Religious Language as Non-Cognitive and Mythical

Question 1

Religious language as myth

Answer 1

Jones, Cardinal and Hayward identify 3 senses in which the word myth can be applied to religious language:

1. A story that is not true but has some other value.
2. As a literary device that allows us to talk about things that are ineffable (beyond language).
3. As a method of interpreting ‘ultimate reality’.

Question 2

Advantages of myth

Answer 2

Bible stories become easier to accept, it also solves the problem that religious language is not scientifically significant and is therefore meaningless. Myths are metaphorical or symbolic meaning.

Question 3

Examples of myths

Answer 3

Creation myths- designed to convey the power of God/ valuable messages such as the responsible use of free will. Eg. the creation/fall.
Myths of good against evil- shows good will triumph over evil, life over death. A way to deal with the fear of the unknown. (Jesus’ resurrection).
Heroic myths- they help establish ethical and social values such as concern for justice and obedience to God. (david vs goliath)

Question 4

Rudolf Bultmann

Answer 4

Believed religious language should be seen as mythological. Things in the bible such as devils/angels and serpents can’t be taken literally. The bible was written in a pre-scientific era where myths were acceptable to convey meaning, now our world view has changed so we need to strip the bible of it’s myth (demythologise) of it’s myths to seek out the essential message.

Question 5

Examples of demythologising

Answer 5

Jesus’ resurrection, Bultmann claimed this myth’s aim at the time was to emphasise that the end of the world would happen. But in the modern world, this needs to be demythologised to give the true meaning that an individual can start afresh after they are baptised and become christian.

Question 6

Criticisms

Answer 6

Creation myths are no longer seen as scientific accounts so how do we choose between differing myths.
Interpreting religious stories as myths undermines their status, if Jesus was not resurrected, Mary was not a virgin, what is the point in Christianity?

Question 7

Further criticisms

Answer 7

Myths in the bible at the time had specific meaning at the time they were written but may have been lost over time as society has changed.
Different people could take different messages form the same myth, no way to tell which is correct.