Mythology: A modern interpretation

I am an engineer. I have also spent five years studying theology. Now about 50 years later I ask myself, what did I learn during those years in seminary? The one thing that I finally grasped is the role of mythology in shaping society.

What is mythology? It is a story that society tells to itself to explain its raison d'être (reason for being). And what are the characteristics of the mythological story?

It is a story rooted in the society’s past history. It is not an individual tale, such as Aesop’s Fables told by an individual in a cave. It has widespread community support.

Since the story is supported by the community, it is retold and passed on to the children and its inheritors. In the retelling of the story it can be altered and reshaped to better embody the communities emerging values. The guiding principle of the evolution of the story is that it is used to inculcate values that are important to the group. If it ceases to do this, the mythical story may become obsolete and die.

The main purpose of the myth is to preserve and pass on the values that the group considers important. 

The story is enhanced by ritualistic acts that further strengthen the mythic story.

Why a story? Why not just logically explain the values being embraced? Often the story tries to explain the unexplainable. It tries to answer such questions as, How did life begin? Where are we headed? What happens after death? Mythical stories try to give an answer to these imponderables.
Finally, as Yuval Noah Harari explains in his book, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind”, the mythical story is the glue that holds larger societies together. More on this later.

So how does this apply to Christianity? 

In the Old Testament, the dominant myth is the story of the Exodus of the Jewish tribe as they came out of Egypt and their subsequent entrance into what is now present day Palestine. This story is accompanied by attendant miracles such as the Israel’s passage through the Red sea and the slaying of the first born of the Egyptians because they would not, in the words of Moses, “Let my people go”. The Jews escaped this retribution by painting their doors with blood, so that the angel of death “passed over” their houses. Jews today celebrate the ritual fast of the Passover’. And why is all of this important? Because it reminds the present day Israelites that God who redeemed them out of bondage in Egypt is still their redeemer God. He has bound them together as a peculiar people – and that is why they have a right to inhabit present day Israel, and will fight off any and all who oppose their presence there.

In the New Testament, the dominant myth is that of the resurrection of Jesus. As in all myths, this story is rooted in history. Jesus really lived. He was a remarkable wisdom teacher/healer in his day. He ran into conflict with the religious leaders in ancient Israel. He was then crucified by Roman state power with the acquiescence and encouragement of the Jewish leadership.

Out of the traumatic experience of his crucifixion, his followers came to the conclusion of his ongoing life and presence among them. No matter what one thinks of the resurrection story, it is clear that many of his followers believed in it. They proved their belief by going out into the Roman empire and preaching this story everywhere. And they were willing to die for this story. The Roman emperors at times lined the streets with crucified Christians. As the early Christians continued to spread this story, the incredible happened. The Christian movement emerged triumphant and the Roman empire declined.

So what was the value here? The resurrection story gave the people a sense of hope that the crumbling Roman empire could not give. Again it is the values imbedded in the story that are important and not the historical details (often exaggerated) of the story.

So this is how religious myths operate in Christianity. Now many secularists may think – yes that’s religion for you, full of mythical stories. However, we are all bound by our mythical stories, whether religious of secular.

Yuval Noah Harari, in his book “Sapiens” explains how myths have always been important for mankind. As emerging ‘homo sapiens’ developed, at some point they were able to develop “imaginary orders” (i.e. concepts that had no physical equivalent). These stories enabled large groups of people to have a sense of common purpose. Before this ‘cognitive revolution’ the only possible way to hold groups of people together was by personal experience and relationships with others. However, there are is a limit as to how many people we can know and trust (about 150 people?). It was this cognitive revolution that enabled groups to create fictive language and stories that made possible larger group cohesion and thence nation states and regional powers. It is even possible that this cognitive revolution was more important for mankind’s evolution than the technical discovery of tools.

Even in our modern era we still have operative myths that hold us together. Down south it is the American Declaration of Independence and here in Canada an operative myth may be our Charter and Rights and Freedoms. When we say that these are the mythical glues that hold us together, we mean simply that these concepts are ideas that we all hold and they maintain our common life together.

And that dear friends is the story of myths. Believe it or not, they have a hold on all of us.

Rebellious Seeker

Ottawa, 2107