The Moment of Christian Witness (Communio Books) by Hans Urs von Balthasar

Author:Hans Urs von Balthasar [Balthasar, Hans Urs von]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual & Religion
ISBN: 9780898705164
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 2012-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

2. Postponing the Decision

In the program of “demythologizing” theology and holy Scripture, of which we have just had an example but which we naturally cannot develop here in all its ramifications, we observe first that it cannot delimit itself. For the concept “myth” as applied to the Bible can have no clear determination. The reason for this is that it is based on a double criterion, which, considering the nature of the document with which it is dealing, cannot be reduced to a single unifying criterion. For the term “mythical” is used to describe not only what is considered as belonging to an antiquated view of the world, but also what modern man cannot reconcile with his own scientific view of the world and what seems alien to him. In the first case, therefore, its use is dictated by a historical and scientific approach to the Scriptures, and in the second by an existential approach. These are by no means one and the same thing.

With regard to the first case, we would have to prove that those things that are considered as belonging to an antiquated view of the world were in fact things that had exercised a determining influence on the actual theology contained in the Scriptures. Furthermore, one would have to prove that these things in the Scriptures that appear to offer certain analogies with neighboring mythical cultures do not possess their own special significance in the realm of biblical revelation. But this cannot be proved. For instance, it cannot be proved that the assertions based on a Ptolemaic view of the world suffer any harm in being replaced by the Copernican view. It is possible to consider the matter questionable whether the disciples who were with the Lord at his Ascension interpreted his disappearance cosmologically. (Heaven is “above”, so the resurrected Lord journeyed “upwards”.) Or did they rather interpret with a naïve naturalness that contemporary man may still have when he interprets the cosmos—and quite rightly so—as it perceptibly appears to him. Our heads, together with light and space, belong to what is above; our feet, together with what is dark and stifling, belong to what is below. Or would it have been just the same for us today, if Christ had chosen to sink into the earth, in order to show men with normal sense perceptions that he was returning to God the Father?

Why should we pretend to be more stupid than we are and give so much thought to such trifling matters, as if the change in man’s view of the world since the time of Christ had suddenly brought a good half of biblical revelation toppling down? But then it may be asked: What about the biblical analogies with neighboring mythical cultures? The answer is that there is evidence enough in the Old Testament that its writers were clearly aware of these analogies as false ones and were fighting against them when they forbade all mythical image-making of Yahweh from the time of Moses right down to the prophets.

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