklore to be an accurate reflection of reality others report that social relatiojns among users change with continued usage, occur within selected venues, or are influenced by greater cultural relations that characterise mainstream society

Marry & Burn by Rachel Rose

Review of Rachel Rose\u27s Marry & Burn

Approaches to Teaching Tolkien\u27s The Lord of the Rings and Other Works (2015) edited by Leslie A. Donovan

Book review of Approaches to Teaching Tolkien\u27s The Lord of the Rings and Other Works (2015), edited by Leslie A. Donova

Book Learning

Four professors share their summer reading lists

Mythmaking and Social Formation in the Study of Early Christianity

Burton Mack has made a number of important contributions to the study of early Christianity. One of, if not the most significant of these contributions is his use of the analytical categories of mythmaking and social formation in his construction of a social theory of religion. The analysis of mythmaking and social formation in early Christianity brings a critical historical and sociological focus to the study of Christian origins by focusing on the literary aspects of ancient texts, and the social aspects of ancient people and groups, and the dialectical relationship between the two categories. This article reviews the uses and criticisms of the categories of mythmaking and social formation in the study of early Christianity: beginning with Mack's work on a social theory of religion and his seminal study of the Gospel of Mark (A Myth of Innocence), and moving on to studies that have both taken up and critiqued Mack's use of the terms