Demythologization

Demythologization as a hermeneutic approach to religious texts seeks to separate or recover cosmological, sociological and historic claims from philosophical, ethical and theological teachings. Mostly applied to biblical texts, demythologization often overlaps with philology, biblical criticism and form criticism.[1] The term demythologization (in German: Entmythologisierung) was introduced by Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) in existential context,[2] but the concept has earlier precedents.

  1. ^ Barth, Markus. "Introduction to Demythologizing." The Journal of Religion 37.3 (1957): 145-155.
  2. ^ Rudolf Bultmann, New Testament and Mythology and Other Basic Writings (1984), p.4