Jesus Christ and Mythology

Bultmann's "Jesus Christ and Mythology" presents a sustained argument for demythologizing the New Testament to recover its authentic kerygma for modern believers. Writing in the aftermath of World War 2 and building upon his earlier programmatic essays, Bultmann contends that the mythological worldview pervading the biblical texts constitutes an insurmountable obstacle for contemporary faith. The work systematically addresses critics of his demythologizing project while clarifying its theological necessity and methodological foundations.

Central to Bultmann's argument is the distinction between the essential Christian message and its mythological framework. He maintains that the New Testament's three-tiered cosmology, supernatural interventions, and apocalyptic expectations reflect an obsolete prescientific worldview that modern persons cannot honestly accept. However, rather than abandoning Christianity altogether, Bultmann proposes existential interpretation as the means to extract the gospel's enduring significance. Drawing heavily on Heidegger's existential analysis, he argues that mythological language actually expresses authentic human existence before God, depicting the human situation of fallenness and the possibility of authentic life through divine grace.

The monograph engages multiple theological positions, particularly targeting both fundamentalist literalism and liberal reductionism. Against conservatives who insist on historical factuality, Bultmann argues that demanding intellectual sacrifice undermines genuine faith. Against liberals who would eliminate the transcendent entirely, he maintains that demythologizing preserves rather than destroys the gospel's supernatural dimension by properly understanding it as addressing human existence rather than describing objective cosmic events. Bultmann specifically rebuts critics like Schniewind and Thielicke, who feared his program dissolves Christianity into philosophy.

Bultmann's contribution to debates about God lies in his radical reconceptualization of divine action. Rather than intervening in the causal nexus of nature and history, God acts through the kerygmatic word that confronts individuals with the decision of faith. This existentialist interpretation preserves divine transcendence while making faith viable for those who accept modern science. The work's lasting significance stems from its attempt to navigate between secular dismissal of religion and anti-intellectual fideism, offering a sophisticated theological method that takes seriously both critical scholarship and authentic faith. By grounding theology in existential analysis rather than metaphysical speculation or historical verification, Bultmann provides a influential model for understanding religious language and divine reality in the modern world.