If the content of faith is to be presented today in a form that can be ``understanded of the people'' -- and this, it must not be forgotten, is one of the goals of the perennial theological task -- there is no other choice but to abandon completely a mythological manner of representation.

This does not mean that mythological language as such can no longer be used in theology and preaching. The absurd notion that demythologization entails the expurgation of all mythological concepts completely misrepresents Bultmann's intention. His point is not that mythology may not be used, but that it may no longer be regarded as the only or even the most appropriate conceptuality for expressing the Christian kerygma. When we say that a mythological mode of thought must be completely abandoned, we mean it must be abandoned as the sole or proper means for presenting the Christian understanding of existence. Mythological concepts may by all means still be used, but they can be used responsibly only as ``symbols'' or ``ciphers,'' that is, only if they are also constantly interpreted in non mythological (or existential) terms.

The statement is often made that when Bultmann argues in this way, he ``overestimates the intellectual stumbling-block which myth is supposed to put in the way of accepting the Christian faith.'' But this statement is completely unconvincing. If Bultmann's own definition of myth is strictly adhered to (and it is interesting that this is almost never done by those who make such pronouncements), the evidence is overwhelming that he does not at all exaggerate the extent to which the mythological concepts of traditional theology have become incredible and irrelevant. Nor is it necessary to look for such evidence in the great urban centers of our culture that are admittedly almost entirely secularized and so profoundly estranged from the conventional forms in which the gospel has been communicated. On the contrary, even in the heart of ``the Bible belt'' itself, as can be attested by any one who is called to work there, the industrial and technological revolutions have long been under way, together with the corresponding changes in man's picture of himself and his world.