Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 23

New Religions as Global Cultures Paper for Philip Johnson

MM 253/653 New Religions as Global Cultures


By John W. Morehead
January 29, 2007

“The Truth is Out There: Postmodern Myth and Archetypes, Extraterrestrial Salvation,
and Mythic Apologetics”

As the church has moved through history and engaged various cultures it has

discovered that differing means of engagement are necessary in varying contexts. As a

result of the cross-cultural engagement process the church has utilized differing forms of

missions (Bosch 1991), as well as apologetics (Dulles 1991). These differing approaches

have arisen as the church faced varying cultures, each with their own questions, concerns,

and unique needs for communication.

In the modern Western world the church has tended to engage in forms of

evangelism and apologetics that emphasize rational argumentation in order to defend the

Christian worldview and as a means of communicating the gospel. While this form of

engagement continues to be appropriate in various contexts, the church might consider

other approaches as Western culture develops in ways in which rational argumentation

connects less effectively as a means of persuasion and communication.

This essay will look at one such approach by considering the significance of myth

in popular culture, particularly for various new religious movements, how popular culture

and these religious movements often draw upon mythic archetypes and symbols, and will

then consider the need for the development of mythic apologetics by way engagement.

Finally, we will consider an application of mythic apologetics for UFO religious groups

and will sketch a broad outline of the elements that this apologetic might include as

illustrated popular culture in response to the mythic desires of those in such groups.

1
Myths and Postmodernity

Myths have long provided people and their cultures with narratives to live by. In

the modern scientific age we are used to thinking of myths as unhistorical and false, but

there are a variety of ways in which to think of myths and scholars define them variously.

Hexham and Poewe define myth as “a story with culturally formative power” (1997, 81).

They elaborate on their definition of myth and comment on more traditional

understandings:

This definition emphasizes that a myth is essentially a story – any story – that
affects the way people live. Contrary to many writers, we do not believe that a
myth is necessarily unhistorical. In itself a story that becomes a myth can be true
or false, historical or unhistorical, fact or fiction. What is important is not the
story itself but the function it serves in the life of an individual, a group or a whole
story (Ibid., emphasis in original)

Having defined myth in terms of its function and importance in culture, Hexham

and Poewe identify various mythic fragments that they see as prominent in the West.

These include pseudoscientific myths, myths of fate and prophecy, healing myths, myths

of decline, other civilization myths, myths of transformation (Ibid., 84-91), and myths of

technology (Hexham & Poewe 1986, 32-33). The significance of the differing types of

myths will become evident as we consider how they are expressed in certain aspects of

popular culture and new religious movements below.

Myths are expressed in great abundance in the popular culture of postmodernity.

Television programs, motion pictures, animation (especially Japanese anime), video

games, comics, and books frequently depict the mythic, both drawing upon previously

existing myths and creating new ones for a fantasy hungry culture. Star Trek and The X-

Files from television, and the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings motion pictures provide

well known examples of this phenomenon, and a plethora of other examples could be

2
provided from video games, comics, and animation which are lesser known by the

broader public but which find a large and growing base of consumers. These expressions

of popular culture entertainment draw upon various mythic elements (Star Wars and The

Matrix explicitly so) (Moyers & Campbell 2001; Ford 2000), and provide a window into

the spiritual yearnings of the culture (Drane 2000, 154-173).

This demonstrates not only the importance of myth in postmodern culture, but

also the significance of the cinema in shaping cultural ideas, especially in relation to

spirituality. The Australian filmmaker George Miller, best known for his film such as the

Mad Max trilogy and Babe, came to recognize that his films tapped into something deep

and important in people who had viewed them around the world (Miller 1996). Miller

goes further and states that in his view “the cinema has replaced the church as the arena

for storytelling” (Johnson 1998, 62). Church leaders may wish to take notice of the

implications of this if they hope to recapture the Western imagination.

Mythic Symbols and Archetypes

But how are we to explain the existence of these myths? Why do they have such

power in touching the psyche of people in various cultures? Why is there great similarity

of myths across cultures? And why do many of these myths speak to our need for

spiritual transformation and redemption? The answers to these questions may be found in

the convergence of three disciplines – that of religious phenomenology, Jungian

psychoanalysis, and folklore studies.

Each of these disciplines shed light on the existence of certain motifs, commonly

referred to as archetypes. From within religious phenomenology, Mircea Eliade noted

3
that religions draw upon archetypal patterns in their rituals which connect those in the

group to the divine and their place in time and the historical process (Eliade 1971). In the

arena of psychoanalysis Carl Jung has been influential in his work which described

archetypes as a set of mental principles or cognitive structures that that are universal in

the human race and which form the collective unconscious (Jung 1964). In folklore

studies a review of the Motif-Index of Folk Literature provides evidence of the similarity

of mythic motifs from various regions around the world (Thompson 1989). The result of

the convergence of these independent lines of scholarly research is important. As Philip

Johnson has stated:

From each of these disciplines some remarkable parallel conclusions have been
reached concerning the significance of myth and symbol and their relationship to
the human condition of spiritual alienation. Recurrent patterns of mythic motifs
include nostalgia for a lost paradise, yearnings for a utopia, and the universal hero
slaying monsters (Johnson 1998, 64).

We will consider the significance of archetypes and myth in popular culture and

for Christian mission and apologetics below, but a few words must be said in critical

interaction with Jung and Eliade’s views on archetypes. These ideas must not be accepted

uncritically, and critique has been raised both in terms of the individuals who developed

the notions of the archetypes, as well as the concepts themselves. It must be

acknowledged that Jung and Eliade, as well as the mythologist who’s work provided a

popular expression of Jung’s ideas on myth, Joseph Campbell, were “associated with the

politics of the extreme right, even, according to some charges, with sympathy for fascism

and anti-Semitism” (Ellwood 1999, vii). Further, Noll has put forward the thesis that Jung

“underwent a visionary initiation into the Hellenistic mysteries of Mithras,” and that he

4
later developed his theories as part of “what was essentially a new religious movement”

(1994, xi, xii).

While the political and religious views of these individuals must be considered

carefully, particularly as they may have a bearing on the development and validity of

archetypal motifs, problematic personal views and affiliations do not necessarily

invalidate the idea of archetypes themselves. Researchers must be careful to consider the

historical and cultural context in which Jung, Eliade, and Campbell developed their

views, and we must be careful to avoid the genetic fallacy of rejecting an idea or

argument simply because of where it originated.

Beyond the personal considerations and moving to critical interaction with

Jungian conceptions of the archetypes, there is no need to accept a strictly Jungian

interpretation. These ideas can be reinterpreted, as one scholar has done in developing an

archetypal apologetic for the Resurrection of Christ from pagan myths (McKenzie 1997).

Finally with reference to critical interaction with archetypes, we must remember

that the existence of a common collection of archetypal symbols in the human

consciousness has been recognized by three independent disciplines of study. This would

seem to suggest that a genuine phenomenon exists within the human psyche across

cultures and times. This then becomes an important area for Christian interaction,

particularly in light of cultural developments in the Western world.

Western Re-Enchantment

Scholars have noted the changing cultural landscape of the Western world, but

many of the developments that have come with it, as well as their significance, have not

5
been noticed by many Christians (Patridge 2002), including those working in the areas of

church growth, evangelism, and missions. The Western world has been described as

having experienced a process of disenchantment and re-enchantment. During the

intersection of the Enlightenment and modernity a secularization process began in which

many scholars felt that people in the West would be less religious as they embraced

science, technology, and what was believed to be more rational explanations of life and

reality (Berger 1967). With this view it was believed that secularization would entail less

religiosity, a disenchantment, and more of an orientation toward secularism. While some

scholars still hold to this view of secularization, many now recognize that it was incorrect

(Cox 1999), including some of its strongest advocates in the past (Berger 2000). A

secularization process did take place which resulted in a disenchanted view of the

cosmos, but this did not mean people were less religious. Rather, the disenchantment

process changed the ways in which people expressed and engaged in their religiosity as

they moved away from confidence in traditional and institutionalized forms of religion in

favor of individualized forms of religiosity (Heelas & Woodhead 2005), usually referred

to in common parlance as a preference for spirituality over religion.

With the cultural shift toward late-modernity or post-modernity a process of re-

enchantment is well underway (Partridge 2004). Working in concert with the forces of

globalization, pluralism, and consumerism, re-enchantment includes an emphasis on an

individual spiritual quest (Wuthnow 1998), and an emphasis on eclectic forms of Do-It-

Yourself Spirituality where a smorgasbord approach to religion is the order of the day.

One of the more significant aspects of the contemporary spiritual quest is the

influence of consumerism. No religion has failed to be impacted by the Western habit of

6
creating and maintaining a sense of self and religious identity through the process of

consumption, and this is especially the case with consumer religions. Adam Possamai

argues that “[r]eligion in our postmodern times – whether we like it or not – is definitely

part of our consumer culture” (2005, 47). One of the aspects of consumption in

contemporary spirituality discussed by Possamai is the area of popular culture where

various religions and spiritualities are informed by subjective myths, and at times form

new religious movements in the process (2002). An example of this is found in The

Church of All Worlds, a Neo-Pagan group founded in the 1960s which “bases its

teachings in part on Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land science fiction, as well

as the “Star Trek mythos” (Possamai 2005, 58). Possamai provides additional examples

such as L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology that began with a series of stories in Astounding

Science Fiction magazine, as well as various vampire and werewolf groups and

subcultures (Ibid., 60-61).

One of the more interesting developments that has taken place with the

appropriation of subjective myths within popular culture is the creation of “hyper-real

religions.” By hyper-real religion Possamai refers to “a simulacrum of a religion partly

created out of popular culture which provides inspiration for believers/consumers at a

metaphorical level” (2005, 79). As examples of this phenomenon Possamai discusses

Jediism, a religion based upon the Star Wars films (Possamai 2003; cf. Possamai 2005,

72-75), and the religion of Matrixism, based upon The Matrix series of films.

Through this discursion into popular culture we should not lose sight of the

important fact that people are drawing upon various mythic ideas or archetypes within

their own psyches which are expressed in popular culture. These are then consumed and

7
incorporated into new expressions of religion and spirituality. These archetypes are

perhaps most clearly recognizable in various UFO religions.

UFO Religions and the Sacred Extraterrestrial

Another of the more interesting religions and spiritualities of the modern and

post-modern periods are those associated with the UFO phenomenon. The contemporary

interest in UFOs can be traced back to Kenneth Arnold who reported seeing nine disc-

shaped objects as he flew a small plane near Mount Rainier in Washington state in 1947.

Arnold reported that the objects looked like a saucer skipping across the water, and once

this was reported in the media the term “flying saucer” was born. It soon became a fixture

in the national and international vocabulary (Partridge 2003).

While the UFO phenomenon began in proximity to Cold War concerns of the

1950s as well as the space race, and was interpreted by skeptics and believers in scientific

frameworks concerning extraterrestrial visitation, the UFO phenomenon also has deep

religious connections. Although he lived prior to Arnold’s sighting in the 1940s,

Emmanual Swedenborg was an influential figure in modern religious history who

claimed contact with UFOs and extraterrestrials (Ibid., 7). Other religious influences

include Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society and George Adamski’s theosophically-

oriented Royal Order of Tibet (Ibid., 17). These and other groups would provide an

important foundation for the developing religious dimension of the UFO phenomena

(Lewis 1995, 16-64). In addition, Partridge has discussed a “sacralization of the

extraterrestrial” as a part of the re-enchantment process with UFOs being interpreted

largely in secular or “physicalist” ways in the disenchantment phase of the West, and in

8
more religious and spiritual ways with re-enchantment. In Partridge’s view, UFO faith “is

a manifestation of disillusionment with traditional, mainstream religiosity,” and UFOs

and alien contact also represent an aspect of re-enchantment as part of “the explicit

resacralization of the phenomenon” (Partridge 2005, 170).

While there have been a number of new religious movements that have identified

in some way with UFOs and extraterrestrials, such as the Unarius Academy of Science

and the Aetherius Society, two particular groups are worthy of note and relevant to our

discussion of popular culture, myth, and archetypes. These include the Raelian

Movement International and Heaven’s Gate. The Raelian Movement, founded by Claude

Vorilhon, teaches that the biblical creation story referencing the Hebrew word for God,

“Elohim,” refers not to a monotheistic deity, but rather, to a race of extraterrestrials

responsible for cloning and implanting human beings on earth in the distant past (Lewis

2001, 362-3). The group is an interesting synthesis of various religious and scientific

elements, as well as mythic ideas, borrowed from Judaism and Christianity in their

common creation story and ideas related to resurrection, combining these ideas with the

latest scientific and ethical speculations, activities, and controversies in the areas of

human identity and cloning. The Raelians captured international attention in 2002 with

their claim to have successfully cloned a human being (Partridge 2003, 60).

The second group worthy of note is Heaven’s Gate which came to national

attention in 1997 after law enforcement officials discovered the bodies of group members

who had committed suicide in connection with the appearance of a comet that for them

signaled a time of transition to an extraterrestrial dimension aboard a UFO (Ibid., 103-

128). Beyond the group’s tragic end, Heaven’s Gate is of interest in that its beliefs were

9
an interesting mix of the Protestant background of its two founders coupled with aspects

of popular culture, including Star Trek and The X-Files (Possamai 2005, 59-60). The

influence of mythic and archetypical notions is also significant. While writing on the

influence of popular culture on the suicides of the Heaven’s Gate members, one writer

has connected this to the notion of Jungian archetypes, and refers to group members as

those who “were sized by an archetype” in reference to Jung’s views on UFO symbolism

(Digney 1998, 322). With Heaven’s Gate we find a strong example of the confluence of

archetypes, myths, and popular culture.

These two examples of contemporary religious groups provide us with examples

of groups that have formed in response to certain mythic and archetypal ideas within the

human psyche that are expressed in popular culture and which were drawn upon in order

to meet contemporary spiritual yearnings.

If we consider the religious dimension of the contemporary UFO phenomenon

and its connection to the mythic, John Saliba has identified seven major themes or

elements that parallel those found in more traditional religions (Lewis 1995, 41-51).

These include an element of mystery, transcendence (with UFOs as sky symbols

connected to the divine), belief in spiritual entities (the aliens understood as special

messengers from beyond), perfection (seen as an attribute of the aliens), salvation (a

frequent message of the aliens who are interpreted as providing redemption from beyond

earth and humanity), worldview (in the form of an alternative cosmology standing in

tension with traditional religion as well as modern science), and spirituality (where

contactee experiences are similar to rites of passage and rebirth).

10
UFO groups are often not only religious in character, but as we have seen, this

religiosity is often formed through the appropriation of various archetypes expressed in

popular culture. Some scholars have stated that with the UFO phenomenon we may be

seeing a contemporary myth in the making (Jung 1959), and one that reinterprets

religious and mythic elements for a post-modern age that presents us with “technological

angels”:

Jung interpreted the phenomenon of flying saucers – which often appear in the
form of circular disks – as mandala symbols, reflecting the human mind’s desire
for stability in a confused world. From a depth psychological point of view, it is
thus no coincidence that the chariots of the gods should manifest in the form of
flying saucers (Partridge 2003, 109).

Several of the myths identified by Hexham and Poewe in relation to the West and

new religious movements are applicable to UFO religions. These include myths of

technology (Hexham & Poewe 1986), pseudo-scientific myths, other-civilization myths,

myths of evolution (Hexham & Poewe 1997), as well as myths of contact or visitation

which surface in connection with the apocalyptic, cargo cultic, and millenarian aspects of

UFO religions (Partridge 2003, 221-238; Trompf 2000). As Partridge has also noted,

“mythology is a treasure trove with more than a little importance” in understanding UFO

religions (Partridge 2003, 23), one which has helped to shape a decidedly religious

perspective on UFOs, and one with affinities with Christianity:

As a vernacular religious response to the fears of the nuclear era, American flying
saucer beliefs directly address apocalyptic fears, offering salvation by all-knowing
beings with superior consciousness who oversee the fate of humanity. In contrast
to the destructive technology of atomic weapons and the inescapable spectre of
nuclear annihilation UFOs represent a benevolent technology and the possibility
of a golden age of peace and harmony. Just as the image of the mushroom cloud
has become a symbol of destruction in the modern era, the UFO has emerged as
folk symbol of hope and salvation, promising rescue by means of a technological
rapture brought about by saviour beings descending from the skies (Ibid., 285).

11
It is clear that UFOs provide an example of a mythic symbol of hope and

redemption from beyond, and one which has developed in a scientific age and in many

ways in reaction to traditional religion and Christianity. But how might Christians

connect with the mythic and archetypal ideas present within the UFO phenomenon and

UFO religions in order to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ? This might be done

through a mythic apologetic and to this we now turn.

Mythic Apologetics

The roots of mythic apologetics can be traced to the Lutheran theologian Johann

Valentin Andreae, with other early forerunners found in figures such as Ramon Lull, the

Franciscan apologist and missionary to Islam (Johnson 1998, 67 & 68). Andreae

developed the first major mythic apologetic that interacted with alchemy as well as

Rosicrucianism (Ibid., 68) developed as a means of bringing Rosicrucians back to belief

in the gospel and the Lutheran confessions (Ibid. 69). Later Christians would also make

contributions to forms of mythic apologetics including Charles Williams, J. R. R.

Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and John Warwick Montgomery (Montgomery 1974; Johnson

1998). Montgomery called this a “literary apologetic” (Johnson 1998, 25) given its

connection to the Inklings and their great work in literature, but it is also referred to

variously as a mythic, mythopoeic or subject-individualist apologetic.

By contrast with apologetic approaches that emphasize rational and intellectual

considerations, this model recognizes that there are people who are not only inclined

toward rational orientations to life and spirituality, there are also people who lean more

toward intuitive, creative, and artistic approaches. The mythic apologetic approach may

12
be understood as another tool in the apologetic toolkit that compliments apologetic

approaches for the “tough minded” by addressing other orientations toward life and

spirituality.

While some evangelicals, particularly apologists used to more rational and

argumentative approaches, might find mythic apologetics an unusual concept, as we have

seen above, it has a distinguished pedigree in terms of its connection to the Inklings. A

further exploration of this connection provides interesting reminders and promising

possibilities, both in terms of our understanding of Scripture and our ability to

communicate more meaningfully within the current cultural milieu of the West.

In terms of Scripture, evangelicals have a tendency to approach the Bible

primarily as a collection of propositional truths that are then systematized and drawn

upon accordingly. While it is possible to derive and develop propositional truths from the

biblical text, Duriez reminds us that the Bible presents “a symbolic perception of reality”

and utilizes “narrative, story, image, and other symbolic elements” (1998, 35) in the

communication of truth. In the modern period we seem to have forgotten, or at least

minimized these aspects of Scripture, and the theology of fantasy lurking beneath the

fantasy writings of Tolkien and Lewis provides us with a helpful reminder of the rich

symbolic world of biblical revelation.

Tolkien’s theology also provides us with a refreshing approach toward biblical

hermeneutics that may be especially important in our understanding of the Scriptures and

how we communicate the biblical story in post-modernity. Gruenler discusses Tolkien’s

influential essay “On Fairy-Stories,” and explains how his views influenced Gruenler’s

own thinking on biblical hermeneutics and exegesis, particularly in a “promising new

13
approach to gospel interpretation” (1982, 204). Two aspects of this seem especially

relevant to a consideration of mythic apologetics. First, Gruenler discusses Tolkien’s

view of “divine enchantment” which comes about as the gospel story causes the reader to

come “under the ‘spell’ of the evangelium” (Ibid. 205). This is made possible by the

gospel writers as story tellers who “portray a realm that is wide and deep and high, filled

with all manner of wondrous things” (Ibid.) This sense of awe, wonder, and mystery

surrounding the gospel is important for both Christians and others in post-modernity as it

reminds Christians of the wonder surrounding the story of Jesus, and this sense of wonder

seems especially significant for those in the contemporary West who are seeking to fulfill

the human urge for fantasy through archetypes and myth embedded in popular culture.

The second aspect of Gruenler’s discussion for consideration is Tolkien’s notion of

eucatastrophe or the “joy of the happy ending” (Ibid., 218). Tolkien connects this aspect

of the gospel story to a sense of artistry and myth:

The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all
the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels – peculiarly artistic,
beautiful, and moving: ‘mythical’ in their perfect, self-contained significance; and
at the same time powerfully symbolic and allegorical; and among the marvels is
the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe. The Birth of Christ is
the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the
story of the Incarnation. The story begins and ends in joy (Tolkien 1966, 83).

An approach to Scripture and the communication of the gospel involving fantasy

seems especially significant in the contemporary West. As Snelling has noted, fantasy

literature plays a significant role in the dissemination of “heterodox beliefs and ideals

into the wider society” (2002, 187; Cf. Partridge 2005), and if alternative spiritualities

utilize this genre as a means of communication Christians would do well to consider the

implications for drawing upon it as a means of retelling the mythic story of Jesus.

14
To summarize the significance of myth and its connection apologetics, Christians

interested in communicating the gospel story in fresh ways in post-modernity can draw

upon a fantasy approach to Scripture with its sense of wonder and happy ending in the

formation of a mythic apologetic. This mythic apologetic will draw upon universal

archetypes from myth and folklore that are expressed in popular culture and which

surface as significant aspects of alternative spiritualities such as UFO groups. An

effective mythic apologetic in this context will seek to discover archetypical elements

within these spiritualities, particularly those which point toward a recognition of fallen

human nature and the need for redemption, and will then communicate the gospel as a

fulfillment of these mythic yearnings in a way that connects appropriately with the

symbolism of such groups.

Toward a Mythic Apologetic to UFO Religions

From our discussion of archetypes and the religious aspects of UFO religions

above we can identify several elements that can be drawn upon in the formation of a

mythic apologetic. First, recall that Saliba recognized that UFO groups incorporate a

desire for transcendence, meaning a view outward to the planets in the cosmos and their

extraterrestrial inhabitants who are interpreted in a fashion similar to supernatural figures

in pre-scientific periods.

Second, there is the mythic desire for salvation which comes from beyond,

indicating a recognition that that redemption cannot come from the individual or within

their own traditional sphere of living. Salvation must come from beyond, and it is sought

in extraterrestrials who visit us with a message of hope and restoration.

15
Third, scholars have long noted the existence of Messiah figures in contemporary

cinema (McEver 1998). This is no less the case in science fiction which provide

examples of the existence of alien Messiah figures (Ruppersberg 1990; Kozlovic 2001;

Etherden, 2005). Ruppersberg notes that in science fiction films, “underlying the motif of

the alien messiah is the mythos of the Christian messiah,” and that several films have

drawn on this Christian myth in the construction of their science fiction stories. Examples

include Starman, The Last Starfighter, and perhaps most explicitly, The Day the Earth

Stood Still. At times the alien Messiah also dies and rises again as in The Last Starfighter

and The Day the Earth Stood Still, drawing upon the resurrection archetype (McKenzie

1997) and Christian conceptions of a dying and rising Messiah. (It might also be noted

that a dying and rising messianic figure is present in the character Neo in The Matrix

[Stucky 2005], indicating that a mythic apologetic drawing upon the resurrection

archetype might be constructed for adherents of Matrixism as well.)

Fourth, we might also discern the archetype of a “yearning for Paradise” and with

it hopes for restoration. This myth is closely connected to the idea of salvation from

beyond, and hints of it may be discerned in science fiction films dealing with UFOs, such

as Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In the climactic final scene a

giant alien “mother ship” descends upon an enraptured humanity appearing almost like an

alien technology’s version of the Christian hope for the heavenly city, the New

Jerusalem.

With these archetypes in mind we have now identified some of the various

universal symbols and the corresponding spiritual yearnings of those in UFO religions.

16
These archetypes find points of contact in the Christian narrative, and we can now

communicate the gospel story as the fulfillment of these aspirations.

A mythic apologetic to UFO religions might draw upon science fiction films as a

form of popular culture that resonates with many in UFO groups and which also

dramatizes many of the mythic elements and yearnings of the group. It can be pointed out

that many science fiction films include an alien deliverer figure who comes from beyond

bringing us a message of hope and joy. As the story goes he warns us that we are bent on

self-destruction as individuals and on a massive scale involving the entire planet. He

offers us his pathway to follow that will lead us into peace and harmony. But in the face

of the splendor and surprise of this alien deliverer we respond with fear and violence, and

we take his life. But his powers involve those of life and death and he is able to rise from

the dead, overcoming and disarming the powers of evil present in us and the cosmos.

Our mythic apologetic can demonstrate that all of these mythic ideas are

dramatized in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. Might it be possible

that what Hollywood filmmakers yearned for and expressed in fantasy might have been

fulfilled in history long ago? Here we can present the story of Jesus as the true

extraterrestrial who comes from beyond our galaxy and the vastness of the cosmos, not

merely as one advanced creature coming to help another, but as the Creator of the stars

and the cosmos. He demonstrates his power to transform our lives and return us to

Paradise by his Resurrection from the dead, fulfilling the resurrection archetype

(McKenzie 1997). He offers to lead us into the perfect community and Extraterrestrial

City, not through an extraterrestrial spacecraft but through the New Jerusalem comprised

of redeemed humanity.

17
Conclusion

Mythic apologetics seem especially well suited to our cultural context in the post-

modern West. As David Wilkinson has noted, a contemporary apologetic must not simply

appeal to reason, but must also engage the imagination (Wilkinson 2002, 10). It must also

“take pop culture seriously” (Ibid. 14), and this includes the archetypal and mythic

elements embedded within it. This is especially important in relation to the UFO

phenomenon. Opinion polls indicate that large numbers of Americans believe in the

existence of UFOs, and that they represent visiting spacecraft. These ideas are circulated

and become influential in popular culture (Clark 2003), and are especially significant

within UFO religions.

A contemporary apologetic that seeks to engage a shifting post-modern culture in

such areas would do well to consider the possibilities for a mythic apologetic approach.

Philip Johnson has summarized these possibilities in four areas. First, he states that our

“apologetic methods must adjust when the cultural paradigm shifts” (Johnson1998, 69).

We noted above the shift from disenchantment to re-enchantment, and the popularity of

archetype and myth in this context. More traditional rational apologetic approaches seem

ill-suited to communicate and persuade effectively in this environment. Second, Johnson

states that “the biblical world itself was mythopeic” (Ibid.). We saw above that Tolkien

provided us with a helpful reminder of the rich symbolic world of the Bible, and by

engaging this perspective we are provided with fresh hermeneutical and apologetic

insights. Third, “mythic apologetics build on insights into archetypes” (Ibid.) that are

found through the intersection of various academic disciplines, and which are explored in

18
increasing ways in popular culture. And finally, “various Christian litterateurs have

already made some fictional forays in the direction of mythic apologetics” (Ibid.). The

foundation has been laid by those creative Christians who have come before us, and the

twenty-first century provides us with a cultural milieu that invites a mythic apologetic

response and waits for the next generation of Inklings.

19
BIBLIOGRAPHY/WORKS CITED

Berger, Peter. 1967. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New
York: Anchor Books.

─── . “The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview,” in Peter Berger (ed),
The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Bertonneau, Thomas & Kim Paffenroth. 2006. The Truth is Out There: Christian Faith and the
Classics of TV Science Fiction. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press.

Bosch, David. 1991. Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Clark, Lynn Schofield. 2003. From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the
Supernatural. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Clifford, Ross & Philip Johnson. 2001. “Myths and Wisdom,” in Jesus and the Gods of the New
Age. Oxford: Lion.

Cox, Harvey. 1999. “The Myth of the Twentieth Century: The rise and fall of ‘secularization,” in
Gregory Baum (ed), The Twentieth Century: A Theological Overview. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books.

Dean, Jodi. 1998. Aliens in America: Conspiracy Cultures from Outerspace to Cyberspace.
Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press.

Digney, Marita. 1998. “Holy Madness at Heaven’s Gate,” in Mary Lynn Kittelson (ed),
The Soul of Popular Culture: Looking at Contemporary Heroes, Myths, and Monsters.
Chicago, IL Open Court.

Drane, John. 2000. “Making Theological Practical: Three Movies and the Contemporary Spiritual
Search,” in Cultural Change and Biblical Faith. Carlisle, Paternoster Press.

Drane, John, Ross Clifford & Philip Johnson. 2001. Beyond Prediction: The Tarot & Your
Spirituality. Oxford: Lion.

Dulles, Avery. 1999. A History of Apologetics. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock.

Duriez, Colin. 1998. “The Theology of Fantasy in Lewis and Tolkien,” Themelios 23/2: 35-51.

Eliade, Mircea. 1971. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Ellis, Bill. 2001. Aliens, ghosts and cults: legends we live. Jackson, MS: University Press of
Mississippi.

Ellwood, Robert. 1999. The Politics of Myth: A Study of C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph
Campbell. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

20
Etherden, Matthew. 2005. “The Day the Earth Stood Still: “ 1950’s Sci Fi, Religion, and the
Alien Messiah,” The Journal of Religion and Film 9/2 (October),
<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol9No2/EtherdenEarthStill.htm>, (accessed 29 January 2007).

Ford, James L. 2000. “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in
Contemporary Cinema,” The Journal of Religion and Film 4/2 (October),
<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm>, (accessed 22 January 2007).

Gruenler, Royce Gordon. 1982. “Jesus as Author of the Evangelium: J. R. R. Tolkien and the
Spell of the Great Story,” in New Approaches to Jesus and the Gospels: A Phenomenological and
Exegetical Study of Synoptic Christology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Grünschloß, Andreas. 1998. “When we enter into my Father’s spacecraft: Cargoistic hopes and
millenarian cosmologies in new religious UFO movements,” Marburg Journal of Religion 3/2
(December), <http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/ufogruen.html>,
(accessed 16 January 2007).

Heelas, Paul & Linda Woodhead. 2005. The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is
Giving Way to Spirituality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Hexham, Irving & Karla Poewe. 1986. Understanding Cults and New Religions. Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

──. 1997. New Religions as Global Cultures: Making the Human Sacred. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.

Isaksson, Stefan. 2000. “New Religious UFO Movements: Extraterrestrial Salvation in


Contemporary America,” AnthroBase Directed Reading Assignment materials for Spring
Semester 2000, California State University, Fresno,
<http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/I/Isaksson_S_01.htm>, (accessed 16 January 2007).

Johnson, Philip. 1998. “Apologetics and Myths: Signs of Salvation in Postmodernity,”


Lutheran Theological Journal 32/2 (July): 62-72.

Jung, Carl Gustav. 1959. Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky,
trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

──. 1964. Man and His Symbols. New York: Dell.

Kozlovic, Anton. 2001. “From Holy Aliens to Cyborg Saviors: Biblical Subtexts in Four
Science Fiction Films,” Journal of Religion and Film 5/2 (October),
<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/cyborg.htm>, (accessed 29 January 2007).

Lewis, James R. (ed). 1995. The Gods Have Landed: New Religions From Other Worlds.
Abany, NY: State University of New York Press.

21
 (ed). 2001. Odd Gods: New Religions & the Cult Controversy. Amherst, NY:
Prometheus Books.

Loewen, Jacob A. 1969. “Myth and Mission: Should a Missionary Study Tribal Myths?,”
Practical Anthropology 16/4 (July-August): 147-192.

Markos, Louis. 2001. “Myth Matters: How C. S. Lewis has bequeathed us a method and a
language for addressing the challenge of the modern world,” Christianity Today (April
23), <http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2001/april23/1.32.html>, (accessed 16 January 2007).

───. Lewis Agonistes: How C. S. Lewis Can Train Us to Wrestle With the Modern
World. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

McEver, Matthew. 1998. “The Messianic Figure in Film: Christology Beyond the
Biblical Epic,” The Journal of Religion and Film 2/2 (October),
<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/McEverMessiah.htm>, (accessed 29 January 2007).

McKenzie, Leon. 1997. “The Resurrection Archetype,” in Pagan Resurrection Myths


and the Resurrection of Jesus: A Christian Perspective. Charlottesville, NC: Bookwrights
Press.

Miller, George. 1996. “The Apocalypse and the Pig: Or the Hazards of Storytelling,”
Sydney Papers 8/4 (Spring): 38-49.

Montgomery, John Warwick (ed). 1974. Myth, Allegory & Gospel: An Interpretation of
J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, Charles Williams. Minneapolis, MN:
Bethany Fellowship.

Moyers, Bill. 2001. Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers. DVD.
Mystic Fire Video.

Noll, Richard. 1994. The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement. New York:
Princeton University Press.

Partridge, Christopher. 2002. “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West:


The Religio-Cultural Context of Contemporary Western Christianity,” Evangelical
Quarterly 74. Carlisle: Paternoster Periodicals: 235-56.

─── (ed). 2003. UFO Religions. London & New York: Routledge.

───. 2004. The Re-Enchantment of the West, vol. 1. London & New York: T & T Clark
International.

───. 2004. “Alien demonology: the Christian roots of the malevolent extraterrestrial in
UFO religions and abduction spiritualities,” Religion 34: 163-189.

22
───. 2005. The Re-Enchantment of the West, vol. 2. London & New York: T & T Clark
International.

Possamai, Adam. 2002. “Cultural Consumption of History and Popular Culture in


Alternative Spiritualities,” Journal of Consumer Culture 2/2: 197-218.

. 2003. “Alternative Spiritualities, New Religious Movements, and Jediism in


Australia,” Australian Religion Studies Review 16/2 (Spring): 69-86.

. 2005. Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament, “Gods, Humans and
Religions,” No. 7. Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang.

Ruppersberg, Hugh. 1990. “The Alien Messiah,” in Kuhn, Annette (ed), Alien Zone:
Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction. London & New York: Verso.

Saliba, John A. 1999. “The Earth is a Dangerous Place – The World View of the
Aetherius Society,” Mar burg Journal of Religion 4/2 (December), <http://web.uni-
marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/saliba.html>, (accessed 16 January 2007).

Snelling, Kim. 2002. “Imagining Alternatives: Fantasy, The New Age and the ‘Cultic
Milieu’,” in Seeking the Centre, Colette Rayment & Mark Levon Byrne (eds). Sydney:
RLA Press.

Stucky, Mark D. 2005. “He is the One: The Matrix Trilogy’s Postmodern Movie
Messiah,” The Journal of Religion and Film 9/2 (October),
<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol9No2/StuckyMatrixMessiah.htm>, (accessed 29
January 2007).

Taber, Charles R. 1969. “Why Mythology?,” Practical Anthropology 16/4 (July-August):


145-146.

Thompson, Stith. 1989. Motif-Index of Folk Literature: Classification of Narrative


Elements in Folk-Tales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla,
Fabliaux, Jest-Books, and Local Legends. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Tolkien, J. R. R. 1966. “On Fairy-Stories,” in Essays presented to Charles Williams.


Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Trompf, Gary W. 2000. “Millenarism: History, Sociology, and Cross-Cultural Analysis,”


The Journal of Religious History 2/1: 103-124.

Wilkinson, David. 2002. “The Art of Apologetics in the Twenty-First Century,” Anvil
19/1: 5-17.

Wuthnow, Robert. 1998. After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the 1950s. Berkeley,
CA: University of California Press.

23

Вам также может понравиться