What is the deep message hidden behind the words of the Crucifixion story that are meant to be understood spiritually and not literally? We will look at that. DEFINING MYTH The first reaction from people when I suggest that the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a myth, is to be outraged. The reason for their outrage is that they do not understand the nature of a myth. They will say that I am insinuating that the crucifixion of Jesus did not occur. Not so. MYTH DOES NOT MEAN THAT SOMETHING DID NOT HAPPEN By understanding the myth we should celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Not as religion presents it to us literally, so that we are to consider a God that is not capable of forgiveness without resorting to torture and bloodshed. THIS IS A CRUCIFIXION IN THE UNIVERSE AND IN US When we understand the myth, we will realize that this is a crucifixion of consciousness, acted out in the universe, and from within our bodies. DEFINITION OF THE WORD MYTH A story presented as historical, dealing with the cosmological and SUPERNATURAL traditions of a people and their God. An allegory. In other words, a myth makes a story seem historical, but it really has another meaning, which is cosmological, or supernatural. THE BIBLE AS SYMBOL Our first order of business in this quest is to see if we can justify considering the Bible as symbolic rather then literal. We must use the Bible itself. THE BIBLE ITSELF SAYS IT IS SYMBOLIC AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LITERALLY 1. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also has made us ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. So here is the Bible itself telling us not to take it literally. AGAIN THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT STORIES ARE ALLEGORY 2. Galatians 4:24 Which things are an allegory: Remember that as we showed the definition of a myth, it included the term allegory. Here again the Bible tells us it is symbolic. THE BIBLE SAYS JESUS ALWAYS SPOKE SYMBOLICALLY