Christs: Meditations on Archetypal Images in Christian Theology

by David LeRoy Miller

An exploration of the archetypal images from pagan mythology and from contemporary poetry that are embedded in the descriptions of Christ. Behind the image of the Good Shepherd lurks not just the figure of Pan, the god of pastoral care, but also Polyphemos, the one-eyed monstrous Cyclops. Behind Christ the Great Teacher there is not only Socrates, but also Silenos whose drunkenness intoxicates his teaching about dying.

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

David L. Miller, Ph.D., is Watson-Ledden Professor of Religion Emeritus, Syracuse University (NY), and a founding Fellow of The Imaginal Institute.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have in the study of theopoetic, psychopoetic and mythopoetic understanding in Christian theological imagination.

[Rjyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This exploration of some of the symbols that constellate our image of Christ-- the shepherd, the clown, the Great Teacher, specifically-- was perhaps more stimulating than clarifying for me. There were parts where I went "WHAT!" like when you see a dude who doesn't even have pads on jump out of the stands, steal the football and run for a successful touchdown. But there was also parts where I did the "WHAT?" like when you see a dude hit a football with a baseball bat and call it a slam dunk. If you like Bachelard and Hillman and the "amplification" process whereby a symbol gets fracked, having some of its significant intrusions across literature and art and history cross-referenced and compared so meaning can be extracted from the depths, Miller has a rapid, enthusiastic approach to the technique. The high points are pretty high, and when he was making leaps that seemed more drunken to me, he just keeps merrily going so I was never really stewing in confusion for very long.