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Myths and truth
July 05th, 2018
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Joseph Campbell was fond of saying that all myths are true. His
line of thinking is that the myths we know and that our societies
have developed are culturally dependant expressions of a universal
story.
In comparative mythology or comparative religion we see the same
aspects echoed across time and space. In his mind there were two
possible reasons why:
1. There are similarities in human psychology and physiology
that lead us to generate the same responses to our
experiences regardless of culture and climate.
2. There is a shared truth which all of our myths and symbols
help us to express. That expression is unique to our culture
but it speaks to a universal truth which itself is ineffable.
That is a tragically simplified summary, but it should do for my
purposes as there's only a small point I'd like to make regarding
myths.
Myths are not true, they reveal truth.
When Catholics look at the bible and read the story of creation,
that story is a myth [0]. It is not literal. It is there to teach
us something about creation in language and stories that make
sense to the culture of the time. This reading with a cultural
lens is vital to a Catholic reading of scripture, even the
Gospels.
[0] Genesis 1
In the book of Luke [1], there is a passage that should be
familiar to even the most lapsed of Christians. It is the story of
Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus:
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be registered. This was the first registration
when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be
registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house
and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,
who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for
her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and
wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn. [1]
[1] Luke 2
I want to focus on just two phrases in this paragraph:
"he was of the house and lineage of David"
and
"laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in
the inn."
Starting with the first phrase, this is an important note for
a few reasons, biblically. It touches on prophecy fulfillment
because it satisfies the messianic idea that the figure will come
from the house of David. It is also important because of the
political implications of the house itself. The house of David was
the most prestigious of the Jewish people, after all. Heading to
the ancestral home of that people is a big deal in a culture
dominated by family value. This is a key point to remember in the
story, too. Mary and Joseph aren't going to some small town in the
middle of nowhere. They're going to the home of the wealthiest,
most prestigious family. The people of the house of David would be
many. This is not a land of strangers for them.
It's also important to remember that for these people at the time
there is a great emphasis put on the idea of hospitality. Elijah
is going to return, and they must be ready. He may come in the
guise of a beggar to your door. And so, welcoming in the traveler
has a major role in daily life. It has such a role, that it even
affected the architecture of first century Palestine.
The typical home at the time was made up of two main rooms. The
first was the family's room. It would be raised up off the ground
a few feet and be all open. On one side there would be a ledge
that drops down to ground level as the room extends into the
animal enclosure. The animals would stay inside in poor weather or
seasons, and their heat would be shared by the family. On the
floor by this ledge were impressions in the ground where feed was
placed: the manger.
The second room was attached, often with a separate entrance. This
was the guest house or reception room, and it was intended for
visitors and extended family. We see such a room referenced twice
in the bible by the Greek word kataluma. A kataluma is the room
used by Jesus and his disciples during the last supper. It is also
the word used in this paragraph and translated as "inn".
In the ancient world there were no hotels. The closest you might
find was a tent filled with straw mats, called a caravansary. This
word was translated to "inn" during the story of the good
Samaritan. When the man is injured and placed in the inn for care,
that was a caravansary. In Luke we're talking about a very
different thing.
Taken together with our understanding of Jewish culture and the
importance of the family of David, it is inconceivable to imagine
the holy family alone in a barn on that first Christmas. The
kataluma was full, so they were instead brought into the family
room in communion with many others. When the child was born he was
placed there in the manger where all could see him.
So why do I bring this up? It isn't to criticize those poor
Christmas pageants. It's to talk about the myths.
The story of Jesus birth is not vital to the story of his teaching
or his role within the faith. If Jesus is born in the midst of the
most powerful Jewish family instead of alone in a barn, there's no
fundamental truth being assaulted. In fact, if you spent your
entire life believing one idea vs the other idea, it would have
almost no bearing on your understanding of Jesus at all. Does that
mean it doesn't matter? Does that suggest that a bunch of these
stories are filler and don't have an impact on us? Well, no, not
exactly.
The stories, the myths, and our comprehension of them are trying
to tell us something, but it's almost never the literal histories.
Here in the story of Christ's birth we are being made to
understand his place in the culture of the Jewish people, and his
relationship to the prophets that came before him. In this way we
can understand that he is legitimate. His role is appropriate.
He's not just some guy who found a bunch of metal plates in his
backyard [2].
[2] Problems with the gold plates
Each myth is meant to communicate something to us that words alone
can't. They are intricately tied to the culture of their creation,
and when that culture changes so must the myths. Without this
change they become distance, misaligned, and misconstrued. Before
you know it you are taking words from Leviticus and applying them
to a whole different world.
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may
buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are
around you. [3]
[3] Leviticus 25
Whether we're looking at stories of the Buddha or Brahman,
Gicelemû’kaong or Birrahgnooloo, the myths create and communicate
our understanding of their truth. The myths are not the truth, but
they are true, all of them.
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