Editing Christian mythology (section)

===Enlightenment===
The [[philosophes]] of the Enlightenment used criticism of myth as a vehicle for veiled criticisms of the Bible and the church.<ref>Lincoln 49</ref> According to [[Bruce Lincoln]], the philosophes "made irrationality the hallmark of myth and constituted philosophy—rather than the Christian ''[[kerygma]]''—as the antidote for mythic discourse. By implication, Christianity could appear as a more recent, powerful, and dangerous instance of irrational myth".<ref>Lincoln 50</ref>

Since the end of the 18th century, the biblical stories have lost some of their mythological basis to western society, owing to the scepticism of the [[enlightenment age|Enlightenment]], 19th-century [[freethinkers|freethinking]], and 20th century [[modernism]]. Most westerners no longer found Christianity to be their primary imaginative and mythological framework by which they understand the world. However other scholars believe mythology is in our psyche, and that mythical influences of Christianity are in many of our ideals, for example the Judeo-Christian idea of an after-life and heaven.<ref>Eliade 1963:184</ref> The book ''[[Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X]]'' by [[Tom Beaudoin]] explores the premise that Christian mythology is present in the mythologies of pop-culture, such as Madonna's ''[[Like a Prayer (song)|Like a Prayer]]'' or Soundgarden's ''[[Black Hole Sun]].'' Modern myths are strong in comic book stories (as stories of [[culture hero]]es) and detective novels as myths of good versus evil.<ref>Eliade 1963:185</ref>