Rudolf Bultmann and His Program of «Demythologizing the New Testament Proclamation»

Abstract

This study examines the scholar works of Rudolf Bultmann concerning his hermeneutic project. An attempt is made to systematize the views of the German researcher concerning his approach to the interpretation of the Holy Scripture. The program of «demythologization of the New Testament proclamation» was supposed to show by example that the mythology of the New Testament pointed to the dialectical essence of the New Testament. The paradox that lies in it can be realized and accepted only by faith. The theological project of Rudolf Bultmann notes a certain relativity of any «picture of the world», calling any of them, both modern and ancient, «mythologies», and invites to their deconstruction. The theologian depicts myth as a kind of sketch, a tool of thinking, describing a person and the world around him, which can be correlated with others. Bultmann examines anthropological terms of the Holy Scripture and points out that they, first of all, describe the thinking of a person who lives an authentic life, free from fear and illusions. The salvation of a person occurs in person’s thinking. For the German scholar, the figure of Christ is important in his interpretation because it is an example of an event when God shows His love to a human. He reduces the speech about Christ to rhetoric, i. e. to a speech that should inspire a person. The event of Christ as an event of salvation for Rudolf Bultmann finds its expression in the story of the Cross of the Lord. It is a call for every believer to choose the path of love and goodness in the face of uncertainty and death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is understood by Rudolf Bultmann not as a historical event and fact, but as the faith of the apostles in Him and is closely connected with the story of His suffering. The resurrection is the basis of their preaching, it signifies the finding of the fullness of life by the apostles in the proclamation of Christ through the image of His death, to which people who responded to their preaching with faith can be involved.