Greek Myths and Christian Mystery

by Hugo Rahner

English, German (translation)

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Classics

399 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Hugo Rahner, S.J., Ph.D. (Theology, 1931), D.S.T., was a Jesuit theologian and ecclesiastical historian who served as dean and president of the University of Innsbruck.

Reviews

[Melissa Bair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up after seeing it referenced in Vidmar's Catholic Church Through the Ages. I didn't really know what to expect, and what I found was an absolutely incredible dissertation of Rahner's on how to understand ancient Greek thought and how the Church Fathers were able to take this into Christianity. Rahner is able to take a seemingly small symbol, something as seemingly insignificant as a willow tree, and explain all that the Greeks meant by this symbol and how early Greek Christians saw transcendental truth there. This was a hard book to read for me (it's translated from German which might be part of it, it's also very academic) but I just took a bit at a time and plodded through. I'm looking forward to reading more of Rahner's translated works.

[Jair Ríos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro un tanto fuera de foco en cuanto a la temática que se plantea: "Una interpretación cristiana de los mitos griegos" Lo adquirí pensando que me encontraría con un libro deslumbrante sobre encuentros y desencuentros entre lo que hay de religioso en los mitos griegos y la religión y dogmas que terminaron socavando la religiosidad de los griegos; pensaba que abordaría , de manera objetiva, los ritos de la religión griega y la religión cristiana y que quizás daría un punto de vista interesante y relacionaría las figuras míticas griegas y los santos de la iglesia cristiana, o pondría en relación las figuras principales de ambas Zeus-Dios, Semidioses-Jesucristo... etc. ¡En fin! Pensaba que se trataría de un buen libro de "mitologías comparadas" o, en este caso, de religiones comparadas. ¡Nada más lejos de esto! El autor se encarga, como si de un antiguo Padre de la Iglesia se tratara o de un inquisidor, de despotricar toda la religiosidad griega e incluso a figuras semi históricas como Homero. ¡Claro está! Hugo Rahner era un investigador y teorizador de la Historia de las religiones y pertenecía al famoso Círculo Eranos y no deja de apuntar ciertos datos relevantes y manifestar teorías y propuestas propias o de otros investigadores en torno a estas temáticas (he allí las tres estrellas que le asigno) pero la mayor parte del corpus del libro, resulta un tanto decepcionante debido a la postura "anti-paganismo" que asume y la evidente parcialidad que tiene al abordar los temas, al leerlo, piensas que estás delante de un discursillo escrito por un fanático religioso y no ante la obra de un investigador serio... En realidad ¡Deja mucho qué desear!

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rahner challenges the widely held assumption that Christianity borrowed heavily from Ancient Greek cultic rituals and mythologies, and argues that instead Christianity gave new life and meaning to moribund beliefs and customs. And out of this came the dynamic of Christian humanism.

“…Christian humanism reposes on the simple truth that the successful fashioning of this our earthly life, the fashioning of it into a life of true humane goodness and nobility, can only be achieved if we go beyond our present world and take our stand in the world to come; for only thus can we find and learn to love what is eternal in man…the truth that is the foundation of Christian humanism, the humanism that is proof against all illusion; the truth is this: God has willed it that heaven is not to be the only thing that man should enjoy. Earth also, transfigured but still delectably tangible, earth with all its loveliness is also there, here and now, for his delight.”
(p. 215)

“(The) quiet and secure embrace between Hellas and the Church is the most precious fruit of a true humanism.” (p. 301)