The Death of the Mythic God: The Rise of Evolutionary Spirituality

by Jim Marion

Book Overview

Is God dead? Jim Marion says that what has really died is our myth of God, our worn-out notion of the deity in the sky, separate from us, who intervenes in our lives only when petitioned strenuously. God still exists, but we need to update our interpretation of God's nature. The mythic sky God was never real, says Marion. It was only a concept of God, now outdated. The real God is in the human heart, within the world, operating as the engine of evolution...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571744061
• ISBN13: 9781571744067
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Challenging and thought provoking

Jim Marion's, "The Death of the Mythic God," continues to challenge me to see the Christian faith from a fresh, new perspective. Marion combines exceptional insights from many different traditions. His thought-provoking question, "At the beginning of the twenty-first century, what is the state of Christianity and its God?" is a question for all Christians to seriously consider. As a mainline Presbyterian pastor for twenty-eight years, I find Marion's ability to integrate the positive, experiential aspects of the Christian faith with an intelligent analysis of Christian tradition and theology to be most helpful. Those who have read Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong and writers in the "Emerging" church stream, will find Marion's work on the rise of evolutionary spirituality to be a powerful catalyst to seek the next stage in the growth of the Christian faith. Andrew Cullen, Kansas City, MO.

For serious questers

The Death Of The Mythic God by Jim Marion will come as a breath of fresh air to all who are seriously looking for bridges between modern forms of thought and traditional Christian formulations of reality. Marion is a devout Roman Catholic, but he also writes from the Integral Perspective formulated by Ken Wilber and his associates. Evangelical Christians of all branches may be outraged at some of his sweeping conclusions, but those who are looking for a renewed and expanded understanding of core Christian values will rejoice. In some ways Marion's style reminds me of Matthew Fox and his Creation Spirituality point of view. Both view human beings as already sons and daughters of God and transformation comes about not by conversion, but by unfolding along various "lines of development", that brings about a conscious awarness of God within. If I have any criticism it would be that our magnificent creation is focussed on one species --- human beings. A full picture of Integral Development would include the complete cosmos and all its forms of life. Fox in his work has done this, and I expect Marion will too in future works.

Recommended to the attention of readers searching for an alternative take and inspiring wisdom on th

The Death Of The Mythic God by Christian mystic and public policy lawyer Jim Marion is a superbly crafted conceptual guide to his interpretive understandings of the God who is seeming to fade away in the myth of our contemporary and progressive society. As Marion carries his readers through his various interpretations and narrative commentary, The Death Of The Mythic God enlightens readers to a more fulfilling ideal of the God as not separate from the human, but one with the everyday lives of individual as they begin to expand their conscious awareness of a spiritual path. The Death Of The Mythic God is most especially recommended to the attention of readers searching for an alternative take and inspiring wisdom on the Christian path of religion.

Focuses on our move away from a mythic understanding of God.

In his first book, "Putting on the Mind of Christ", Marion described the Christian's spiritual journey as a gradual rise in consciousness. He shoe-horned (not in a bad way) it into a philosophical construct of Ken Wilber's that describes the various levels of consciousness that we as individuals and collectively as human civilization go through in our evolution of consciousness toward God. Marion continues that line of thought in this book, but focuses on where western society, at large, is at in the process - i.e. we are moving beyond viewing God as a mythological being who resides up in the sky and is a seperate and somewhat detached observer of human development. Marion describes the various philosophical, religious and scientific influences that are moving us in this direction and attempts to reconcile this manner of thought with existing Christian dogma. Although this book was interesting, it repeated a fair amount of what was in his first book and covered much of the same ground that other writers have been focusing on lately such as the intersection between science and religion. I would recommend reading his first book, first and then reading this one if you're hungry for more detail. Overall, however, interesting and worthwhile.

The Birth of Spiritual Truth

When I read Jim Marion's first book, 'Putting On the Mind of Christ', I felt as if I had finally found someone who could help an agnostic kid who had stumbled upon nondual consciousness find the common ground between modern (often incomprehensible) Christianity and his own mystical experiences. Thanks to Marion, for the first time in my life the Bible reflected back my own worldview. No small task, to be sure. His first work was refreshing and its impact quite groundbreaking for me. 'The Death of the Mythic God' is the continuation of Marion's bold journey into his own spiritual truth, though it's a truth that is available to us all. In this smaller tome, he explains his observations and beliefs in the simplest of terms, the true sign of a gifted teacher with much to say. Marion believes that it's time we retire the concept of the mythic god who lives up above the clouds, separate from His creation, doling out rewards and punishments upon a predominantly sinning and rebellious populace. This belief was really only a reflection of the collective consciousness of earlier times and cultures, he contends. We are now mature and intelligent enough, however, to really investigate humanity's unshakable belief in a higher power. It can never be repeated enough that this higher power is, as odd as it may first sound, at the very core of our own being. (His beliefs and my own.) Since I was so thrilled to find his first book, this review is assuredly not very neutral in tone. But if you have a mind that is open enough to realize that the path to spiritual maturity (even enlightenment) begins with the very first question you pose of your culture's ingrained religious belief system, then you will find a very exciting and safe world to explore within these pages. I highly recommend this book to any curious and seeking soul. Although my own path to meeting the God within was different than Marion's, it's almost eerie that much of what he writes parallels my own thoughts and experiences. Therein lies the proof I need that 'Death of the Mythic God' is built upon a very sturdy and Truthful foundation.