Myth, history and faith?

Anthony made a good comment about my last post. There was something he said in passing that got me thinking about the way I view the Bible.

"Myth" in the Bible... I believe there is a lot of myth in the Bible. That does not mean that I think the Bible is no good to us, just that a whole lot of stuff becomes more meaningful when we read it as myth. The nature of the story telling is more like mythology than it is history and we have to read it in that light. One commentator I read recently writing about Luke's account of the Christmas story said something like, "Luke is not writing history. He is writing theology in narrative form." If we depend on the New Testament to be historically correct we come across all sorts of dilemmas. In Luke's birth accounts to try and workout the dates when various people were in authority and a census was taken and to reconcile it with other historical data is very difficult. What I believe, is that when the Gospel writers wrote the gospels they are writing back into their story of Jesus the evolved faith of the Church... so much of what Jesus is reported to have said he may not have said. There are scholars (e.g. the Jesus Seminar) who try to work out the "historical Jesus" from the "Jesus of faith". These days I explore their writings and the writings if thinkers like Marcus Borg etc. I think many people who have chucked out the "faith" because of the difficulty of believing literally everything in scripture would find new freedom and meaning in such writers.

Anthony said... In the midst of his comment Anthony had these words... ""IF Jesus Christ really existed, and IF he was as described in the book and IF he is your role model..." and he goes on to make his really valid point. The first two "IF"s got me thinking. Does my faith have to depend on the fact of Jesus existence and upon the fact that if he existed he lived as is described in "the book"? (Now before all you good Christian people consign me to hell I do believe Jesus existed... then again does "hell" exist? I digress.) ... but to illustrate from an Old Testament story. I don't believe that God took some mud and made a man. I don't believe that he then took a rib from that man and fashioned a woman. (gorgeous creations though they be) I do not believe Adam and Eve and the crafty serpent existed. I don't think there was a naked couple who "walked in the garden" "ate the fruit" "clothed themselves with fig leaves" "hid from God" etc. These are mythological stories that describe truths about life, God and the relationships between all "this". Now even if I do not believe in their historicity, I can say I choose to live my life by the truth of that myth. That is my "faith", the deep truths that these stories point to.

In the same way, it is possible for someone to have real difficulty in believing that Jesus actually existed, but to still choose to say of the writings about him, "I will live by the deep truths these stories, this character point to... I believe those values, those insights and those purposes to be 'ultimate truth' (i.e. God)".

Now I don't quite fit into that category. I believe there was an historical Jesus. I believe that the Gospels give us insight into his historical life and teachings. But I do believe the gospels express truths about Jesus, God and the relationship between the two in mythological type stories and using mythological type picture language. In my living then, I choose to listen to the truths and testimony in the stories and to live by the deep truths and values they point to, without having to get too hung up about exact historical detail.

My old father-in-law was a minister. (though I did not always agree with his directions) I remember going for a walk with him at the time when Lloyd Geering, who was principal of a local theological college, was raising questions about the nature of the resurrection. (1970 ish) My Father-in-law said, "If someone could prove to me that there was absolute proof that there was no resurrection, I would still say of Jesus, 'My Lord and my God' " ... Well I think I would have to say something similar. If someone could prove that Jesus never existed, I would still say that the character in the stories, the truth and values he taught, the insights into the sacred the stories give, are worth living by, they would still make my life a better life, they would still make a real difference in the world... He would still be for me "My Lord and my God". (Both terms are pictures, metaphors anyway?)

Anyway, I am very much thinking aloud, sparked by the passing comments Anthony made... thanks Anthony. Probably I have offended a lot of good christian people... sorry. ...