demythologization of the New Testament
E541111
Christian theological concept
New Testament interpretation method
biblical hermeneutical method
theological approach
The demythologization of the New Testament is a theological approach, chiefly associated with Rudolf Bultmann, that seeks to reinterpret the Bible’s mythological language and supernatural elements in terms of existential, modern human experience.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Bultmannian demythologizing program | 1 |
| demythologization of the New Testament canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5733726 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: demythologization of the New Testament Context triple: [Rudolf Bultmann, notableIdea, demythologization of the New Testament]
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A.
The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content
The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content is a scholarly introduction to the New Testament that surveys its historical context, formation, and literary structure, authored by biblical scholar Bruce M. Metzger.
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B.
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament is John Wesley’s influential 18th-century biblical commentary that provides practical, devotional, and theological insights on the New Testament text.
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C.
The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration
The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration is a foundational scholarly work on New Testament textual criticism, examining how the text was copied, altered, and reconstructed over time.
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D.
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance is a scholarly monograph by Bruce M. Metzger that traces how the New Testament books were selected, recognized, and transmitted as authoritative Christian Scripture.
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E.
New Testament textual apparatus
The New Testament textual apparatus is a critical tool in biblical scholarship that presents and evaluates the variant readings of New Testament manuscripts to help determine the most reliable text.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: demythologization of the New Testament Target entity description: The demythologization of the New Testament is a theological approach, chiefly associated with Rudolf Bultmann, that seeks to reinterpret the Bible’s mythological language and supernatural elements in terms of existential, modern human experience.
-
A.
The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content
The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content is a scholarly introduction to the New Testament that surveys its historical context, formation, and literary structure, authored by biblical scholar Bruce M. Metzger.
-
B.
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament is John Wesley’s influential 18th-century biblical commentary that provides practical, devotional, and theological insights on the New Testament text.
-
C.
The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration
The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration is a foundational scholarly work on New Testament textual criticism, examining how the text was copied, altered, and reconstructed over time.
-
D.
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance is a scholarly monograph by Bruce M. Metzger that traces how the New Testament books were selected, recognized, and transmitted as authoritative Christian Scripture.
-
E.
New Testament textual apparatus
The New Testament textual apparatus is a critical tool in biblical scholarship that presents and evaluates the variant readings of New Testament manuscripts to help determine the most reliable text.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Christian theological concept
ⓘ
New Testament interpretation method ⓘ biblical hermeneutical method ⓘ theological approach ⓘ |
| aimsTo |
express Christian kerygma in existential terms
ⓘ
make New Testament message intelligible to modern people ⓘ reinterpret mythological language ⓘ reinterpret supernatural elements ⓘ |
| appliedTo |
apocalyptic passages
ⓘ
miracle narratives ⓘ resurrection narratives ⓘ |
| appliesTo | New Testament ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Rudolf Bultmann ⓘ |
| basedOn | existentialist philosophy ⓘ |
| centralConcept |
authentic existence before God
ⓘ
existential decision of faith ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
alleged reduction of supernatural elements
ⓘ
subjectivizing the biblical message ⓘ |
| debatedIn | contemporary New Testament scholarship ⓘ |
| defendedAs | necessary for modern faith ⓘ |
| developedBy | Rudolf Bultmann ⓘ |
| discussedIn |
20th-century hermeneutics
ⓘ
New Testament theology ⓘ systematic theology ⓘ |
| documentedIn |
Rudolf Bultmann's essay 'New Testament and Mythology'
ⓘ
linked to:
Kerygma and Myth
|
| emergedIn | 20th century ⓘ |
| emergedWithin |
Protestant theology
ⓘ
linked to:
Protestant Christianity
|
| focusesOn |
mythological language in the New Testament
ⓘ
supernatural elements in the New Testament ⓘ |
| hasGoal |
to relate the gospel to modern human experience
ⓘ
to uncover the existential meaning of biblical texts ⓘ |
| hasMainProponent | Rudolf Bultmann ⓘ |
| influenced |
existential interpretation of scripture
ⓘ
later hermeneutical debates ⓘ post-war German theology ⓘ |
| influencedBy | Martin Heidegger's existentialism ⓘ |
| interpretsAs |
apocalyptic imagery as existential language
ⓘ
miracle stories as existential symbols ⓘ myth as expression of human self-understanding ⓘ |
| keyTerm | Entmythologisierung ⓘ |
| language | primarily German ⓘ |
| presupposes | distinction between myth and historical fact ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
existential theology
ⓘ
form criticism ⓘ historical-critical method ⓘ |
| seeksToAddress |
modern scientific worldview
ⓘ
problem of myth in scripture ⓘ |
| seeksToDistinguish | kerygma from myth ⓘ |
| seeksToPreserve | kerygma of the New Testament ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: demythologization of the New Testament Description of subject: The demythologization of the New Testament is a theological approach, chiefly associated with Rudolf Bultmann, that seeks to reinterpret the Bible’s mythological language and supernatural elements in terms of existential, modern human experience.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: demythologization of the New Testament