Today we live in a world where religion permeates every aspect of our lives, even if we don’t consider ourselves religious. We hear religion preached on our televisions, radios and in the million churches that dot the American landscape. Our politicians spew out their religious beliefs, avowing a faith in this God or that one. Political decisions, constitutional law and our moral compass are judged each day by people who claim religious superiority.
Yet, I would say that we live in society of scientific logos, and the myths that sustained generations upon generations of men have lost their spirit. For those of us who believe that story and myth are a sacred heritage that still holds the power to shape the world, we are saddened when religion attempts to become logos, because we know that the Greeks had it correct.
In the premodern world the Greeks had two ways of thinking, speaking and learning. They called these two ways, mythos and logos. Logos (reason) was the everyday thinking knowledge that allowed people to function. How to hunt, prepare food, build a boat, make clothing, grow food, be safe from predators, how to conduct warfare against an enemy and how to govern a community were all excellent examples of logos knowledge. There was a constant increase in logos knowledge as man evolved into larger, more complex societies. But logos was weak without mythos knowledge to make sense of that world.
Today, we would say, that a myth is something based in fantasy. We read the Greek myths and know they are stories. But these myths were not just self indulgent fantasies. Myths weren’t simple tales about Gods and heroes, but truth presented in a way that helped the ancients deal with life and death. They were focused on the elusive, somber and often tragic elements of being human. Those of us who study mythic stories know that myths were designed to help ancient people make sense of their inner thoughts and psyche. In many ways, they were the psychological therapy of the ancient world.
But, they were never intended to be logos knowledge. A myth was not an accurate account of a historical event but something that might have happened once and for all time continued to show a path through our souls. We each know that some of the most important knowledge we have in our psyches is how to love, how to forgive, how to be independent in thought, how to find courage, how to grow up and leave our childhood behind us and how to find a path to happiness.
How did logos and myth work together in the ancient world and why have we lost this in our modern world? A myth would not have been effective to helping a person if they simply believed in it. A myth could only help humans if they took the truth of the myth and then acted upon similar events in their own life. As writers and readers, we understand the myth of the hero. It’s a cultural tradition, found in every society throughout history. What was the goal of the myth? To help a person unlock their own heroic potential. An ancient could hear the tales of Hercules moving mountains and fighting monsters and arm themselves with that knowledge for their world.
Combining mythos knowledge of the spiritual world and logos knowledge of the physical world enabled a young man to leave his home, in search of his own heroic self. Those ancient myths are still the backbone of any modern hero story. Luke Skywalker left his murdered family behind and charted a new course through the universe. Along the way he found companions to love and a mentor to guide him along the path. He used his logos knowledge of piloting and fighting to survive the physical challenges, but it was by facing the demons of his own psyche and fears that he found the Force within to become a hero. At the end of the sage, Luke Skywalker is a man, who has forgiven his father, saved his world, found his sister, discovered true friendship and stands prepared to face the world a stronger man, humble and brave.
From the earliest history, we see this story repeated in every culture and every religion. Early religions were about the practice of ritual that allowed a person to acquire mythos knowledge in their life. Those early rituals included such things as creating a transition between childhood and adult hood, usually around age 13. It is no coincidence that this is the age of many religious ceremonies for young people. This passage between childhood and adulthood was often marked by trials, tests of manhood, giving up of a young girls childish roles and being secluded as a woman, (often with her first sexual experience being a ritualistic one) A boy might take a journey to the mountain top, go on a large hunt for a beast to slay, or being painfully circumcised in a ritual of overcoming pain to become a man on the other side.
Our western society would look upon these rituals as primitive and unnecessary, but our adolescents often wander lost between the two worlds of childhood and adulthood because they have little and unmeaningful ritual to chart the way. We’ve tried to create graduations, or levels of learning, or getting a license to drive, or any of the more sedate modern rituals of transition for our young people. And yet we feel inside our psyches that something is missing.
Modern day religions ask us to be born again in an attempt to become a new person, a hero of our own lives. They ask us to take actions to be a good person, to slay the evil parts of our psyche and to be constantly renewed in prayer, confession and sacrifice. These are remnants of ancient mythos knowledge. But modern day religion has decided in many instances, to try and become logos knowledge.
It has taken the myths of the scriptures and attempted to squeeze it into a reason block of truth. Let’s look at the beautiful myth of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In our modern world, this story has become controversial as it appears to clash with science. For logos based thinkers who have lost touch with mythos thinking, this is a real problem. They have attempted to take an ancient myth and make it factual. But until the early modern period of history, around 1000 AD, no one would have considered the creation story to be a fact.
Read the rest of this article at Associated Content Article: The Case for God.
This essay on the amazing book by Karen Armstrong: The Case for God, is my feeble attempt to condense just the wealth of wisdom she has placed in the first two chapters! This is one book that you won’t be able to read in an afternoon, but will want to savour and think about and come back too time and time again. It is not an easy light hearted fun read, but a challenging gauntlet laid down to those of us who still cling to a belief in a God. This book asks us to consider the origins of our God and how our God can still be a valid part of modern day culture and more importantly valid to us as individual citizens in that society.
In case you can’t tell, I think everyone should read A Case for God by Karen Armstrong.
