IVP - Addenda & Errata - October 2011 Archives

Demythologizing Bultmann

There are two things that every student of theology should know about Bultmann. The first is the proper meaning of the term demythologize.

I sometimes find writers—even ones who really should know better—implying or stating that Rudolf Bultmann’s program of demythologizing was a kernel-from-husk operation. That is, Bultmann was attempting to strip away the husk of myth that encapsuled the historical kernel of Jesus in order to grasp the historically certifiable facts. This is critically mistaken and editorially annoying.