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Wiki MarkupIf Bultmann can say, in a short formula, that the real intention of myth is "to talk about human existence," he can also say \ -\- in the immediately preceding paragraph \ -\- that the real intention of myth is "to talk about human existence _as grounded in and limited by a transcendent, unworldly power, which is not visible to objectifying thinking_" (184 \ [99\]; italics added). In fact, he says already in the programmatic essay itself that myth's "real intention \ [is\] to speak \ [not of human existence, which he does not even mention, but\] of a transcendent power to which both we and the world are subject" (23 \ [10\]).unmigrated-wiki-markup

Also striking is the way in which Bultmann unhesitatingly insists that "if talk about God's act is to be meaningful it is not pictorial or 'symbolic' talk \ [_sc_. designating subjective experiences\] but means to speak of an act of God in a fully real, 'objective' sense" (196 \ [110\]). In a similar way, he simply takes it for granted that "faith makes sense only if it is directed to God \ [N.B.: God, not simply God's act\!} who is real outside of the believer" (198 \ [113\]).

5 May 1997