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Christian mythology is the body of traditional narratives, that would be viewed as sacred stories by many Christians, which would often serve to explain or symbolize Christianity and Christian cultures.[1] Mythology differs from religion in that mythology is an allegorical narrative or a popular belief or assumption, often based on the legendary heroes of a people; [2] while religion is an institutionalized system of beliefs, attitudes, and practices devoted to a cause, principle or philosophy held with ardor and faith. [3] (See also religion and mythology). Christian cultures traditionally feel the mythology has deep explanatory or symbolic significance, but no dogmatic or canonical legitimacy. A broader and more contentious definition of Christian mythology can also be taken to refer to the entire mythos surrounding the Christian religion, including interpretations of the various narratives of both the Old and New Testaments. The Christian religion has diverged over the centuries into many denominations, and not all hold the same set of sacred traditional narratives.
Christian mythology includes interpretations of the core beliefs of Christianity, the body of legendary stories that have accumulated around Old and New Testament figures and elaborates upon the lives of the saints, to emphasize, explain, or embody Christian beliefs. The legendary details of the career of the disciple Peter and his founding the Christian Church is a prime example of Christian mythology (i.e., symbolically Peter was known as the "corner stone" and "rock" on which the church was built.) Many of the common themes in hagiographies are among the conventions of Christian mythography. In the culture of the ancient Semitic and Mediterranean worlds in the context of which early Christianity and its literature arose — even up to the European Middle Ages when further traditions and legends were developed — there often did not exist the separation that exists for many societies in the modern period between fact and myth or between objective truth and speculation or elaboration. Even in the modern period, Christians of many traditions (like those in many other religions) may also hold that the dividing line between "faith" and what is labeled "myth" is less than clear, when it comes to traditional beliefs and understanding.
Traditional Christian stories include many that do not come from canonical Christian texts and still do illustrate Christian themes. Other stories that are intended to foster Christian values, or address specifically Christian spiritual traditions, may be included in Christian mythology. These stories are considered by some Christian journalists, theologians, and academics (see citations below) to constitute a body of Christian mythology. Stories that were once taken as true but are no longer accepted by most Christians are most easily identified as Christian mythology, such as the tale of Saint George or Saint Valentine.
Theological and academic studies of mythology often define mythology as deeply held beleifs that explain a society's existance and world order: those stories of a society's creation, the society's origins, their God(s), their original heroes, mankind's connection to the "divine", and their narratives of eschatology (what happens in the "after-life"). Looking at each these academic topics for the first known society of Christian people: the Christian texts they wrote use the same creation story as Jewish mythology, the stories of the Old Testament, that the world was created out of a darkness and water in seven days. Christianity may include here the miracle of Jesus' birth. Christan mythology of their society's founding would start with Jesus and his many teachings, and include the stories of Christian disciples starting the Christian Church and congregations. The heroes of the first Christian society would start with those chosen by Jesus, the apostles Peter, John, James, Paul and Jesus, as well as Mary (mother of Jesus). Christianity eschatology stories of "after-life" would include the narratives of Jesus Christ rising from the dead and now acting as a saviour of all generations of Christians, the stories of heaven and a father in heaven waiting to meet them. Eschatological topics would also include the prophesies of end of the world and a new millennium in the Book of Revelation, and the prophesy of Jesus will return to earth some day. The basic Christian narratives of heaven (according to tradition) might include a nice green pasture land, a new house (per Jesus he goes to prepare them a place in heaven), and meeting a benevolent God. Myths of hell differ according to the denomination. This would be a very general and quick outline of Christian topics, of which the Christianity article may better elaborate.
In casual speech, the word myth is often flipped to imply the speaker thinks a myth is a fiction, or an exaggerated story from the past, not "historically true." However, many Christian scholars have adopted the twentieth century philosophy that mythology and myths exists in all societies, and employ it without the connotation of disbelief or derivision (although almost always to distinguish their treatment of a story as a source of Christian belief, in contrast to literal history). In such a case they apply the term myth to Christian stories, including Biblical narrative, without passing any judgement on its historicity.
A selection of stories with mythic content might include:
Narrative fictions with Christian content sometimes fall within the category of Christian mythology. A case in point is the historical and canonized Brendan of Clonfort, a 6th century Irish churchman and founder of abbeys. Round his authentic figure was woven a tissue that belongs more to legend than mythology, the Navigatio or "Journey of Brendan". In this narrative Brendan and his shipmates encounter sea monsters, a paradisal island and a floating ice islands and a rock island inhabited by a holy hermit: literal-minded devotés still seek to identify "Brendan's islands" in actual geography. This voyage was recreated by Tim Severin, suggesting that whales, icebergs and Rockall were encountered.[4]
Many fictions written to personalize Christian themes are regarded as allegory. Examples of these include:
Some Christians discover Christian themes in The Lord of the Rings and other works by J.R.R. Tolkien. Though the author adamantly denied that his story was to be taken as an allegory, he admitted to influence from his own experience, which included devout Catholicism. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis are also often incorrectly called allegories, but a true allegory has everything in it representing something else, and that is clearly not true of the Chronicles. Although in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis used many symbols including the death and resurrection of Aslan, and the breaking of the stone table to represent the breaking of sin's power over man. (Lewis also did write a full allegory, Pilgrim's Regress.)
Christmas-themed popular music, television, and cinema:
The concept of Santa Claus is often seen as a secular saint who has supernatural powers and uses them to magnanimously deliver gifts to children around the world. This idea is based on a folk tradition of Saint Nicholas but was given an amplified mythological identity in the Clement Moore poem Twas The Night Before Christmas.
In the 1950s, several Christmas cartoons emerged that deliberately adopt elements of Christian stories to convey the "true meaning of Christmas" in allegorical terms.
An early film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) based on a Gene Autry song, involved a rejected and mocked reindeer that ends up leading the other reindeer through the help of a misfit elf and misfit toys.
Similarly, Frosty the Snowman contains several Christian motifs, is the story of a snowman who comes to life for a time, melts (dies) but also reassures his childlike followers that he will "be back again some day." The television special developed from this song invents the concept of Frosty being made from "Christmas snow" which entails that he can never completely melt away and thus has an eternal essence.
Following these early television Christmas specials, there have been countless other Christmas TV specials and movies produced for the "holiday season" that are not explicitly Christian but seek to describe "true spirit of Christmas" beliefs, such as "togetherness," "being with family," charitable acts, and belief that even bad people or situations can be redeemed. While many sundry examples of , they have little to do with the biblical Christmas.
These conceptions of the "true meaning of Christmas" are also sung about in Christmas albums that may have nothing to do with Christianity.
After Christian theology was accepted by the Roman Empire, promoted by St. Augustine in the 5th century, Christian mythology began to predominate the Roman Empire. Later the theology was carried north by Charlemagne and the Frankish people, and Christian themes began to weave into the framework of European mythologies (Eliade 1963:162-181). The pre-Christian (Germanic and Celtic mythology that were native to the tribes of Northern Europe were denounced and submerged, while saint myths, Mary stories, Crusade myths, and other Christian myths took their place. However, pre-Christian myths never went entirely away, they mingled with the (Roman Catholic) Christian framework to form new stories, like myths of the mythological kings and saints and miracles, for example (Eliade 1963:162-181). Stories such as that of Beowulf and Icelandic, Norse, and Germanic sagas were reinterpreted somewhat, and given Christian meanings. The legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail is a striking example (Treharne 1971). The thrust of incorporation took on one of two directions. When Christianity was on the advance, pagan myths were Christianized; when it was in retreat, Bible stories and Christian saints lost their mythological importance to the culture.
Since the end of the eighteenth century, the biblical stories have lost some of their mythological basis to western society, owing to the scepticism of the Enlightenment, nineteenth-century freethinking, and twentieth century modernism. Most westerners no longer found Christianity to be their primary imaginative and mythological framework by which they understand the world. However other scholars believe mythology is in our psych, and that mythical influences of Christianity are in many of our ideals, for example the Judeo-Christian idea of an after-life and heaven (Eliade 1963:184). The book Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X by Tom Beaudoin explores the premise that Christian mythology is present in the mythologies of pop-culture, such as Madonna's Like a Prayer or Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun. Modern myths are strong in comic book stories (as stories of culture heroes) and detective novels as myths of good versus evil (Eliade 1963:185).
Certain groups within Western society still retain a strong element of Christian mythology in their understanding of life. It is also true that Christian myths often inform law and the ideals within different Western societies, but the idea of a Christendom that permates all aspects of life is no longer applicable.