50 Great Myths About Religions

In the scholarly study of religion, myths are described as sacred stories that convey central religious beliefs and are not intended to be scrutinized for scientific or historic validity.  But in everyday language, myths are false beliefs. False beliefs about religions are the topic of this book. As with all areas of human life, religion is a realm where questionable ideas sometimes develop into widely held beliefs. Some are innocuous – such as St Patrick driving snakes out of Ireland – but others have been deadly, such as the medieval myths that fostered anti–Semitism. This lively and illuminating book looks at 50 widely held beliefs about religions, unpacking their origins, showing how they spread, and discussing why they can be questioned. Some of the myths are centuries old and others – for example, that Barak Obama is a Muslim – are more recent. Together, they provide a fascinating and sometimes surprising picture of the perceptions and misconceptions that circulate about religions. The authors , respected religion scholars John Morreall and Tamara Sonn, focus on myths from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but also cover some Western perceptions of Eastern religions, as well as atheism. Carefully and lucidly, they examine 50 views drawing on commonly held misbeliefs, ideas found to be questionable in the light of historical research, and false beliefs about religions held by people outside those communities. There is also a fascinating discussion of the important role played by myth in religion, and its significance for human nature more generally.

John Morreall is Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William & Mary, Virginia. His publications include Comedy, Tragedy, and Religion (1999, winner of the Choice Outstanding Academic Book in 2000), Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor (Wiley–Blackwell, 2009), and The Religion Toolkit: A Complete Guide to Studying Religion ( with Tamara Sonn, Wiley–Blackwell, 2011). Tamara Sonn is the William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Department of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary. Her books include Interpreting Islam: Bandali Jawzi′s Islamic Intellectual History (1996), Islam: A Brief History (2nd edition, Wiley–Blackwell, 2009), and The Religion Toolkit: A Complete Guide to Studying Religion (with John Morreall, Wiley–Blackwell, 2011). She is currently an editor of Oxford Islamic Studies Online and co–editor–in–chief of Wiley–Blackwell′s Religion Compass .