Christology and Myth in the New Testament

Christology and Myth in the New Testament (1956) enquires into the extent and origin of the mythological language and ideas underlying the Christology of the New Testament. It examines the demythologizing principles, and refers to the existential method of reinterpreting those New Testament concepts which are bound up with Hellenistic thought-forms and the cosmology of the ancient world while also exploring other philosophical and theological interpretations. It considers that the mythical Christology of the New Testament writers should be understood poetically and metaphorically rather than as consisting of objective statements about Jesus and his place in creation. The final section of the book is a defence of the retention of mythical concepts and language as psychologically and theologically necessary expressions of a religious faith which cannot be adequately expressed in merely propositional form.