Jesus: Man, Myth, or Monomyth?

In the mid-twentieth century, a brilliant scholar named Joseph Campbell spent decades studying and scrutinizing the stories people tell, paying special attention to the thousands of epic stories that have appeared in every religion and culture since the dawn of time. Chinese, Sumerians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Israelites, Greeks, Romans – every civilization has repeated stories about their heroes. After studying these myths for decades, Joseph Campbell realized that all of the myths told among the world’s various cultures are essentially the same story, and the protagonists are all essentially the same hero.

In 1949, Campbell wrote a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he mapped out the path that every mythical hero takes in every cultural mythology. It’s a journey that will likely sound familiar, especially if you love epic books and movies. The first step in the hero’s journey is the “Call to Adventure,” in which we’re introduced to the hero before he or she becomes a hero (think about Luke Skywalker enjoying a normal childhood on Tatooine).

Sooner or later, the hero is helped along by an eccentric friend who has some special knowledge and this friend encourages them to be who they really are (imagine Hagrid coming to rescue Harry Potter from the Dursley’s). There comes a moment, though, when our hero must choose to become heroic (picture Neo faced with the choice to take the red pill), and she knows that once this decision is made, there can be no going back (recall Katniss Everdeen screaming I volunteer as tribute! to save her sister’s life).

Once our hero accepts the mission, he is led by a spiritual guide to a remote place where he endures some kind of training, including a test (like the time Yoda trained Luke on Planet Dagobah). Upon passing the test, our hero realizes just how dangerous the journey will be, and he knows he must face his worst fear (picture Frodo staring at fiery Mount Doom from a distance).

Even though he’s afraid, our hero marches on, until all hell breaks loose, and the enemy appears to have won (enter Thanos, snapping his fingers). In a last-ditch effort to save the world, the hero goes straight into the belly of the beast, but the darkness is too strong to overcome, so he lays down his life for his friends (such as when Harry went alone to face Voldemort, knowing that he’d be killed).

But not even death can keep our hero down, for just when all hope seems lost, he rises up and deals the final blow to the Villain who sought to hold his people captive (picture Rey using Luke and Leia’s lightsabers to kill Emperor Palpatine once and for all). Once the mission is complete, our hero leaves the world he came to save (remember when Frodo left the Shire after saving it?) until the appointed time when he will return in glory. And one day, in the end, the rightful ruler will be crowned, evil will be vanquished, and there will be peace on earth at last (like when T’Challa was finally crowned King of Wakanda).

Harry Potter, The Matrix, Black Panther, The Avengers, Star Wars, The Hunger Games – these are all fictional myths and legends, but Joseph Campbell believed that all human myths derive from the same true story, which he called the Monomyth. How else could so many different cultures speaking different languages at different times and places all tell such similar versions of the same story?

So, what about Jesus? His story sounds a lot like Campbell’s mythical hero. Is his saga derivative of other source material, or is he the Source? Is he merely a myth, or is Jesus the Monomyth? His story might follow the same pattern myths do, but with some very important distinctions:

These are all very good reasons to believe that Jesus isn’t merely another myth. He is the Monomyth, the Messiah. He’s not derivative of some other source material; he is the Source. That means you can trust Jesus, and if you can trust him, you can also trust the Bible that attests to Him.

I loved the Bible as a child. I left it in my teens. I hated it in my 20s. I came back to it in my 30s, and now I’m more aware than ever of how lost I’d be without this book. It’s not just The Good Book. It’s the perfect story about the perfect God’s perfect love for imperfect people like you and me.