The truth of myth

When most people hear the word “myth”, they usually think of a story that resembles a fairy tale, a story that is obviously NOT true…they may even dismiss it as being ridiculous. However, throughout human history, every culture and people-group has told stories about itself and the world. For example, many westerners tell their story as being a passage from religion to reason, from a primitive time when their civilization believed in God and his chosen rulers on earth (monarchs) to the (better) modern period of secularism and liberal democracy. But whether we’re telling the story of progress from superstition to enlightenment or the (more traditional) story of salvation, beginning with the creation of the world to the appearance of sin in the human race to the creation of a new world through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth – we’re still telling stories.

     Regardless of whether or not we have religious beliefs, it remains the case that most people make sense of life and the world they live in by telling stories. There is another name for these stories that explain why the world is the way it is - “myth”. So, we should not dismiss myths as being silly things, fit only for children. On the contrary, myths wrestle with the biggest questions that humans can ask – Who are we? Where are we? What’s wrong with the world? What’s the solution? The answers that any culture gives to these questions together form the mythology of that people. Myths cannot be submitted to scientific scrutiny, and perhaps that is why many modern people are not comfortable with them. Science can tell us a lot about HOW the world works, but it doesn’t have much to say about WHY the world is the way it is. When one wants an answer to the Why question, one must turn to philosophers, theologians and myth-makers. So, which story helps you make sense of this mysterious world in which we live?