The Power of Myth

A large sign I recently saw on the wall of a Methodist church in Hong Kong has stirred a lot thoughts in my mind.

Although I don't remember the exact wording of the sign, it roughly said that "The Resurrection is not a myth but a historical fact." I smiled a bit bitterly at the sign, feeling it was pity that the church members utterly underestimated the power of myth. Well, it was also a smile to the ignorant me of the past.

Actually, Christianity is losing its appeal among the intellectuals because of its insistence that the entire Jesus story was a historical fact. It is very difficult for anyone with a scientific mind to believe that God exercised such supernatural power exclusively in Palestine around 2,000 years ago. (According to a very famous theologian of our time, such power was available only for 30-plus years and only within 60 km radius of Jerusalem.) Jung says that the historical Jesus can at best be a mere failed reformer of Judaism.

But Jesus story as a myth has an extremely profound potential to lead people to the search of higher state of being. Anyway, all myths (in the original sense) are introduction to enlightenment, regardless of whether they are historical facts or not. For example, Miyazaki's epic animes such as Princess Mononoke or Nausicaä also are powerful myths in a very innovative packaging. These cartoons are profoundly religious.

I believe now that Christianity can renew itself if it can be free from its literalist tradition and admit Jesus story is a myth. Anyway, it's pity that so many people feel reluctant to tap into this powerful myth of reconciliation between conscious and unconscious minds just because it is presented as a fact...