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Homework – due in
Critically compare the use of symbol with the use of analogy to express human understanding of God (35 marks)
MYTH
Religious Language
Mythical beasts
Myths communicate values, beliefs and truths What truths could your mythical beast reveal? What deeper significance could the story
communicate?
Myth
What is myth?
Muthos (Gk.) Originally referred to a word or speech or anything
delivered by word of mouth Came to mean a fictional story
MacQuarrie – booklets, p.16
Characteristics
of Myth
Dramaticand
Narrative
Evocative
Immediacy
Alogicality
Remoteness
in time and space
Community
Discussion
What is a fundamentalist?What is an atheist?How might fundamentalists and atheists be a
bit similar?
Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr believed that myth must be taken ‘seriously but not literally’
This is different from the fundamentalist view that religious language must be taken literally
It is also different from the atheist rejection of religion as ‘just a myth’
Fundamentalism and Atheism
Fundamentalists and atheists often share the idea that religious language must be taken literally and judged on that basis
Niebhur’s recommendation to take myth seriously but not literally opens up other possibilities
Rudolf Bultmann
A blind acceptance of New Testament mythology would be simply arbitrariness; to make such acceptance a
demand of faith would be to reduce faith to a work
Demythologizing the bible
The central message of Christianity:let go of self-centredness and open up to God’s grace
Existential interpretation
Myth worksheet
Fill in your line of the grid Include lots of detail about the possible existential
meaning of the story Justify your answer about whether someone can be a
Christian and reject the literal truth of the story – you could use p.17-18 in the booklet to help you do this
Fill in the rest of the grid based on the other groups’ feedback
Traditional Story Possible existential meaning
Can someone be a Christian and reject the literal truth of this story?
Creation(Genesis, chapters 1 to 2)
Fall(Genesis chapter 3)
Flood(Genesis chapters 6 to 9)
Virgin Birth(Luke 1:26-38)
Traditional Story Possible existential meaning
Can someone be a Christian and reject the literal truth of this story?
Incarnation(John 1:1-18)
Jesus’ miracles(Luke chapters 4 and 5)
Resurrection(Luke chapter 24)
Last Judgment(Matthew 25:31-46)
Evaluation of Bultmann
Strengths Weaknesses