My Inputs on Jesus Christ and Mythology Chapter 1

Introduction/My assumptions:

Whenever I first saw this book, my assumptions were pretty surface level since the title and back of it seemed very straight forward. It's called Jesus Christ and Mythology, and the back of it said that the book was about finding the deeper meaning behind the mythological concepts of the New Testament, so that's exactly what I assumed going. I guess something I assumed outside of what was given on the front and back is that Bultmann might go and compare Christ's mythologies to the Mythologies of other religions, but that didn't really come up much in chapter one. Maybe that's something that might come up later. Whenever I saw that Bultmann remained Christian throughout his life, I assumed he would still try and say that certain mythologies/mysteries of Christ literally happened. Even Christians (including myself) still like to believe that many of the stories told about Christ truly happened as written, especially the miracles. Bultmann seems to not believe any of that happened. Rather, he believes that all of the mythological stories of Christ were fabricated by the early church. This is my first time I've ever read or even heard of Rudolf Bultmann, and can already tell how bold he is in his theology.

Bultmann's Interpretations

The chapter begins with Bultmann writing about the second coming of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven coming is imminent, but early Christians merely waited in vain, something Bultmann claims can be seen all over the New Testament through impatience, anxiety, and uncertainty. One of the things Bultmann also makes clear is that the coming of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven is transient, not a linear part of history. I think this is an important distiction to make, as it's easy for us as humans to view the second coming of Christ and Heaven through how we view history- a literal, linear process that will be a grand event to be remembered for millenia. That's how us as humans currently try and understand it, because it's kind of all we know. But it's not necessarily a human thing, it's divine. It's transient through space and time; it's not and will never be history as we understand it. Another interpretation Bultmann claims is that Heaven is not a literal place, but rather is a state of mind, an acceptance of God into our lives. For Bultmann, the peace and encounter with God is heaven, and living in the moment with god's grace is what the eternal is. Eternity, heaven, hell, and ressurection are not seen as literal measurements of time, place, or state of the body, but rather are seen as the states of the mind and soul. To live eternally is to take every moment slowly and be in God's grace because when we slow down our lives to be in the present, that's what it feels like- an eternity. Heaven and Hell are not literal places according to Bultmann's theology, but rather are states of mind, dependent on if we have accepted God's grace. And the resurrection of Christ was not a literal event, according to Bultmann, but rather is symbolic of Christ's redeeming power. Bultmann also does not believe that the gospels were written by the disciples, but rather by later students of Paul. Due to this, Bultmann believes that most, if not all, of the accounts of Christ and his events and miracles were all fabricated by the early proto-orthodox church.

Common Interpretations

Bultmann's interpretation of Heaven and stories of Christ is pretty uncommon amongst Christians. Amongst agnostics, sure, but many Christians wouldn't even dare to think about every one of Christ's stories and depictions of heaven as purely metaphysical. Most Christians, including myself, believe that Heaven is a literal place that Christians will go to when they die. It's not only a reward for faith, but also a physical reunion with God and a spiritual cleansing. According to a finding from the Pew Research Center, 93% of Christians believe in Heaven. The idea of Heaven being a literal place is actually more prevalent in Christianity than Hell is (only 79% of Christians believe in Hell) (2). The fact that not as many Christians believe in Hell despite the fact it's also described as a literal place in the Bible is very telling. So nearly a quarter of Christians challenge the legitimacy of Hell as a real place, but only 8% do the same with Heaven? They're both described in great detail in the Bible. The only time I could really undestand the realitively big difference is if the question was asking where humans end up in the afterlife, since quite a few Christians believe that Hell was for Lucifer and his angels, not for human punishment, but whether or not that's the case depends on how the researchers conducting the survey asked the question. But either way, Christians have trouble questioning the legitimacy of there being a physical heaven. Another major interpretation Bultmann has is the belief that all of the stories of Christ are metaphorical, and were likely fabricated by the early church, based off of surrounding mythology. Yes, even the resurrection. For this interpretation, I went and asked Christian friends and followers on my social media story. One of them stated that Christ was a real figure who lived, died, and was ressurected for our sins. She believed everything in the New Testament about Christ's sayings, events, and miracles truly happened, only believing that the parts that were purely symbolic were the parables that Christ told. Another person stated that the stories of Christ are good guidelines on how we should live our lives, seeing Jesus as more of a role model to look up to rather than a force constantly dictating his life. These interpretations are usually what you'd find whenever you ask a Christian about how symbolic Christ is. There were also some others who replied to a different question I had asked for a later chapter. All of them also mentioned the basic premise that Christ lived, died, and was literally resurrected for our sins. This theology honestly seems to be the glue that holds denominations together under one religion. There seems to be an agreement with Bultmann that the stories and parts of the life of Christ as told in the Gospel are metaphorical, but there is a general disagreement in the general population on whether or not Christ's resurrection was purely symbolic. Shockingly, though, more Christians do not believe in the literal resurrection of Christ than one might think. (3) A study by the BBC found that around a quarter of Christians in the UK do not believe in a literal resurrection (4). Of Course, Reverend Dr Lorraine Cavanagh states that how the question was worded also plays a huge role in how the data played out. (4) However, overall most Christians believe that the resurrection was an event that truly happened as the Bible described. Now, about the sayings and events of Christ's life, that's where it gets a bit more complicated. Most laypersons and even many biblical scholars believe that the Gospels were eye-witness accounts written by the disciples. Many others, especially historians and plently of scholars disagree, however. There's quite a bit of evidence to support either argument, however for now I will just be focusing on how it affects biblical interpretation. In general, people who believe that the gospels are eye-witness testimonies believe everything as literal (except for the parables, obviously.) They believe the sayings ascribed to Christ were what he literally said at that moment, perfectly immortalized in text. Christians who don't believe the gospels were *direct* eye-witness testimonies believe that many parts of Christ's story and accounts of his miracles had lived on through word of mouth before being documented within the 1st and 2nd centuries. The stories definitely have truth to them, according to this belief, however they might have changed as it got spread via word of mouth before being written down. The most important thing believed to remain intact, however, are the teachings of Christ. This latter interpretation definitely has overlaps with Bultmann, but it still has many disagreements due to the fact it still believes in the mysticism of Christ.

My Own Interpretations

In my own interpretations, I believe that Heaven and Hell are literal places, I believe in the sinless life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and while I don't believe the Gospels are 100% eye-witness accounts, I do believe that the miracles and lessons of Christ lived on through word of mouth. (5) I think my theology is relatively simple in that regard. For Heaven and Hell, I believe that those who accept God into their lives go to Heaven, but I'm not too sure if I truly believe in an eternal Hell. I have two beliefs on that. One is that Christ will one day lift up all souls from Hell as he once did when he was dead for 3 days, resurrect them, and cleanse them to make them pure enough for heaven. The other interpretation I could believe in is that the wage of sin is a literal, true death, and that there's just no afterlife for those who do not repent for their sins. Their souls and bodies just cease to exist. No eternal heaven, no eternal damnation, just nothing. A physical and spiritual death. I am also an Abrahamist and believe that God sees anyone who worships him and has mercy on them, so as unorthodox as it is to say, I think Jewish people and Muslims also go to heaven since they devote their lives to worship the God of Abraham. Or, at least, that's what I pray for. There's also the interpretation that Christ died for everyone's sins, and that maybe those who did not believe in him here on Earth will get one last chance once they die and see him. I say so many interpretations of what happens after death because truthfully, I'm not sure. What I am sure of, though, is that Heaven and Hell are literal places and not just a metaphysical state of what happens when we accept God into our lives. I don't want to completely discredit Bultmann's argument, though. I think he has a point in that we can experience what heaven is like here on Earth by living in the present, and taking in the graces of God. We might not have the golden mansions, and life will still get us down, but I believe that we can still experience a taste of what Heaven will feel like mentally and emotionally by allowing God's grace into our lives. However, I think it's still problematic to not belief in any afterlife in Christian theology, as it defeats the purpose of Christ's death and resurrection (yes, even if it's 'only metaphorical' according to Bultmann). The issue with it is that there would have been no reason for Christ to have come down in the first place. If the wage of sin is death, then why would God send down his only begotten son to collectively cleanse us of our sins... just for us to still not have an afterlife. That's the part I do not understand so far. I believe that Christ had to be the sacrificial lamb and had to be pure in order to do so. That's why I still believe that Christ was truly sinless, was crucified, and then was resurrected. Do I believe that absolutely every miracle and event of Christ happened as told? No, not really. I think a few (though definitely not all) were symbolic. For example, I think the miracle of Christ healing the man who was born blind is more or less symbolic of what accepting God into your life does to you spiritually. (6) I do still believe many of the events still literally happened, though. The clearing of the temple (8), the last supper, the crucifixion, and a lot more.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed reading this chapter and wrote a lot more than I thought I would (yes all of this came from a 10 page chapter). I definitely have some issues with Bultmann's theology, but I'm also only on chapter one. There are also some very important things I did not touch up on like "demythologizing," but I'll definitely either reedit this to include that, or just include it in the next entry about chapter two. There is one important question Bultmann asks, and that is what the importance of teaching Christ's word is in the modern era, even as we demythologize him. That wasn't quite answered in this chapter, but I'm hoping it will be in the next.

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