Mythology

All Scripture comes from the mouth of God (2 Timothy 3:16).

People have always been fascinated with mythology. There are countless books on Greek mythology; the character of Hercules has been the subject of many films and television series, and everyone is familiar with the story of Ulysses and the Trojan Horse. As a child, I also liked Norse mythology—Odin and Thor and their doomed struggle against Loki and the forces of chaos.

Every culture has it’s own mythology, stories of gods and heroes and grand adventures. In America’s early days, we had names like Paul Bunyan and John Henry. More recently, Star Wars has become almost myth-like—most people recognize Darth Vader and know what you mean if you say "may the Force be with you."

Myths are stories that unite a culture and express the values its people hold in common. Myths teach young people about what is important in life and how they should behave. Although they are just stories now, in ancient times most myths were actual religions. People prayed to Zeus and offered sacrifices to Odin.

But mythologies all share one thing in common—they were all invented by men. George Lucas created Luke Skywalker; some tribal wise man came up with the first story about Thor. We like mythology because it is our creation; because humanity wrote it, mythology tells us what we want to hear.

The message of the Bible is not mythology. The words of Holy Scripture are God’s own words, given to selected individuals to write down for posterity. If you are skeptical of such a claim, consider this: the Bible tells us things that we don’t want to hear. No one likes to be told that he is a sinner. No one wants to hear that we are saved only by what Jesus did on the cross, that we are unable to reach paradise by our own efforts. It is hard to accept that suffering can lead to blessing. It is mind-boggling to hear that humility and submission are better than strength and independence.

Yet the message of Scripture is one of hope and joy. The mistakes we’ve made can be forgiven. We don’t need to be talented, charismatic or powerful to reach paradise—everlasting life is God’s free gift to everyone who clings to His Son. Christianity is not mythology; it does not tell us what we want to hear, it tells us what we need to hear.