Demythologization

Demythologization as a hermeneutic approach to religious texts seeks to separate or recover cosmological, sociological and historic claims from philosophical, ethical and theological teachings.

[1] The term demythologization (in German: Entmythologisierung) was introduced by Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) in existential context,[2] but the concept has earlier precedents.

In his 1677 Theologico-Political Treatise, Spinoza argues that any event in scripture which is inconsistent with natural laws must be interpreted either as unreliable testimony or as a metaphorical or allegorical representation of a moral teaching.

Scripture aims not at narrating things in terms of their natural causes, but rather at exciting the "popular imagination" to "impress the minds of the masses with devotion.

[6]To correctly interpret scripture we must understand the opinions and judgments of the ancients and learn common "Jewish phrases and metaphors.

The German theologian Rudolf Bultmann argues in his 1941 New Testament and Mythology[16] that it is no longer plausible to demand that Christians accept the "mythical world picture" of the New Testament.We cannot use electric lights and radios and, in the event of illness, avail ourselves of modern medical and clinical means and at the same time believe in the spirit and wonder world of the New Testament.To interpret New Testament mythology in cosmological terms, as a description of the universe, is not plausible.