"The True Myth"

​“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...” — Hebrews 1:1-2

​The "True Myth": How Ancient Whispers Found Their Voice in the Forest

​In the quiet corners of the proverbial Forest Parish, where the wind through the pines feels like an old conversation, we often find ourselves standing between two worlds. On one hand, we have the earthy, rugged wisdom of our Pictish and Norse ancestors. On the other, we have the radical, transformative message of the "Red Letter" Gospel—the direct words and life of Jesus.

​At first glance, these might seem like opposites: one rooted in pagan myth, the other in sacred scripture. However, there is a robust theological tradition that suggests they are actually part of the same story. This is the theology of Fulfillment, or Praeparatio Evangelica—the "Preparation for the Gospel."

​1. The Greek Connection: Seeds of the Word

​Long before the Gospel reached the northern forests, early Church Fathers like St. Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 AD) were wrestling with how Christ related to the "pagan" world. Justin developed a beautiful concept called the Logos Spermatikos, or the "Seeds of the Word."

​He argued that the Divine Reason (the Logos mentioned in John 1:1) had sown seeds of truth in every culture. When Greek philosophers like Socrates or Plato searched for a "Universal Man" or a logic that governed the universe, they weren't just guessing; they were following the scent of the Divine.

• ​The Fulfillment: To Justin, these thinkers had fragments of the truth. Jesus, as the Incarnate Logos, was the "whole truth." He was the "God-Man" who finally bridged the gap between the infinite Divine and our finite human experience.

​2. The Hebrew Messiah: A Different Kind of King

​In the Hebrew tradition, the fulfillment was more direct and prophetic. The Jewish people looked for a Messiah—a Davidic King who would restore all things.

​However, as we focus on the Red Letter perspective, we see that Jesus fulfilled these promises in a way no one expected. He didn't come as a military conqueror to crush his enemies, but as the "Suffering Servant" described in Isaiah. He fulfilled the spirit of the Law by inaugurating a kingdom of peace, humility, and radical love.

​3. The Nordic & Pictish World: The "True Myth"

​This is where the theology gets exciting for those of us walking the paths of the North. In the 20th century, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien famously applied this same theology to Celtic and Norse mythology. They called Jesus the "True Myth."

​Think of the stories that haunted the Pictish stones and the Norse longhouses:

• ​The Dying God: The story of Balder the Beautiful, whose death brought sorrow to all creation.
• ​The Sacrifice: Odin hanging on the World Tree, pierced by a spear, to gain the wisdom of the runes.

​Tolkien convinced a skeptical Lewis that these weren't just "lies." Instead, they were God expressing Himself through the human imagination—preparing the people of the North for the real thing. These myths were "echoes" or "shadows" of the Cross.

​Bringing it Home

​When the early missionaries encountered the Picts and the Norse, they didn't just delete the old stories. They showed the people that the Christ was the Hero their legends had been whispering about all along.

We can see the ancient, earthy wisdom of the woods and the beautiful North as the "Preparation" and the words of Jesus as the "Fulfillment." The old stories aren't lost; they have simply, finally, come true.

​“But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” — Aslan, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S Lewis