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Myth

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Myth

Copyright Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science ISSN: 2037-2329 and the author. No
part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without the prior
permission of the Editors. To refer to the content of this article, quote: INTERS Interdisciplinary
Encyclopedia of Religion and Science, edited by G. Tanzella-Nitti and A. Strumia, www.inters.org
Date: 2002
Jean-Michel Maldam [1]
I. Reason vs. Myth II. Reason and Imagination. 1. The Concern of Epistemology for Myth. 2. Myth as
Intellectual and Cultural Driving Force. 3. Metaphysical Insufficiency of Scientific Rationality. - III.
Myth and Contemporary Science. 1. The Presence of a Language Related to Myth in Some Models Used
by Cosmology and Quantum Mechanics. 2. Biological Evolution as a Narration. IV. Myth, Religion
and Faith. 1. The Triumph and Survival of Myth. 2. Myth and Biblical Language. 3. Concluding Remarks.

With the passing of time, scientific progress succeeded in relegating to the background what is commonly
called "myth," a term that connotes not only the sum of ancient tales which lie at the base of culture,
but also the intellectual attitude that governed mankinds original rapport with reality. The rationalism
tied to classical science stigmatized myth as infra-scientific, hence, incapable of revealing any sort of
truth. Myth was considered precisely a mystification. In our day, thanks to developments in the natural
sciences, with the modification of certain conceptions and the introduction of new ideas, the perception of
myths value has changed. The human sciences as well have altered the contemporary notion of myth by
rediscovering the importance of traditional culture. Even philosophy, which occupies itself with universal
spiritual experience, has cultivated a respectful relationship with myth. All this has lead to a new
appreciation of the value of myth, without in any way detracting from the defense of reason before the
shifting manifestations of the irrational.

I. Reason vs. myth


The devaluation of myth was properly the work of positivist philosophy, especially in the form expressed
by Auguste Comte (1798-1857). This view was and is largely shared in many scientific circles. In his
reflection on the history of thought, Comte subdivided the adventure of the human spirit into three stages
through which reason passed on its way to full maturity in the modern age (see Positivism [2]). In the
"mythological" or "religious" stage, according to Comte, thought was as yet the prisoner of images, and
room still remained for divine arbitration. The following "metaphysical" stage entailed the emergence of
reason, but the total confidence accorded to reason was in some way blind, leaving the human spirit
prisoner of a certain anthropocentrism.
Reason finally reached full maturity in the "scientific" age when it became an adequate instrument of
knowledge whose awareness of its own limits permitted it to lay claim to objectivity. The philosophical
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formulation suggested by Comte dominted the greater part of European thought and social behavior; the
militant attitude of the laity interpreted it almost verbatim. The progress of university science and world
conquest found their justification in the triumph of rationality over religious representations and myths. In
the realization of progress, European colonizers referred themselves to the use of reason as much for
education as for economic and administrative development. Scientific knowledge was taken as the model
for every kind of knowledge. Such a classification was subsequently inherited in part by critical
philosophy. However, recognizing the complexity and the value of the human spirit, critical philosophy
did not fall into the same simplistic interpretation: according to Kant (1724-1804), in fact, knowledge
resides essentially in the judgement which, in turn, is based on positions or postulates that do not leave
themselves restricted by the hegemony of rationalism or its claim to perfect objectivity.
The 19th century rationalistic attitude, broader than simple positivism or scientism, followed steadfastly
what had already been accomplished at the dawn of western thought. From this perspective, science is
constructed in opposition to a religious vision of the world. A nature populated by divinities or
mysterious forces, understood in an anthropomorphic way, is subject to the arbitrariness of good and evil
spirits. This view of the world leaves wide scope for the unforeseeable while discouraging any rational
effort at prediction or codification. Contrariwise, to imagine a law (nmos) written in natural phenomena,
frees the spirit and gives precedence to reason (lgos). This was the accomplishment of the Greeks at the
dawn of western thought in their formulation of the ideal of the City and knowledge based on the analysis
of facts and their coherent application to theory. From this perspective, as much political as scientific, the
metaphysical idea of "nature" (physis) took shape as the capacity for autonomous action, being regulated
and balanced by a principle of order. Also formulated was the notion of "essence" (ousa) which, given its
invariability, could serve as the origin of secure knowledge based on universal principles (archa)
accessible to the intelligence by way of a language that was itself subject to logical rules.
The myths appeared, then, as great tales in which forces independent of the rules recognized and shared
by human beings intervened. With time, myths became not only useless, but even, in the words of Gaston
Bachelard (1884-1962), an epistemological obstacle. Plato (428-348 B.C.) maintained that myth does
not derive from science, but from opinion, and is a barrier to the rational interpretation of phenomena.
Moreover, he criticized the ancient tales on account of their immorality. For Plato, truth and error are not
only of the speculative order, but relate to virtue. He opposed myth (mythos) to argumentative discourse
(lgos). Thus, while a tale (the poets word) is satisfied to delineate contingent events, science (the
word of the philosopher and sage) looks to reason or the cause of things.
The Socratic/Platonic rupture that inherited and crowned the work begun by the early physicists
(physilgoi) was later taken up by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), in whose thought reference to myth was
practically nonexistent. Aristotle placed great importance on the concept of nature. From the beginning,
his scientific ideal was characterized by the distrust of myth, as testified by his particular attention to the
ways of expressing and reasoning. Myth, for Aristotle, is a form of expression that retains pedagogical
value as a means of integration into the City and participation (mmesis) in its life, but must be interpreted
in an allegorical way. This tradition would later be developed by the Stoics, who saw in the ancient
stories a distorted way of reporting reality: one can say what belongs to reality, however, only within a
rational system.
Science constructed the ideal of a knowledge capable of predicting, by means of calculation, the
movement of the celestial bodies, eclipses, and the celestial conjunctions, relegating guesswork and
magic to the margins of knowledge. Biological phenomena were explained by means of the constitutive
element of vital influence (the pnema of the medical schools of Alexandria). Work such as the
construction of houses, palaces or temples, the rigging of ships, and the realization of war machines, were
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all regulated by the demands of proportion and balance, fruit of rigorous calculations. Thus the term
"science" came to define the dominion of man over nature by means of reason (Gr. orths logs; Lat.
recta ratio), finally displacing that term from the terrain of myth. As allegorical keys, myths were not
ignored, though they were held to be imperfect, a mere hint of that which was now scientifically known.
Myth, then, appeared as the fruit of the imagination, reserved for religious discourses and the instruction
of children, in which case it contributed to social integration and the maintenance of City values.
For this reason, the entry of Aristotelian thought into the highly religious society of the Middle Ages gave
rise to a crisis which once again put into play the victory of reason over imagination or the world of
emotions. In respect to logical rules that presuppose the use of propositions, the ideal of reason had
achieved a distinction between principles and conclusions, as well as precise arguments on the content of
propositions. This ideal was taken up again in the Renaissance and the age of scientific development,
classically understood, when mathematical procedures were perfected to the point of being able to
describe and unveil the intimate secrets of nature. In this long historical passage, science was hailed as the
triumph of reason and victory over myth. In effect, mythological tales recount events unknown to human
experience: animals speak, beings transform themselves, necessary physical consequences are eluded or
modified instantly by words or thought alone. In myth, the principle of non-contradiction is not always
guaranteed; narration does not respect those links of space and time proper to human life and founded on
the common experience of the unfolding of time and daily work. For these reasons, the ideal of scientific
knowledge was characterized, soon after its birth, by a definite distrust of mythological language: the
scientific spirit had no difficulty declaring that narrated facts are untrue simply because they are
impossible.
The founding metaphysical direction of scientific method was encouraged by the continuing success of its
applications, notwithstanding that the thought of scholars was not always homogenous and still preserved
at times conceptions that were in a certain sense religious. Thus, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) constructed
the first great rational system of the world as a whole, bringing to fruition what had been begun by
Galileo and Kepler. But his attention was attracted also by alchemy and the numerical relations that
appear in the language of the Apocalypse. Descartes and his disciples (faithful when in need to Aristotle),
refuted the obscurity, we could say, the impertinence, of the concept of action at a distance, and realized
the foundational exigency of science: a language completely void of every reference to the sacred and to
mystery [3].
The birth of chemistry with Lavoisier (1743-1794) confirmed this conclusion: the language of myth is not
appropriate for describing the true cause of the transformations and proprieties of bodies. The
classification of substances must adhere to the rigorous analyses of chemical activities and not to simple
analogies noted in the field of biology. In its turn, biology was born as an exact science founded on the
measurement and determination of quantitative relations, as for example, the measurement of temperature
and that of temperature exchanges with the external environment. Experimental medicine was kept at a
proper distance from tales that explained the geneses of living forms in terms of the intervention of agents
and principles extraneous to nature and inexpressible in scientific terms.
The triumph of science in the 19th century, then, incited the philosophy of knowledge to favor the use of
reason just as it was employed in the mathematical organon of the exact sciences. From this perspective,
thought cannot be truthful without passing through logical deduction, whose propositions are the object of
an appropriate formalism. Facts have to be submitted to an experimental verification which records them
with the rigorous detachment of objectivity. Epistemological work confirmed this philosophy. The order
of knowledge tends toward transforming metaphysical thought into a generalized rationalism in which
concepts intersect logically and examine reality according to their own internal exigencies. Epistemology
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is attentive to the growth of the understanding of reality. For experts in pedagogy who strive to design
academic programs introducing students to scientific reasoning, the development of the intelligence ought
to lead to the domination of reason, according to the logical/mathematical model. Evolutionary
psychology preserves this perspective even to our day. Myth, considered a kind of infantile knowledge,
gives form not only to the thought of children, but also to primitive cultures untouched by progress. At
the same time, the critique of myth was extended to all religious language in kind, and to the expression
of theological faith. The Christian message was accused of allowing itself to be held prisoner by an
emotionalism that projected onto realty the intimate convictions of the subject, without bothering to
verify them, hence lacking any objectivity. Thus, myth became an object of study for sociologists and
psychologists, a gate of access to the investigation of the archaic and unconscious (FREUD).
This negative view of myth continues to hold sway today over western culture, faithful as it is to its
agenda of secularization. It is important, therefore, to point out a certain change that has come about in
the appreciation and evaluation of myth.

II. Reason and Imagination


The new approach to myth is based on three types of argument: epistemological, cultural, and
metaphysical.
1. The Concern of Epistemology for Myth. The most fertile criticism of the contempt of all that does not
come from a reason reduced to pure mathematics was that formulated by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).
Pascal recognized the great value of the new science (of which he made ample use), but emphasized at the
same time that every line of reasoning is based on principles, and every demonstration is based on terms
and concepts; these, in their turn, are based on others, and so forth. Pascal called for the
acknowledgement that every understanding rests on primary determinations, often admitted in an
implicit way, without being put in discussion by the experts of a specific discipline. In this perspective,
critical thought considers similar choices such as beliefs or primary intuitions which cannot be expressed
adequately by means of scientific language. The admission of knowledges radical incompleteness is a
characteristic of mature reason: of a reason, that is to say, capable of critically considering its own
foundations.
In the course of the 20th century such thinking was taken up again with the intention of founding the
mathematical sciences on logic. It was soon clear that this all-embracing project was unrealizable, as
demonstrated in the rigorous, logical form of Gdels celebrated theorem. Scientific reasoning cannot be
self-founding: it bases itself on that which partially evades reason, on intuitions or postulates.
Contemporaneous attempts to reach a theory of everything are vain. These considerations allow us to
affirm that an all-encompassing and universal discourse, as that which is found in myth, is not at all
extraneous to scientific knowledge. Notwithstanding the difference existing between scientific and
mythological discourse, it cannot be denied that myth may even have had a fundamental role in the
development of scientific thought. Hence, myth is rehabilitated on the epistemological plain. Scientific
creativity, for example, is not reduced to pure rationality; if it were, it would surely be impoverished.
Certainly the exigencies of verification and testing are essential in every scientific procedure, but these
activities serve as a control and are, in some sense, secondary. The creativity of the spirit is not exhausted
in the rigorous, expository course of a demonstration.
2. Myth as Intellectual and Cultural Driving Force. In the second place, time has proven that it is not
possible to realize any scientific work without recognizing certain basic values. The sociology of
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knowledge has demonstrated dependence on paradigms that have a cultural, globalizing value. The steady
advance of science was favored by the ideal of progress [4], an ideal possessing some mythical value.
Hence, modern science can rightly consider itself the daughter of the myth of progress.
The study of the foundations of the development of modern science show that this development was
preceded at the dawn of the classical age by certain convictions orienting the European spirit toward
world conquest. These convictions were found in the so-called utopian texts, named thus after the title
of Thomas Mores (1478-1535) first book. Thomas More, Francis Bacon, Franois Rabelais, and
Tommaso Campanellla projected into the future an ideal model of civilization. Their works rested on
popular thinking and opened up the prospect of an ideal of theoretical and practical reason: they gave
strength and legitimacy to the actions of the spirit, to medical art, and economic and political activity, but
also to the ideal of science, attained theoretically in the educative system, and in a practical way in the
organization of work and of industrial production. In the disenchantment of contemporary culture, the
character of the founding myth can be noted in the discourses on reason which would be taken up again
later by the Enlightenment or the rationalists, from J.A. Condorcet to J.E. Renan.
Any argument denying reason its proper dominion is perceived as a danger. The destructive fruits of
irrationalism are such as to provoke a reaction against every kind of nihilism. Today scientific reason
feels the need, along with the call to progress, not to lose the dynamism inscribed in its origins. Scientists
are seen as one source of this dynamism. For this reason, in reaction against certain wild forms of
returning to the sacred that would destroy the human spirit, scientists seek to renew an alliance with
monotheistic theology that recognizes the value of reason and is willing to open itself to verification and
dialogue with the sciences. Catholic theology, in its turn, has recovered a significant role in the
foundation of scientific thought, whose development, as demonstrated by Pierre Duhem (1861-1916), is
tied essentially to monotheism.
3. Metaphysical Insufficiency of Scientific Rationality. The third motive for the re-evaluation of myth is of
the metaphysical order. The classical ideal that rejected myth as a perverse fruit of the imagination,
considered as an evil power, proved to be too nave. A more profound knowledge of matter [5] has shown
that philosophical ideas which in certain epochs were able to explain the various modes of rationality
became insufficient: determinism could not describe the relations and the interrelations between the
ultimate components of nature, and the notion of a clear and distinct idea came to be set aside.
According to a famous expression, reality is veiled. It comes to be known little by little, and the more
we know it, the more we recognize that we are enfolded in mystery. This perspective highlights the
precarious character of many of the things we know and invites us to consider that the ideal of a
transparent scientific language, an ideal that permeates classical science, remains utopian, since reality is
much richer than our representations, and whatever new knowledge we acquire always poses even more
difficult questions.
For these three reasons, myth has ceased to appear as something contrary to rational discourse. On the
contrary, it has formed with it more intimate and subtle ties something that could not have been
imagined during the age of the triumph of scientism.

III. Myth and Contemporary Science


The new rapport between mythos and logos is evident in three areas of fundamental science: cosmology,
physics, and biology. It is worthwhile to examine these three spheres where the relation between the two
languages, scientific and mythical, is not exclusive but complementary.
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1. The Presence of a Language Related to Myth in Some Models Used by Cosmology and Quantum
Mechanics. The image of the world furnished by contemporary science often presents an
all-encompassing perspective. Departing from the standard cosmological model (usually linked to the
image of the Big Bang), cosmology [6] proposes a complete history of energy, matter, and life. This
Weltanschauung is presented as a great story that, departing from a certain initial singularity, explains the
present and opens the future to interrogation. This historical presentation is based on observations that
depend, in strength and diversification, on various instruments that work not only in the range of optic
radiation, but also in other zones of the electromagnetic spectrum. The results obtained are based on the
awareness of fundamental applied physics with success both at the intimate level of matter and in the
study of the higher energies. The articulation of the infinitely great and infinitely small carried out today
by astrophysics lays the groundwork for a coherent presentation of the world, considered as a
true universe [7], unified by laws expressed with mathematical models. The presentation of results places
attention on the limits of the observable and the threshold of the validity of physical theories. Scientific
concepts are pushed beyond themselves with the end of fashioning theses that anticipate results from
observations or from the same theoretical constructions. In such a way cosmology finishes by re-aligning
itself with ancient cosmology such that elements of what was at one time considered a mythological
discourse are appearing once again.
Some, such as Edmund Whittaker, have drawn from the standard model a sort of "concordism" with
religious teaching, wanting to identify the initial singularity of these cosmological models with the first
words of the Book of Genesis ("In the beginning God created..." Bereshit bara Elohim). It is important,
however, to accept with reserve some presentations of scientific results since the translation of a theory
into a universal discourse often hides certain areas of ignorance and reconstructs a myth that cannot
thereafter avoid being transformed once again into an epistemological obstacle. Silence, thus, covers what
is unknown and an illusion of absolute knowledge is offered, sometimes colliding with religious themes.
Also, the way in which certain results of quantum mechanics [8] are presented seems to signal the return
to a religious view of the world, as indicated by the break with a deterministic vision of natural
phenomena. The ultimate essence of matter leaves space for the unforeseeable since quantum mechanics
presents the results of its calculations by means of a mathematical language that expresses uncertain
phenomena. The rupture with determinism has lead some to read in the substance of matter the
legitimization of a spiritualistic vision. Terms such as energy, actions, awareness, or freedom are
interpreted within a cosmogenesis permeated by sacredness. The scientific ideal ceases to be
characterized by rationalism, becoming instead a sacralization of nature. Nature written with a capital
N is seen as a maternal power, a source of renewal (natura naturans is a natura mater). In this way,
the cosmological discourse is accompanied by religious themes deriving from oriental traditions (the
dance of Shiva, the idea of a universal consciousness, etc.). At times, these notions are only an
ornamentation to discourse, but for some the legitimization of scientific work by reference to the sacred is
very important. Scientific results may evoke a new Concordism with the ancient religious myths that
express pantheistic monism. Matter is seen invested by a dynamism that explains how the world is set in
motion according to an order or universal law possessing absolute value. The reduction to immanence of
a principle that would have to act in a transcendent manner is considered by some as a way of returning to
the great theme of finalism [9].
2. Biological Evolution as a Narration. Thirdly, this time in the biological sphere, the theory of
evolution [10] proposes a continuous and progressive history of the transformation of species according
to a relentless development that overcomes challenges originating from restrictions, internal and external,
of an ecological, geological, climactic or geographic nature. The theory of evolution offers a unified
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vision of the progressive emergence of the complexity of an ever more efficient organization of the
various organisms. Also, this scientific idea is not infrequently presented within expressive contexts of a
mythic character.
The glance that man turns on his distant past brings him back in touch with that archaic spiritual state that
is typical of the origin of myth. In fact, prehistory is imagined as a period in which hunters lived in a kind
of happy Eden where life flowed along tranquilly a view modernized in the idea of a golden age. At the
same time, the rusticity of the first realizations of objects and instruments evokes the notion of a natural
state, almost innocent a view rediscovered in the medieval discourse on Paradise. Representations
containing references to sexual behavior have given rise to a dream world in which there were no
restrictions on the life of a couple, nor difficulties for the survival of children a re-actualized version of
myths regarding sexual innocence in the face of a morality imposed by a society based on precise rules.
Similarly, catastrophic theories that have brought about a reconsideration of gradualism, typical of the
theories of synthesis, re-align themselves with those Gnostic visions that favor the notions of fall and
alienation.
All these myths are at the same time the fruit of an historical reconstruction, a manifestation of the
unexpressed desire to seek a perfection realized in history. It appears evident, then, that the strict
separation between science and myth, in place from the moment the intellectual climate was dominated
by rationalism, is in fact illusory. There exists a complementarity between science and the founding
ancient narratives. What is necessary now is a work of discernment.

IV. Myth, Religion and Faith


The return of the presence of myth in science invites us to recall some foundational elements of scientific
thought. Departing from the 17th century, science acquired a great power to explain the world thanks to
a transparent, precise language, like that used by mathematics, in which clear and distinct ideas reign. The
success of scientific results, as much on the theoretical as the functional plain, has confirmed not only the
value of practical reason, but above all that of the metaphysics of being in the purity of the Logos. Such
success should not let us forget that, in its process of development, classical science, linked typically with
Descartes and Newton, has conducted a contemporaneous battle on two fronts: first, against an academic
tradition of the Aristotelian type; second, against the hermetic tradition reassumed during the
Renaissance.
1. The Triumph and Survival of Myth. The Aristotelian tradition that dominated medieval university
teaching, after having born its fruits, became rather rigid and seemed chained by the preeminence of text
over observation and qualitative evaluation over measure. Against such an exacerbating tradition some
daring innovators made their appearance. Referring themselves to the authority of the ancients, they
reevaluated the role of numbers and geometric perfection with the intention of giving essences new rigor,
modifying the sense itself of the word concept. This aspect of their efforts is well noted. However, the
other front of the scientific dispute should not be forgotten, that tied to the success of the new ideal of
thought: the rejection of hermetism.
This term, that in reality defines a certain spiritual attitude, refers properly to Ermete Trismegisto, an
almost legendary person rediscovered by the erudite scholars of the Renaissance, whose influence was
felt in medicine [11] and alchemy. In hermetic practice, arguments of a globally significant value were
developed in reference to entities. The language was that of analogy between the form and the play of the
elements. Natural elements, it was believed, enjoy a certain autonomy and possess the intentionality and
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will proper to living beings and human persons. Classical science broke with such spiritualizing of
matter to replace it with the abstraction of mathematical laws. After Kepler, it was no longer necessary to
suppose the existence of angels or divinities to preside over the movement of the stars and planets since it
was sufficient to use the forces described by rational mechanics. This victory, however, did not put an end
to the relationship we human beings have with our imagination. Rather, a distinction had to be made
between the fruits of the imaginary and that activity of the imagination that derives from the imaginative
and expresses the creativity of the spirit.
The relation between science and myth is not limited to the theoretical aspect of thought. Applied science,
or technology [12], also has ties with myth, both for what it produces and in its development. The
language of applied science was created by progress; its investigations are validated by a preoccupation
with results. To earn credit, research laboratories give preference to those themes that have a certain
social and political importance. Hence, the dominant themes of social and political discourse are always
inspired by the myth of progress: health, agricultural development, abundance of consumer goods,
quality of life, victory over geographic limitations, conservation of the purity of nature. Even
technological objects are invested with mythical power: the computer, for instance, owns these powers
when it presents its results. Daily life bears continual witness to this dynamic. Also, scientific language
produces myths, and does so under its veil of being the font of the truth, even when it does not tell the
truth. Truth, to be such, must not confine itself to listening to only one source of knowledge, because it
cannot be other than symphonic.
Science, taken in its widest sense, also produces certain works that are born from the purely imaginary,
works that we call science fiction. Science fiction novels have an important role in the structuring of
the imaginary. Jules Verne, for example, is one of the typical heroes of modernity; his numerous
successors today know how to utilize the paradoxes of the new physics to heighten the contrast
with common sense and lead the spirit beyond the immediate. In these novels we rediscover the
fundamental structure of myth (see Cinema [13]). We find there the determination of a territory in very
simple geometric form (circle, square, or pyramid), or more complex form (labyrinth), where a universal
drama unfolds in which benign and evil powers confront each other. There follows a chain of events in
which heroes pass through initial trials that suppose a certain amount of know-how to dominate space and
time. In this context, the sacralization of numbers indicates a return to the Cabala and the recognition of
the esoteric. These rules are presented today as a source of truth, but this is pure illusion since their
sacredness refers to the truth only in an indirect way, in the measure in which these numerical relations
were used to express the profundity of the soul and the mysteries of the unconscious. The use of biblical
language, however, is different in that numerical reference expresses a relation with God and maintains its
reference with history.
2. Myth and Biblical Language. In times past, biblical texts were read as if they were detailed, historical
accounts of events that took place at the beginning of the world and of human history. Such a reading was
favored by some of the Fathers of the Church, such as Basil the Great and Augustine of Hippo, without
ignoring the figurative value of the events related. Others, such as Origen, developed a type of allegorical
reading. Scientific discoveries showed that a reading of the Bible in which historicity is so understood
leads to errors and confusion. Since the birth of science, such historicizing readings of Genesis were
considered an epistemological obstacle to the progress of scientific research. This conflict embarrassed
believers and put them on the defensive, as happened in the case of concordism.
In the face of the protracted effort of scientific progress, some theologians, such as Karl Barth
(1886-1968), sought an interpretive plan that could be shared by both science and faith. The project of
demythologization (Entmythologisierung) owed to Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) realized a separation
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between the salvific message of the biblical text and the forms of its linguistic expression. Such a plan,
however, derived from a scientistic conception that considered myth merely a work of fiction.
Apologetics, then, refuted the use of the term myth when referred to biblical stories since it indicated
something that did not respond at all to the reality. More recently, changes in the understanding of myth
and its value have rendered this position obsolete. We can acknowledge that the Bible [14] uses mythical
language as a linguistic tool to express the content of faith, especially in the first eleven chapters of
Genesis, and that such a usage is necessary and legitimate.
The first chapters of Genesis seek to confess faith in one God, creator and provider. The inspired author
wants to say that everything that exists was made by God [15], Lord of history. Scientific and literary
learning that places the text in its cultural context shows that it is not merely the report of a witness, but
the result of a sapient, inspired reflection, put into writing on the basis of the authors own experience. To
accomplish this task, the sacred author uses the knowledge available in his day which certainly appears
limited in respect to our own time and puts it at the service of a confession of faith. The cultural
distance that separates us from the text obliges the theologian to make a distinction between origin and
beginning. In fact, these two terms must be distinguished. The term beginning indicates that which is
at the start of a temporal process and pertains to the logic of duration. The term origin, however,
indicates a causal relation which is not limited to a moment of the temporal process, but is co-extensive
with it. A beginning is homogenous with a process, while an origin transcends it. It should be said,
therefore, that the biblical text means to express the origin of things, and is, hence, independent of the
description of the beginning. Faith in a creating and provident God accords, then, with descriptions that
differ among each other, be they scientific or nave. The Bible does not canonize, therefore, any
cosmology.
The difficulty comes from the fact that the origins of the world and of man cannot be expressed without
the help of human language, a language tied to time. To speak of the origins, the author is obliged to
construct a tale according to temporal duration and, hence, speaks of the beginning. For this reason, it
is not always easy to distinguish between beginning and origin. It is not difficult to understand the
difficulty of many believers when they do not know how to differentiate between the creative act and a
description of the beginning as part of a tale transmitted from one or the other culture. The conflict
between science and faith often arises from such a difficulty.
Finally, the biblical authors concern to speak of Gods transcendence and His total lordship over space
and time, over all beings and their history, causes him to use certain expressions removed from daily
experience: the language that seeks to explain the origins distances itself in a legitimate way from
descriptions tied to human actions. This surpassing of the ordinary also regards the distance between
biblical language and philosophical language which prefers to make use of the concept. The linguistic
reach expressed by the various literary forms such as myth, epic, poetry, or paradox, is at the service of
transcendence, in a play of metaphor that invites the spirit to go beyond the immediate. Such playfulness
must be controlled by reason, by the meaning of the transcendence of the one God, and by the perfect
simplicity of His being (see, on this poit, Analogy [16]).
3. Concluding Remarks. In the face of a revived recognition of the value of myth a myth that can
develop along with science a prudently critical perspective should be maintained. The attitude that
permitted the foundation of science should be conserved. In the first place, reason (lgos) need not be
disparaged; rather, its promotion should continue, especially in regards to education in the areas of
language and argumentation. At the same time, a lively awareness should be maintained by individuals
and institutions concerning the limits of scientific reasoning. A certain vigilance is required that will
ensure the recognition of scientific rationality as a source of true knowledge, without at the same time
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Myth
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negating the existence of other sources equally capable of gaining access to the truth. Finally, any
regression to the confusions of sacralism or a lazy Concordism must be avoided. A lively awareness of
Gods transcendence, which prevents the reduction of the divine being to a being of the world, makes
possible the use of the language of myth without remaining prisoner to its literal meaning. One can make
the most of the imagination, without falling into the trap of the imaginary, thus according a proper place
to religious language at the service of faith.
Current developments show that one should take into account history and recognize that it was really a
faith in one God, separated and transcendent, which made possible an escape from the sacralization of the
elements and favored the development of science. The desired syntheses will not be only an extension of
scientific discourse. There is space for a harmonious conception of truth. And there is the necessity of
carrying out a sapient enterprise.
Read also: Mystery [3]
Nature [17]
Truth [18]
Bibliography:
R. Barthes, Mythologies (Paris: Ed. du Seuil, 1957); L. Bouyer, Cosmos. The World and the Glory of God
(Petersham, MA: St. Bede's Publications, 1988); P. Buehler, C. Karakash, Science et foi font systme
(Genve: Labor et Fides, 1992); C. Cohen, LHomme des origines (Paris: Ed. du Seuil, 1999); J.
Danielou, Mythes paens, mystre chrtien (Paris: A. Fayard, 1966); H. Bondi, Assumptions and Myths in
Physical Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1967); P. Duhem, Le systme du monde. Histoire
des doctrines cosmologiques de Platon Copernic, 10 vols. (Paris: Hermann, 1913-1917 e 1954-1959),
espec. vol. II; M. Eliade, Myth and Reality (New York: Harper & Row, 1975); M. Eliade, Cosmos and
History. The Myth of the Eternal Return (London - New York: Garland, 1985); P. Grimal, Le mythe, son
langage et son message (Louvain-la-Neuve: Colloque de Lige et Louvain-la-Neuve de 1981, 1983); G.
Gusdorf, Mythe et mtaphysique (Paris: Flammarion, 1983); M. Hesse, Physics, Philosophy and Myth,
Physics, Philosophy and Theology. A Common Quest for Understanding, R. Russell, W.R. Stoeger, G.V.
Coyne, eds. (Vatican City: LEV and Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1988), pp. 185-202; K. Hbner, Die
Wahrheit des Mythos (Mnchen: C.H. Beck, 1985); L. Kolakowski, The Presence of Myth (Chicago:
Univ. of Chicago Press, 1989); L. Kolakowski, Methaphysical Horros (London: Penguin, 2001); J.
Ladrire, The Challenge Presented to Cultures by Science and Technology (Paris: Unesco, 1977); R.
Lenoble, Origines de la pense scientifique moderne, Histoire de la science, Encyclopdie de la Pliade
(Paris: Gallimard, 1954), pp. 369-536; J. Morales, Mito y Misterio, Scripta Theologica 28 (1996), pp.
77-95; W. Pannenberg, Christentum und Mythos. Spthorizonte des Mythos in biblischer und christlicher
berlieferung (Gtersloh: G. Mohn, 1972); J. Ppin, Mythe et allgorie (Paris: Etudes Augustiniennes,
1976); J. Piaget, Nature et mthode de lpistmologie, Logique et connaissance scientifique,
Encyclopdie de la Pliade (Paris: Gallimard, 1967), pp. 3-132; P. Ricoeur, Mythe: Interprtation
philosophique, Encyclopaedia Universalis, 1985, vol. 12, pp. 883-890; P. Ricoeur, Myth: Myth and
History, The Encyclopedia of Religion, M. Eliade, ed. in chief (New York: Macmillan Co., 1987), vol.
10, pp. 273-282; J. Servier, LUtopie (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1985); P. Trousson, Le
Recours de la science au mythe. Pour une nouvelle rationalit (Paris: LHarmattan, 1995); J.-P. Vernant,
Myth and Society in Ancient Greece (New York: Zone Books, 1990).

Source URL (retrieved on 2015-05-29 19:06): http://inters.org/myth


Links:
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[1] http://inters.org/jean-michel-maldame
[2] http://inters.org/positivism
[3] http://inters.org/mystery
[4] http://inters.org/progress
[5] http://inters.org/matter
[6] http://inters.org/cosmology
[7] http://inters.org/universe
[8] http://inters.org/quantum-mechanics
[9] http://inters.org/finalism
[10] http://inters.org/evolution
[11] http://inters.org/medicine
[12] http://inters.org/technology
[13] http://inters.org/cinema
[14] http://inters.org/sacred-scripture
[15] http://inters.org/god
[16] http://inters.org/analogy
[17] http://inters.org/nature
[18] http://inters.org/truth

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