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B U L T M A N N O N T H E
N E W T E S T A M E N T
A N D M Y T H O L O G Y
J o s e p h W a y n e S m i t h S h a r y n W a rd *
University of Adelaide,
Australia.
1. I N T R O D U C T I O N
R u d o l f B u l t m a n n h a s c la im e d t h a t a n o u t s t a n d i n g t a s k o f t h e
c o n t e m p o r a r y C h r i s ti a n t h e o lo g i a n is t o d e m y t h o l o g i z e t h e N e w
T e s t a m e n t p r o c l a m a t i o n a n d a d v a n c e a n e x i s t e n t i a l i s t
r e i n t e r p r e t a t io n I. I n t h i s p a p e r w e s h al l a r g u e t h a t B u l t m a n n ' s
p r o p o s a l s a r e s e r io u s l y d e f e c t iv e . N o t o n l y is h is c a s e a g a i n s t
t h e ' m y t h i c a l ' v i ew o f C h r i s t i a n i t y e x t r e m e l y w e a k , b u t h is o w n
e x i s t e n t i a l i s t t h e o r y i s i n a d e q u a t e . W e sh a l l a r g u e t h a t i f
B u l t m a n n ' s c r i t i c i s m s o f t h e ' m y t h i c a l ' a c c o u n t o f C h r i st ia n i-
t y w e r e a c c e p t a b l e , t h e n t h e r e i s n o g o o d r e a s o n f o r a t t e m p -
t i n g t o s a v e C h r i s t i a n i t y b y a n e x i s t e n t i a l i s t r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .
T h i s m o v e is n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n a q u i t e a r b i t r a r y s t r a t e g y a d-
v a n c e d t o s a v e a n in a d e q u a t e p o s i t io n . H e n c e w e e i th e r a c c e p t
B u l t m a n n ' s m y t h i c a l v i e w o f C h r i s t i a n i t y , o r e ls e w e e l im i n a t e
a n y e x p l a n a t o r y r e fe r e n c e t o C h r i s t ia n p h e n o m e n a in o u r
c o g n i t iv e a t t e m p t s t o c o n s t ru c t a s y s t e m a t i c Weltanschauung.
2. A N E X P L I C A T I O N O F T H E M Y T H O F C H R I S -
T I A N I T Y
T h e m y t h i c a l v ie w o f C h r i s t i a n i t y d i s c u s s e d b y B u l t m a n n is
w h a t w e s h a l l c a l l , t o u s e a p a r a l l e l f r o m t h e p h i l o s o p h y o f
s c ie n c e , a r e a l i s t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e S c r i p t u r e s 2. O n s u c h a
v ie w , t h e r a t io n a l l y r e c o n s t r u c t e d , l it e ra l s t a t e m e n t s o f t h e
S c r i p t u r e s a r e e i t h e r t r u e o r fa l se a n d t h e e s s e n t i a l t e r m s o f s u c h
s t a t e m e n t s t y p i c a l l y r e f e r . T h i s c l a i m r e q u i r e s e x p l i c a t i o n .
C l e a r l y n o t a ll s t a t e m e n t s o f t h e S c r i p t u r e s a r e e i th e r t r u e o r
f als e: s o m e s t a t e m e n t s a r e p u r e l y d e v o t i o n a l s t a t e m e n t s o f e m o -
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tion an d praise O u r interest is restricted in this pa per to
W e l t a n s c h a u u n g s t a t e m e n t s .
T h e s e s t a t e m e n t s i n di v i du a te
Christianity as a uni qu e religion m o n g these sta tem ent s are
th e following:
(1) T h e r e e x i s t s a n o m n i s c i e n t , o m n i p o t e n t , l o v i n g , g o o d b e -
i ng , G o d , w h o i s o u t s i d e o f t h e w o r l d .
(2) T h i s b e i n g c r e a t e d e x n i h i lo t h e w o r l d o r e ls e g u i d e d e v o l u -
t i o n a r y p r o c e s s e s .
(3) T h e r e a l s o e x i s t d e m o n i c p o w e r s w h i c h m a y c a u s a l l y in -
f lu e n c e h u m a n h i s to r y . A l t e rn a t i v e l y G o d m a y i n sp i re h u m a n
t h o u g h t a n d i n fl u en c e h u m a n h i s to r y .
(4) T h e w o r l d w a s c r e a t e d to b e m o r a l ly p e r f e c t b u t h u m a n
k i n d w a s c r e a t e d w i t h t h e f r e e w i l l t o r e j e c t o r d i s o b e y G o d .
T h e r e s u l t w a s t h e f al l o f A d a m , a n o r ig i n al a c t o f d i s o b e d i e n c e
o f h u m a n k i n d.
(5) A n a u t h e n t i c l if e f o r t h e C h r i s t i a n c o n s i s t s in t h e o v e r c o m -
i n g o f s in b y f a i t h i n t h e g r a c e o f G o d , w i t h e t e r n a l s a l v a t i o n
a s th e u l t im a t e j u d g e m e n t f o r s u c h f ai th . N o t t o o b t a i n a n
a u t h e n t i c life , i s t o e n t e r in t o d a m n a t i o n , s e p a r a t i o n f r o m G o d ,
a n d t o u l t im a t e l y b e c o m e t h e p l a y t h i n g s o f t h e d e m o n i c p o w e r s.
(6) T h e t r a n s c e n d e n c e o f s in w a s m a d e p o s s i b l e b y t h e b i r t h
a n d c r u c if ix i o n o f J e s u s C h r is t , t h e s o n o f G o d , w h o a p p e a r e d
o n t h e E a r t h a s a m a n .
W h i l s t m u c h m o r e c o u ld b e a d d e d, t h i s c o n s t i t u t e s t h e b a s i c
a s s u m p t i o n s o f C h r i s t ia n i t y a c c e p t e d b y m a n y n o n - a c a d e m i c
C h u r c h g o e r s . I t i s a s t o r y o f D i v i n e i n fl u e n c e u p o n h u m a n a f-
f a i r s , a n d a n y t h i n g f u r t h e r a d d e d t o t h i s p i c t u r e i n c o r p o r a t e s
t h i s i n f l u e n c e (e .g . t h e E u c h a r i s t ) . I t i s s u c h a v i e w t h a t
B u l t m a n n r e g a r d s a s a m y t h . W e s h al l s t a t e h i s o b j e c t i o n s .
3 . B U L T M A N N S C R I T I C I S M S O F M Y T H O L O G I C A L
C H R I S T I A N I T Y
B u l t m a n n s f i r s t o b j e c t i o n to t h e m y t h o l o g i c a l v i e w o f C h r is -
t i a n i t y i s t h a t i t is b o t h s e n s e l e s s a n d i m p o s s i b l e . T h e t h r e e -
s t o ri e d m o r a l u n i v e r s e o f t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t i s s im p l y w r o n g ;
t h e r e i s n o H e a v e n o r H e l l a s o n t o lo g i c a l p l ac e s , a n d c o n s e q u e n t -
ly , G o d c a n n o t b e in H e a v e n , n o r c a n w e . I n d e e d : N o w t h a t
t h e f o r c e s a n d l a w s o f n a t u r e h a v e b e e n d i s c o v e r e d , w e c an n o
l o n g e r b e l i e v e in s p ir i ts w h e t h e r g o o d o r e v il . W e k n o w t h a t
5
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t h e s t a r s a r e p h y s i c a l b o d i e s w h o s e m o t i o n s a r e c o n t r o l l e d b y
t h e l a w s o f t h e u n i v e rs e , a n d n o t d a e m o n i c b e i n g s w h i c h e n s l a v e
m a n k i n d t o th e i r s er v ic e . A n y i n f lu e n c e t h e y m a y h a v e o v e r
h u m a n l if e m u s t b e ex p l i c ab l e in t e r m s o f t h e o r d i n a r y l a w s o f
n a t u r e ; i t c a n n o t i n a n y w a y b e a t t r i b u t e d t o th e i r m a l e v o l e n c e .
S i c k n e s s a n d t h e c u r e o f d i s e a s e a r e li k e w i se a t t r i b u t a b l e t o
n a t u r a l c a u s a t i o n ; t h e y a r e n o t t h e re s u l t o f d a e m o n i c a c t i v i t y
o r o f e v i l s p e ll s . T h e m i ra c le s o f t he e w T e s t a m e n t h a v e c e a s -
e d t o b e m i r a c u l o u s a n d t o d e f e n d t h e ir h i s t o r ic i t y b y r e c o u r s e
t o n e r v o u s d i s o r d e r s o r h y p n o t i c e f f e c t s o n l y s e r v e s t o u n d e rl in e
t h e f a c t ~.
C o n t e m p o r a r y h u m a n i t y , v i e w e d in th e l i g h t o f t h e b i o lo g ic a l
a n d p s y c h o l o g i c a l s c ie n c es , f in d s t h e s a c r a m e n t s u t t e r l y s t r a n g e
a n d i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e i n B u l t m a n n ' s o p in i on . I t is u n c l e a r h o w
G o d c a n c a u s a l l y i n t e r a c t w i th h im - h er . T h e a t o n e m e n t is a l so
i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e t o c o n t e m p o r a r y h u m a n i t y , i n v o l v i n g n o t h i n g
m o r e t h a n p r i m i t iv b i d e a s o f s a c ri f ic e 6. L i k e w i s e f o r t h e r e s u r -
r e c t i o n o f J e s u s 7.
B u l t m a n n i n s h o r t r e j e c ts a n y r e al is t a c c o u n t o f C h r is t i an i -
t y . S u c h a v i e w i s a n o u t r i g h t m y t h w h i c h is r e n d e r e d o b s o l e t e
b y m o d e r n s c ie nc e . B u l t m a n n c la im s t h a t t h e m y t h i c a l v ie w o f
t h e w o r ld m u s t b e a c c e p t e d o r r e j e c t e d i n i t s e n t i r e t y , f o r e v e n
e l im i n a t i n g a s p e c t s o f t h i s v i e w p o i n t s u c h a s t h e v i r g in b i r t h
o f J e s u s C h r is t , t h e m y t h i c a l c h a r a c t e r o f t h e v i e w p o i n t s ti ll
r e m a in s . O n c e w e s ta r t s u b t r a c t i n g f ro m t h e k e r y g m a , w h e r e
c a n w e n o n - ar b i t ra r i l y d r a w t h e l in e? N o w h e r e B u l t m a n n
b e l i e v e s . H e n c e t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t i s i n n e e d o f
d e m y t h o l o g i z i n g .
4. B U L T M A N N ' S A T T E M P T A T D E M Y T H O L O G I Z A T I O N
T h e p o i n t o f m y t h is n o t t o p r e s e n t a n o b j e c t i v e p i c t u r e o f t h e
w o r l d a s i t i s ( a s a n y r e a l i s t i c t h e o r y a t t e m p t s t o d o ) , b u t t o
e x p r e s s a n i m a g e o f t h e n a t u r e a n d l im i t s o f t h e h u m a n c o nd i-
t io n . I n p a r t ic u l a r , m y t h i s a n e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e c o n v i c t io n t h a t
h u m a n k i n d i s n o t m a s t e r o f h i s- h er o w n b e in g ; i t e x p r e s s e s a
s e n s e of c o s m i c i n d ep e n d e n c e . B u l t m a n n ' s d e p a r t u r e in
d e m y t h o l o g i z i n g t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t i s t o a t t e m p t t o u n d e r s-
t a n d e x i s t e n t i a l l y m y t h o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t io n s : w e h a v e t o
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discover whether the New Tes tam ent offers man an understan-
ding of himself which will challenge him to a genui ne existen-
tial decision. 8
Our criticism of Bul tma nn will be of his entire programme,
so we need not sketch his entire attempt at demythologiza-
tion.We are interes ted solely in his methodology. To review this,
consider Bul tma nn s att emp t to provide Christian self-
unders tandi ng without Christ. The
prim a facie
difficul ty which
Bultmarm faces is that in the New Test amen t faith is always
fa i th in Ch ri s t
being revealed only at a certain mom ent
in history (Gal. 3.23,25). How can a Christian understanding
of Being without Christ be given? Bult mann s answer to this
question, one which we believe given his assumptions is less
than satisfactory, is that through Christ, GOd has reconciled
the world to himself. The suffering of Chris t for humani ty s sins,
enables us to stand before God as righteous. To do so is to
become an authentic person, who stands open to the rich
possibilities of the future, and whose past life of non-
authe ntic ity is dead and done away with.
The event of Jesus Christ is therefore the revelation of the
love of God. It makes a man free from himself and free to be
himself, free to live a life of self-commitment in fa ith and love.
Bu t faith in this sense of the word is possible only where it t akes
the form of fai th in the love of God. Yet such fait h is still a sub-
tle form of self-assertion so long as the love of God is merely
a piece of wishful thinking. It is only an abs tra ct idea so long
as God has not revealed his love. Tha t is why faith for the Chris-
tian means fai th in Christ, for it is faith in the love of God reveal-
ed in Chr is t 9.
About the crucifixion Bultmann says:
By giving up Jesus to be crucified, God has set up the
cross for us. To believe in the cross of Christ does not mean
to concern ourselves with a mythical process wrought out-
side of us and our world, with an objective event turned
by God to our advantage, but rather to make the cross
of Christ our own, to undergo crucifixion with him. The
cross in its redemptiv e aspect is not an isolated incident
which befell a mythical personage, but an event whose
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m e a n i n g h a s c o s m i c i m p o r t a n c e . I t s d e c i si v e ,r e v o lu -
t i o n a r y s i g n i f i c a n c e i s b r o u g h t o u t b y t h e e s c h a t a l o g i c a l
f r a m e w o r k i n w h i c h i t i s s e t . I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e c r o s s i s
n o t j u s t a n e v e n t o f t h e p a s t w h i c h c a n b e c o n t e m p l a t e d ,
b u t i s t h e e s c h a t a l o g i c a l e v e n t i n a n d b e y o n d t i m e , i n s o
f a r a s i t { u n d e r s t o o d i n t h e s i g n i f ic a n c e , t h a t is , f o r fa i th )
i s a n e v e r - p r e s e n t r e a l i t y L 0
F i n a l l y , a b o u t t h e e x i s t e n t i a l s i g n i f ic a n c e o f t h e r e s u r r e c t i o n
B u l t m a n n s t a t e s :
. .. th e r e s u r r e c t i o n is n o t a m y t h o l o g i c a l e v e n t a d d u c e d i n
o r d e r t o p r o v e t h e s a v i n g e f f ic a c y o f t h e c r o s s , b u t a n a r-
t ic l e o f f a i t h j u s t a s m u c h a s t h e m e a n i n g o f th e c r o s s it se lf .
I n d e e d
f a i t h i n t h e r e s u r ~ r e c t i o n i s r e a l l y t h e s a m e t h i n g
a s f a i t h i n t h e s a v i n g e f f i c a c y o f t h e c ro s s
f a i t h i n t h e c r o s s
a s t h e c r o s s o f C h r i s t . H e n c e y o u c a n n o t f i rs t b e l ie v e in
C h r i s t a n d t h e n i n t h e s t r e n g t h o f t h a t f a i t h b e l ie v e in th e
c r o s s. T o b e l ie v e i n C h r i s t m e a n s t o b e l i e v e i n th e c r o s s
a s t h e c r o s s o f C h r i s t . T h e s a v i n g e f f ic a c y o f t h e c r o s s is
n o t d e r i v e d f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t i t i s th e c r o s s o f C h r i s t : i t
i s th e c r o s s o f C h r i s t b e c a u s e i t h a s t h i s s a v i n g e f fi c ac y .
W i t h o u t t h a t e f f i c a c y i t is t h e t r a g i c e n d o f a g r e a t m a n I~.
I t i s n e c e s s a r y f o r o u r c r it ic i s m s o f B u l t m a n n ' s p o s i t io n t h a t
t h e r e a d e r h a s b e f o r e h im / h e r c o p io u s e x a m p l e s o f B u l t m a n n ' s
m e t h o d o f a r g u m e n t . W e w ill n o w a r g u e t h a t B u l t m a n n ' s p o si -
t io n i s l o g ic a l ly c o n t r a d i c t o r y , a d i r e c t c o n t r a d i c t i o n o f h i s o w n
c l a im s o f ' th e i n a d e q u a c y o f m y t h o l o g i c a l C h r i s t i a n i ty .
5. A C R I T I Q U E O F B U L T M A N N ' S P R O P O S A L S
O n t h e o n e h a n d B u l t m a n n c la i m s t h a t a m y t h o l o g i c a l v i e w o f
C h r i s t i a n i t y is i n a d e q u a t e . B u l t m a n n t e l ls u s t h a t t h e
c o s m o l o g y o f s u c h a v ie w is o b s o le t e . I n p a r t i c u l a r t h e d o c t r in e
o f t h e a t o n e m e n t is ta k e n b y B u l t m a n n t o in v o lv e n o t h i n g m o r e
t h a n t h e p r im i t i v e n o t i o n s o f g u i lt a n d s y m p a t h e t i c m a g ic . I f
t h i s i s s o , t h e n i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o r e a s o n a b l y s e e a n y t h i n g o t h e r
t h a n a c o n t r a d ic t io n i n B u l t m a n n ' s s t a t e m e n t s a b o u t t h e e v e n t
o f J e s u s C h r i st , t h e c ru c i fi x io n , a n d t h e r e s u r r e c t i o n . T h e s e
s t a t e m e n t s a ll i n v o lv e t a l k a b o u t a G o d w h o s e e m s t o b e 'o u t-
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side' of the human condition, who is capable of revealing
Himself through Christ -- or else they involve merely vague
mystifications.
In his talk about the crucifixion Bul tma nn on the one hand
speaks of this event as having cosmic importance, and claims
th at it is an eschatalogical event in and beyond time. This seems
once more to be mere myth making. On the other hand
Bultmann speaks of the cross of Christ as our own, that
somehow we undergo crucifixion with Him. If this is inte rpre ted
as an existential symbol, we fail to see any reason for regar-
ding this act as any less 'primitive' than the viewpoint of the
'mythical' account of Christianity. If Christ was not the son
of God, then how absurd it would have been to have died on
a cross. If this was an example of a
gener l
way to obtain
authentic being, it seems rather pointless for it is historically
limited. Crucifixion is not a common phemonenon in contem-
porary society and its mere material significance is lost on
modern people. What then can its point be beyond being a
method of execution?
Bultmann of course says that the resurrection is the same
thi ng as fa ith in the saving efficacy of the cross. He maintai ns
th at the saving efficacy of the cross is not derived from the fact
th at it is the cross of Christ, but it is the cross of Christ because
it has a saving efficacy. But let us recall that we have seen
Bultmann's prior rejection of spiritualism at all levels. What
then is this prior 'saving efficacy' of the cross? In natura l and
exist entia list terms, the cross did any th in g but save: it spelt
the end of Christ, it was the murder weapon. Bultmann must
either be talki ng nonsense, or else contrad ict ing himself by a
tacit appeal to a spiritual agency.
Let us push this general line of arg ume nt further. Surely to
speak of God acting, is to use mytholog ica l language, for the
term 'God' is a proper name of some Being and has a referen-
tial use. Wh y does Bult man n still use this term? Medicine no
longer uses terms referring to entities such as 'vital spirits'.
These entities are mere conceptual baggage which are
elimina ted wi th a change in conceptual scheme ~2. Wh y should
a consistent existentialist interpretation of the New Testa ment
make use of such terms? For us, this seems little more than an
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att~,mpt t,~ throw out the bathwater and the babe and have both
as well. [;se of ()ccam s razor requires the elimination of such
terminology. This means that we are left with a certain
historical narrative plus existentialism. If the mythological view
of Chri stianity is untenable, then Bult man n only confuses mat-
ter~ by using the same terminology. Consistency requires its
abandonment: talk of GOd , sin and fai th is replaced by talk
invoh ing only existentia l terms.
To do this however, while restoring consist ency, only serves
to leave Christianity conceptually vacuous. There is no dif-
ference then between Christianity and Existentialism, because
what in effect one has done is to replace Christianity by Ex-
istentialism. Bultmann s first criticism of the mythological view
of Christianity can now be applied to his own position: there
is nothing specifically Christian in his view as such.
Does Bul tmann s criticism of mythological Chris tian ity hold?
The criticism is primarily th at this position is inconsistent with
modern physics, biology and psychology. This criticism is
stat ed in a very inadequate fashion in Bul tman n s writings for
he never considers how one would establish that elements of
the mythological viewpoint actually conflict with the best con-
temporary physical, biological and psychological theories. As
far as we can see, no contradiction as such can be derived, for
the good reason that scientific theories describe mechanisms
in this world God as an agent outside of the world is not
necessarily subject to its laws. Bultmann s argument then is
not circular, for it only succeeds if it is already assumed that
God is not a Divine Being. The best that Bultmann can
establi sh from his argume nt from science, is th at by considera-
tions of parsimony, explanato ry reference to God need not be
made. However, to argue in this fashion only leads Bultmann
back into the set of difficult ies which we previously not ed 13.
6. CONCLUSION: THE STATE OF THE A RGU MEN T
We have argued t hat Bult mann s existentialist Christian
theology suffers from theoretical defects. His position is open
to the following des tructi ve dilemma: if the mythologi cal ac-
count of Christianity is inadequate, then Bultmann must in
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m a n y i n s t a n c e s {as c i t a t io n s i n d ic a te ) , c o n t r a d i c t h i m s e l f . O n
t h e o t h e r h a n d , a c o n s i s t e n t e x i s t e n t i a l i s t C h r i s t i a n t h e o l o g y ,
s h o u l d b y t h e p r in c i p le o f p a r s i m o n y , e l i m i n a t e a ll ' G o d - t a l k '.
T h i s i s t o r e s u l t i n a p o s i t i o n w h i c h i s n o t s p e c i f i c a l l y C h r i s -
t i a n a t a l l .
R e f e r e n c e s :
1. C f. R . B u l t m a n n , ' N e w T e s t a m e n t a n d M y t h o l o g y , in
Kerygrna and Myth, (ed.) H. W. Bartsch, (Harper Torch Books,
New York, 196.)pp. 1-44.
2. For an account of the realist position in the philosophy
of science cf R. Harre, The Principles of Scientific Thinking,
( M a c m i l l a n , L o n d o n , 1970 ); R . B h a s k a r ,
A Realist Theory of
Science
{ H a r v e s t e r P r e s s , S u s s e x , 1 97 8) a n d W . H . N e w t o n -
S m i t h ,
The Rationality of Science,
( R o u t l e d g e a n d K e g a n P a u l ,
Lo n d o n , 1 9 8 1 ) .
3. I t is a l so p o s s i b le t h a t a t a s u r f a c e l ev e l, s o m e s t a t e m e n t s
o f t h e S c r i p t u r e s m a y b e p a r a d o x i c a l , e x p e c ia l ly t h o s e d e s c r ib -
i n g t h e n a t u r e o f G o d . W e h a v e a r g u e d e l s e w h e r e ( D i a l ec t ic a l
L o g i c a n d T h e o l o g i c a l P a r a d o x e s , { s u b m i t te d fo r p u b l i ca t io n ) )
t h a t s u c h d i f f ic u l t i e s m a y b e e l i m i n a t e d b y a r e j e c t i o n o f
c l a s s i c a l l o g i c . I f n o n - c l a s s i c a l l o g i c s a r e n e e d e d t o r e s o l v e
v a r i o u s p a r a d o x e s in c la s si ca l l og ic a n d q u a n t u m m e c h a n i c s ,
t h e n i t s e e m s t o u s n o t u n r e a s o n a b l e t o b el ie v e t h a t a d ia le c-
t ic a l l o gi c m a y b e o f r e a d y u s e t o t h e o l o g i a n s .
If
t h e w o r l d c o u ld
s e r i o u s l y b e c o n s i d e r e d t o b e ' i n c o n s i s t e n t ' {cf. R . R o u t l e y ,
Ex-
ploring Meinong s Jungle and Beyond,
( A u s t r a l i a n N a t i o n a l
U n i v e r s i t y , C a n b e r r a , 1980)), t h e n i t is n o t u n r e a s o n a b l e a f t e r
a ll t h a t a t r a n c e n d e n t a l o b j e c t s u c h a s G o d m a y b e ' in c o n s is -
t e n t ' a s w e l l .
4 . B u l t m a n n , o p . c i t , n o t e 1, p . 3 .
5 . Ib id , pp . 4-5 .
6 . Ib id , p . 7 .
7 . Ib id , p .8 .
8. Ib id , p. 16.
9 . Ib id , p . 32 .
10 . Ib id , p . 36 .
l l . I b i d , p . 4 1 .
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12. For an accoun t of such an elimination, applied to the
mind-body problem cf, R. Rorty, Mind-B ody Iden tity , Privacy
and Categories ,
The Review of Metaphysics
, vol. XIX, 1965,
pp. 24-54.
13. This is of course to presuppose t ha t we know wha t
'science' is, an assumption open to considerable controversy.
See W. H. Newton-Smith,
The Rationality of Science
op. cir.
note. 2.
12