Do you realize that there are four myths common to nearly every mythology on earth? The concept of sin and of the afterlife can be found in some form in every single mythology, from the Abrahamic mythologies commonly accepted today to the ancient Greek mythologies that were abandoned well before the time of Christ (Afterlife). Additionally, almost all mythologies have some kind of great flood (Flood Legends), and many have a dying god who returns to life (McCabe). Some would say that this is proof for one of these mythologies. They would say that one is true and the others have jumbled versions. I, however, take a different view. A commonality must exist, but it may be either of origin or of purpose. I believe that all mythologies stem from a single purpose – social control. The entire mythology grows around this purpose, with all aspects of it being pointed towards this in some manner.

The first and most obvious method of social control employed by mythologies and the organizations that grow around them is the concept of sin. While some mythologies, such as the Abrahamic mythologies, include long lists of sins in the holy stories and books themselves, in most cases the church or a similar organization, which rises to speak for the god or gods of the mythology, defines most sins. This allows the organization to change the list of sins as it wishes, in order to adapt to changing society or to stifle growing changes as it wishes. A modern example is the Catholic Church, which is against all forms of contraception. However, neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament (the holy books of the Catholic Church) has any specific mention of contraception (Bible). In many mythologies, some sins are worse than others. This allows selective forgiveness, as in the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church raised massive amounts of money for itself by allowing anyone with enough money to buy forgiveness for lesser sins. However, sin in general is said to be a horrible, often the worst thing possible to do, even the most arbitrary of them (Vatican).

While sins allow these organizations to dictate what should not be done, this alone isn’t enough to control society. A method for the control of individuals, as well as one for the control of groups, is necessary. The control of individuals is accomplished through the idea of an afterlife. As one of the most basic urges in any living person is to continue living, the idea of eternal life is a compelling one. But it’s clear to see that death cannot be circumvented – at least not yet. Instead, mythologies promise eternal life after death in some manner. Most claim multiple afterlives, with your destination depending on your behavior in life (Afterlife). The Abrahamic mythologies, for example, include both a positive afterlife and a negative afterlife. Those who have sinned will go to Hell to be tortured for eternity, while those who follow god will go to Heaven to be rewarded for eternity (Vatican). Other mythologies included a more neutral afterlife – the ancient Greeks, for example, believed in the Fields of Asphodel, where those who were neither evil enough for their negative afterlife, Tartarus, nor good enough for their positive afterlife, Elysium, would go. The Norse, on the other hand, believed in varying levels of their negative afterlife, Hel. Traitors, for example, would be punished more harshly than mere thieves. This idea has survived into the modern era in the concept of the nine circles of Hell, as outlined by Dante in his Divine Comedy. Even mythologies that don’t specify an afterlife but rather reincarnation have a method of control. In the Hindu mythology, sin in this life will determine your karma in the next (Afterlife). Thus, bad deeds in this life will be punished after life, while good deeds will be rewarded. And, as in the Abrahamic mythologies, what deeds are good and bad are defined by various organizations which spring up around the myths themselves.

The afterlife was created to control individuals, but it will always be certain that many won’t believe. A method to control groups would be needed as well, so that those who believed could control those who didn’t. If they believed that they too would be punished for the actions of the unfaithful, they would rein them in. So came the myth of a great flood which engulfed the world. Floods are a dangerous threat known throughout the world, which is why they were chosen so often. However, even other mythologies have similar legends – a Hawaiian legend of a volcanic eruption closely matches qualities of great flood myths found in other mythologies. Throughout the world, the great flood shares a few qualities that point to its purpose of influencing believers to control the unfaithful. The flood would engulf the entire world, killing nearly everyone, but for a few saved. Those saved were not saved by their own power, but by god or the gods, either directly or through a warning. Finally and most importantly, those who were saved were not the most innocent, but rather those held in the highest favor by god or the gods (Flood Legends). Thus, the actions of the unbelievers can bring punishment upon believers, which would cause them to try and control the unbelievers.

Another myth common to many different mythologies is that of the resurrected god. The most well known example today is that of Jesus Christ, part of the Christian mythology, but there are many others throughout the world. The Babylonian Tammuz, the Egyptian Osiris, the Greek Dionysus, the Hindu Vishnu, the Persian Mithras, the Buddha, and many others. This resurrection often comes as proof as the god’s power to disbelievers, as with Jesus, Tammuz, Dionysus, Vishnu, and Mithras, and is never merely the result of Death’s pity (as it occasionally is when a human returns to life, such as in the case of Odysseus) but always of that god’s power. In many cases, that god ascends to a greater divine power after their death, such as with Jesus, Tammuz, and Vishnu, and additionally leaves the mortal plane (McCabe). There is a reason for this common myth, and it has the same root as the myth of eternal life after death. Death is an insurmountable obstacle, so the seductive promise of eternal life must come after it. But the resurrection of god proves that his power exceeds death. His subsequent ascendance to heaven, however, makes proof of his continued existence unnecessary.

Many would say that these common threads are proof of one of these myths. The prevalence of the myth of a global flood, for example, is used to argue that a global flood must have occurred, and that therefore their mythology is the truth. There are several reasons that this is false. The first is that while there are commonalities between these myths, there are many differences as well. Jesus returned to life because of his power, but Osiris was healed by his mother, Isis. Both were betrayed by a close friend, Judas and Set respectively, but Judas betrayed Jesus to Rome in return for money (Bible), while Set slew Osiris himself out of jealousy. So although there are many similarities between the myths, there are significant differences as well, too great to be explained away as the ‘Telephone effect’ caused by the effects of oral tradition over many years and mistranslations through centuries. A second reason that the prevalence of common myths doesn’t argue for their truth is that they have sprung up in widely varying times and places. The Egyptians believed in Osiris’ resurrection millennia before Jesus was believed to be born, and the Chinese told stories of a flood long before the Jews came together as a people. A third and final reason arguing against the truth of any individual mythology is this: if there truly is an afterlife: a god truly was resurrected, there was once a flood that engulfed the world, and there are truly sins that can condemn me to eternal torment; how can anyone know which one is true? Adherents of each mythology would have you believe that theirs is the one which has survived unchanged, and that all others are warped by time, but there is no reason to believe that one is any less warped than the rest. If there is a true mythology, it has doubtless been lost.

Works Cited

"Afterlife." Wikipedia. 12 May 2013. Wikimedia Foundation. 17 May 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife>.

"Bible." BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages. 04 June 2013 <http://www.biblegateway.com/>.

"Flood Legends from Around the World." Flood Legends from Around the World. Northwest Creation Network, Encyclopedia of Creation Science. 17 May 2013 <http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html>.

McCabe, Joseph. "The Myth of the Resurrection." The Myth of the Resurrection. 17 May 2013 <http://2think.org/hundredsheep/bible/library/myth>.