Christian Dimension

Biblical Myths Teach…

By Joseph C. Neiman

Precisely because the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark and Jonas and the Whale are myths they are important. Marshall McLuhan, a currently popular scholar on communications, says: "For myth is the instant vision of a complex process that ordinarily extends over a long period."

A myth or a legend is a story that speaks about a reality that cannot be described adequately in precise words. For example, the story of Washington cutting down the cherry tree is a legend. Obviously it did not happen. But that is really beside the point and most people do not care if it really happened or not. Mothers tell this story to their children not to lie about historical facts but to say something about being honest, about facing up to the results of one’s deeds.

After telling the story about Washington and the cherry tree it isn’t even necessary for the mother to give a lengthy interpretation of what it means. The child can do that readily. He grasps the reality of honesty without a long philosophical and scientific speech. In fact, if the mother spends a great deal of time and effort explaining the story, she ruins the effect of the legend. It speaks for itself.

Similarly with the biblical myths. If we can shed out fixation as to whether or not the Garden existed or the whale swallowed Jonas, we can let the biblical myth speak to our hearts involving us intimately in the story and dramatically portraying to us the eternal message involved in the myth. In other word, if we speak to us in the mythical story, if we would see ourselves in it and seek to understand what God is saying to us thru this story, our faith can grow.

Even the historical books of the Bible like the Judges have mythical aspects to them. There were many judges but only certain judges are spoken of in detail and if you read the accounts of the judges, they are all basically alike in their outline. The author was not seeking to give an historical account of the judges, but to teach us something about how God works with man—through human leaders like the judges.

Out of the religious sphere, we Americans have many myths which we keep going: Santa Clause, the Good Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving, Washington and the cherry tree, Lincoln and books at the fireside and so forth. We can tell them every year in one way or another as long as the basic message remains intact.

Thus, much of the Bible – certainly not all! – Is myth and it really doesn’t matter because the important thin is that the biblical stories and accounts are a mirror inspired by God into which we can look for understandings of our present lives, our present relationship with God. If it were not for the mythical quality of much of the Bible, why read it? It is precisely because it is mythical that it can say something to us today, that it can span time and many lands. Biblical myths speak to man in any age and any land. The measurements of the Ark of the whale do not!

Osceola County Herald-Thursday, June 29, 1967