**Lewis began to accept that the gospel story is a different kind of myth, different in that it really occurred in actual history.  That is why Lewis hadn’t like reading them as a youth.  They don’t read like smooth prose invented in the mind of men, because the things spoken of really happened in the lives of men.  They include the dirt and details of real history, yet they fulfill mythological longings as well.  In a sense, perhaps the Gospels are bad literature because they are good history.  (Not thorough history, or biographically detailed history, by the way.)  The evangelists weren’t fiction writers.  They compiled sources spoken of and written by others and edited them.  That’s why the Gospels don’t read like Harry Potter.  Harry comes from the single mind of J.K. Rowling.  The story of Jesus came from the heart of God into real history.  Again, C.S. Lewis wrote:

There was no such historical claim (in Hindu mythology) as in Christianity.  I was by now too experienced in literary criticism to regard the Gospels as myths.  They had not the mythical taste.  And yet the very matter which they set down in their artless, historical fashion – those narrow, unattractive Jews, too blind to the mythical wealth of the pagan world around them – was precisely the matter of the great myths.  If ever a myth had become fact, had been incarnated, it would be just like this.** 

 Honest literary experts can see at a glance that the Gospel writers were sincere.    Whichever critieria one uses to gauge an author's sincerity -- freeness with detail, ease of prose, frankness with respect to weaknesses and embarrassments, etc etc -- the Gospel writers sail through with high marks.

I’ve been fascinated to see atheists Camille Paglia and Antony Flew praise Jesus highly, based on precisely this consideration. 

**Tolkien’s insights changed Lewis’s mind, and his life – for shortly after that discussion, Lewis became a Christian.  Lewis described his conversion experience as “like when a man, after long sleep, still lying motionless in bed, becomes aware that he is now awake.”**  

 Had never seen this quote!  It parallels my own experience.  That of realizing that you believe, not deciding to believe. 

Consider the elements of death and resurrection within these mythologies:
Egyptian: The Phoenix:  The mythological bird flies toward the sun and is burned to death.  But in its ashes, a new phoenix bird is reborn.**...

[Hogan goes on to consider Adonis, Dionysus, Odin, Ishatar, etc. in his article on mythology and Christ.)

 I’ve often wondered whether God “seeded” these community consciousnesses.  What do you think?  The Bible offers not a whisper, that I’m aware of, of a statement either way. 

The “star in the East” demonstrates that there was worldwide awareness of a coming Messiah.  Whether God seeded local myths is problematic.  God never speaks a lie, obviously, and myth-believers are in a position in which they are believing lies.  But perhaps the myths were intended to be held in local consciousness like parables… 

  To understand this is to have cracked the “Inklings Code,” 

What a title for a book, eh?  Maybe you better hurry up and write it … I get 10%, b’wana… :- ) 

Lewis’ and Tolkien’s debates are seminal, and in fact were part of my own conversion …

... that Christian truths should be woven into the world’s awareness, comes as no surprise …  

 ... that Chrisitianity has many obvious distinctions from vaguely-echo’ed world “myths” is clear… 

 ... that guys like Freud become “willingly ignorant” of these distinctions is clear; they pervert the “Inklings Code,” using “similar-myths” as very comforting brush behind which to hide… 

It seems to me that God has napalmed the brush; Lewis’ “Trilemma” and Narnia movies and etc. being the primary fleet of aircraft that made the refutation accessible to Soccer Mom… 

  Great stuff ,