874. Note how what Bultmann says ...

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Note how what Bultmann says about the origin of the Word of God can be understood.  He says this "origin is an historical event, by which the speaking of this word, the preaching, is rendered authoritative and legitimate. This event is Jesus Christ" (Jesus Christ and Mythology, 79 f.).  In context, Bultmann's point is that the "living Word of God," which is "a real word spoken to me in human language, whether in the preaching of the church or in the Bible," is "not invented by the human spirit and by human sagacity," but, rather, rises up in history. The event of its origin, which is to say, the event of its origin, by which 11 is rendered authoritative and legitimate is Jesus Christ--not the other way around!

Therefore, even when it appears that Bultmann maintains that empirical-historical confirmation at least of the existence of Jesus as a single human being is necessarily presupposed by the kerygma, his real point may be significantly different.