CHAPTER 7: SHAPING THE WORLD

• WITHIN ANY FAITH TRADITION, NARRATIVES HELP

COMMUNICATE AND EXPRESS WHAT ONE’S FAITH
IS. PEOPLE TELL STORIES IN ORDER TO
UNDERSTAND THE WORLD THEY DWELL IN AND
TO SHOW THEMSELVES AND OTHERS VARIOUS
WAYS OF DWELLING IN THAT WORLD. THE
BEAUTY OF NARRATIVE IS HOW IT IS ALWAYS
GROUNDED IN PARTICULAR TIMES AND PLACES.
• FAITH ITSELF IS A NARRATIVE. EACH OF US HAS
OUR OWN STORIES, WITHIN OUR OWN SETTINGS,
SITUATIONS AND CONTEXTS IN LIFE, OF HOW WE
HAVE COME INTO A LIFE OF FAITH, AS WELL AS
TIMES WHEN THAT FAITH WAS CHALLENGED AND
SHAKEN TO ITS CORE. FAITH HAS ITS PEAKS AND
VALLEYS. THERE ARE TIMES OF JOY, EASE AND
FULFILMENT.
• THERE ARE ALSO TIMES OF DOUBT, DIFFICULTY
AND STRIFE. AND FAITH ALSO INVOLVES MANY
CHARACTERS: YOU, GOD AND ALL THE PEOPLE
WHO HAVE HAD AN IMPACT ON YOUR FAITH
LIFE. FAITH IS ALSO PROGRESSION AND
GROWTH, A PROCESS IN WHICH THOSE
CHARACTERS COME INTO ENGAGEMENT AND
DIALOGUE WITH EACH OTHER IN RELATIONSHIP.
• THE CATHOLIC FAITH TRADITION HOLDS MANY
KINDS OF NARRATIVES TO BE USEFUL IN A
BELIEVER’S JOURNEY OF FAITH. IN HIS BOOK,
FAITH: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ISN’T, FORDHAM
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR EMERITUS TERRENCE W.
TILLEY GIVES FOUR EXAMPLES OF STORIES
UTILIZED IN NARRATIVE THEOLOGY— MYTHS,
SAGAS, PARABLES AND ACTION STORIES.
• IN PARTICULAR, LET US FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON
NARRATIVES THAT HELP SHAPE OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD. STORIES HAVE
HAD A GREAT DEAL OF INFLUENCE IN HELPING
SHAPE OUR PERSPECTIVES ABOUT WHAT THE
WORLD IS, WHERE IT CAME FROM, AND WHERE IT IS
GOING.
• FOR MILLENIALS, HUMANS HAVE PASSED ON
STORIES OF THIS UNDERSTANDING FROM ONE
GENERATION TO THE NEXT, AND THESE STORIES
BECOME FOUNDATIONAL IN LEARNING AND
TEACHING ABOUT HOW TO ENCOUNTER THE
WORLD AROUND US.
• WITHIN THE FAITH TRADITION, THERE EXISTS MANY
OF THESE SO-CALLED WORLD-SHAPING
NARRATIVES, WHICH EITHER BUILD A VISION OF THE
WORLD (MYTH), LOCATE FOR US OUR PROPER PLACE
IN COMMUNITY WITHIN THAT WORLD (SAGA), OR
EVEN DISRUPT OUR FAMILIAR AND COMFORTABLE
NOTIONS OF WORLD (PARABLE).
MYTHS
 MYTH

• IN DAILY LIFE, THE WORD “MYTH” CONNOTES A FALSE

OR MISLEADING TALE. MYTH HAS BECOME
SYNONYMOUS WITH FALLACY, IGNORANCE, ILLUSION
AND ERROR. ‘IT’S JUST A MYTH!’ IS THE ULTIMATE
DISMISSAL. WE CAN FIND VARIOUS CLICKBAIT
ARTICLES ON SOCIAL MEDIA SPEAKING ABOUT “FIFTY
MYTHS ABOUT YOUR BODY YOU SHOULD STOP
BELIEVING NOW” OR “TEN FITNESS MYTHS THAT ARE
DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD.”
• HOWEVER, WHEN USED IN RELATION TO A
FAITH TRADITION, MYTH IS A TECHNICAL TERM
THAT RELATES TO A PARTICULAR KIND OF
NARRATIVE OR GENRE OF TEXT. A MYTH IS ONE
OF MANY WAYS IN WHICH A PERSON OR A
COMMUNITY CAN EXPRESS THEIR FAITH.
• A MYTH IS A STORY THAT SETS UP A WORLD. THE MOST
OBVIOUS MYTHS ARE THE MYTHS OF THE BEGINNING
OF THE UNIVERSE. ONE IS THE CREATION OF THE
WORLD BY GOD IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS. OTHER
MYTHS CAN BE DEVELOPED OUT OF THE SCIENTIFIC
THEORY OF THE “INITIAL SINGULARITY,” A.K.A. THE
“BIG BANG.” SCIENCE CANNOT PENETRATE BEYOND
OR BEHIND THIS SINGULARITY BECAUSE THERE IS NO
EVIDENCE AVAILABLE FROM A TIME “EARLIER” THAN
• BUT TO ASSERT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING BEFORE THE
BIG BANG, OR THAT WE LIVE IN ONE PHASE OF AN
ETERNAL OSCILLATION OF BIG BANGS AND BIG
CRUNCHES, OR TO CLAIM THAT A COSMIC DESIGNER
“FINE TUNED THE BIG BANG” TO CREATE THE
CONDITIONS FOR LIFE IS TO CREATE A MYTH. EACH OF
THESE STORIES “SETS UP” A WORLD IN WHICH MOST OF
US LIVE.
• TO ACCEPT A MYTH IS TO ACCEPT THAT IT IS EXPRESSING A
FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH ABOUT THE WORLD. OFTEN, MYTHS ARE
DISREGARDED BECAUSE THEY ARE FOUND TO BE
“UNSCIENTIFIC” AND NOT “HISTORICAL,” AND IMMEDIATELY
DISCREDITED BY PEOPLE. HOWEVER, THE FUNCTION OF A MYTH
IS NOT TO EXPLAIN THE SCIENTIFIC MECHANICS OF HOW THE
WORLD WAS CREATED, BUT IT ANSWERS THE FUNDAMENTAL
TRUTH OF WHY THE WORLD WAS CREATED. MYTH, THEREFORE,
HAS A DIFFERENT PURPOSE, AND TO GRASP ITS TRUTH, YOU
MUST USE A DIFFERENT METHOD OF INTERPRETATION.
• IN CONTRAST TO FOLKTALES AND LEGENDS (SAGAS), MYTHS ARE ALWAYS
SACRED AND HAVE AN AIR OF THE NUMINOUS. MYTHS CONSTELLATE
SACRED SYMBOLISM IN NARRATIVE SEQUENCE. THEY ARE SET IN SACRED
TIME—THE BEGINNING (CREATION) OR NEW BEGINNING (THE
RESURRECTION)—AND SACRED SPACE—THE GARDEN OF EDEN, THE
GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, THE NEW JERUSALEM. THE ACTORS IN MYTHS
ARE GREAT REPRESENTATIVE FIGURES—ADAM OR THE LAST ADAM—NOT
ORDINARY, PUNY MORTALS. MYTH TELLS OF DIVINE HUMAN INTERACTION
(THE INCARNATION), OF ORIGINS AND DESTINY (ESCHATOLOGY), OF
TRANSFORMATIONS AND TRANSACTIONS (THE FALL, THE ATONEMENT)
THAT EXPLAINS OUR PRESENT LOT AND OUR FUTURE HOPES.
 THE GENESIS CREATION MYTHS
• TWO CREATION MYTHS CAN BE FOUND IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS, AND
BY NO MEANS ARE THEY THE ONLY CREATION STORIES IN THE BIBLE,
WHICH IS LADEN WITH CREATION NARRATIVES APLENTY. HOWEVER,
FOR THE PURPOSES OF GIVING CONCRETE EXAMPLES, THESE FIRST
TWO WILL SUFFICE. THE FIRST CREATION STORY CAN BE FOUND IN
GENESIS 1:1–2:4A. THE OTHER CREATION STORY CAN BE FOUND IN
GENESIS 2:4B–25. THESE TWO CREATION STORIES ARE THEN FOLLOWED
BY A HISTORY OF HUMANS BREAKING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD FROM
GENESIS 3–11. EACH OF THE CREATION STORIES WERE ACTUALLY
WRITTEN BY TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF WRITERS, AND AS SUCH, THESE
MYTHS REFLECT THE SITUATION AND QUESTIONS OF THE PEOPLE WHO
• WE CAN BEGIN WITH THE FIRST CREATION STORY (GENESIS 1:1–2:4A). IN
RELATION TO THE CONTEXT OF THE WRITERS OF THE FIRST CREATION
STORY, WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY THE PRIESTLY TRADITION (P,SIXTH-
FIFTHCENTURIES BCE), DURING THE BABYLONIAN EXILE:
• THIS TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE OF EXILE AND CHAOS WILL BE THE CONTEXT
IN WHICH THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS WILL ARTICULATE THEIR SACRED STORY.
THE FIRST TWO VERSES DEPICT A WORLD THAT IS FORMLESS, BUT THERE
WAS ALREADY SOMETHING IN THE WORLD. THAT SOMETHING CAN BE
POINTED OUT TO BE THE DARKNESS AND WATERS, WHAT SAINT AUGUSTINE
CALLS NIHIL ALIQUID, LITERALLY “NOTHINGSOMETHING.” IN HEBREW
LITERATURE, WATERS WERE LINKED WITH THE CONCEPT OF CHAOS. WE ARE
LED TO IMAGES OF THE FLOOD STORY (GENESIS 6–9), AS WELL AS THE SEA OF
REEDS ENGULFING THE EGYPTIAN ARMY (EXODUS 14). IN ESSENCE, THE
CHAOTIC WATERS REPRESENTED A WORLD WITHOUT FORM, A
 Preparation [1:1-2]
[“formless“]
Panel 1 Panel 2

Day 1 [1:3-5] Day 4 [1:14-19]

light/darkness [“day“/”night”] sun, moon, stars
Day 2 [1:6-8] Day 5 [1:20-23]
water/firmament/water [“seas“/”sky”] fish and birds
Day 3 [1:9-13] Day 6 [1:14-31]
dry ground [“land”] land animals

vegetation humans

Day 7 [2:1-3]
[“the heavens and the earth and all their host“]
• THE FIRST PANEL ABOVE FEATURES HABITATS AND DWELLING PLACES. THE
SECOND PANEL FEATURES THE CREATURES MEANT TO DWELL IN THOSE
HABITATS. EVERY CREATURE WAS GIVEN A UNIQUE AND SET-APART DWELLING
THAT WAS ONLY FOR THEM. THIS SHOWS THE SPECIAL CARE AND CONCERN GOD
HAD PUT INTO THE ENTIRETY OF CREATION. WHAT WAS ONCE CHAOTIC AND
FORMLESS IS NOW A BEAUTIFULLY ORDERED WORLD.
 E S
A BL
PA R
• A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates
one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in
that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of
nature as characters, whereas parables have human characters.
(Wikipedia)
• Parables are used to teach a lesson or make a general point about a
larger philosophical or religious issue, or to instruct people about
proper courses of action. Because the stories are easily understood and
engaging for all types of people, parables are an effective way to reach
potential believers.
• It has been noted, since the late nineteenth century, that the parables
in the Gospels fall into three groups. These are usually given the
names (1) similitude, (2) parable, and (3) exemplary story
(sometimes called illustration).
• The parables tell us that: It is present in the lives of those who
believe. People respond differently to the message of the Kingdom
of God. The Kingdom of God starts small with the individual and
increases to include the whole of society.
 Why did Jesus start teaching in parables?
• When asked by the disciples why he used parables, Jesus said that he would
fulfill the words of the prophet and reveal the mysteries from the foundation
of the world. ... This important message can be found in most of the parables.
• In the Synoptic Gospels, listeners ask Jesus about the purpose of his parables.
... According to Matthew, Jesus speaks in parables because the people do not
see, hear and understand. The reason for their inability to comprehend, is
their rejection of Jesus.
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