ABSTRACT
If Australian and Papuan heroes are active only in the epoch of pri mordial creation, the gods of the ancient Orient are immortal and con tinue to interfere in the life of humanity as personifications-the lords and masters-of natural phenomena. Yahweh, however, is completely untainted by associations with nature and is first and foremost the pro tector of the ancient Hebrews in their peregrinations and conquests. And even if the motifs of dying and resurrected gods in the Middle East and the sacrifice of dema in Papua suggest parallels to the life of Christ, there is a substantial difference: Christ’s life, like Yahweh’s existence, is not linked to natural cycles but to the history of all humanity. His death and resurrection are presented as events that occur only once in the history of mankind. Biblical mythology, therefore, is the first step in the long process of demythification. But the Gospels are treated as accounts of the initial, sacred events (or perhaps rebirth) that determine later his torical events. In brief, the Gospels are full of sacred moments that act as paradigms for moral norms and cultic practices, just as all myth does.
