True Myth
C.S. Lewis had a way of seeing the world that felt both profound and personal. He wasn’t afraid to wrestle with the deep questions of meaning and truth. For Lewis, myths weren’t just fanciful stories. They were whispers of something greater, shadows pointing us toward ultimate reality. And in Christianity, he found the myth that not only stirred his imagination but also broke into history. It was, as he called it, the True Myth.
Imagine yourself sitting across from Lewis in the Rabbit Room at the back of The Eagle and Child pub as he leans forward, eyes bright with imagination and conviction, saying: “The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens—at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences.” (Myth Became Fact). He’s telling you that Christianity is the story we’ve always longed for…except it’s real. It’s not just a tale. It’s a fact.
Lewis believed myths resonate because they touch something deep within us. They stir longings we can’t explain but can’t ignore. He saw these stories as part of God’s grace to us, what he called “good dreams.” He wrote, “God sent the human race what I call ‘good dreams’: those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions about a god who dies and comes to life again and, by his death, has somehow given new life to men” (Mere Christianity). Myths echo the truth of a world created by God, even when they’re told by people who don’t yet know Him. This realization, communicated through his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, is part of what led Lewis to forsake atheism and become a Christian. He had been a literary scholar who knew the myths, but he came to understand they all point to the reality that is found in the gospels.
What makes Christianity different is that it isn’t just another myth. It’s the myth that happened. Lewis wrote, “The story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened” (Letters of C.S. Lewis). Can you feel the weight of that? The longing, the beauty, the joy we find in myth—it’s all met in Jesus, the one who was born in a manger in Bethlehem, walked the dusty roads of Galilee, died on a Roman cross, and who rose again. This isn’t just a story to stir our hearts, it really happened, and it changes our destiny.
Lewis realized that Christianity doesn’t ask us to choose between our intellect and our imagination. It invites both into the story. He said, “In the enjoyment of a great myth we come nearest to experiencing as a concrete what can otherwise be understood only as an abstraction” (Myth Became Fact). The Gospel engages both our heads and our hearts, speaking to every part of who we are.
What the Incarnation Means at Christmas
Christmas isn’t just the start of a story. It’s the moment when the eternal enters time, when God (the Author) takes on flesh and steps into the world He created (the story). Lewis captures this beautifully, writing, “Now as myth transcends thought, incarnation transcends myth. The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact… The old myth of the dying god, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history.” (Myth Became Fact).
Think about that for a moment. The incarnation is where the infinite meets the finite. God becomes man—not in some abstract, symbolic sense but in a real, historical sense. Jesus Christ is born to the virgin Mary in Bethlehem, to a particular person in a particular place at a particular moment in history, with real consequences. Lewis continues: “We pass from a Balder or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified… under Pontius Pilate.” (Myth Became Fact). This is the True Myth that gives life to all others. Jesus was really born, really died, and really rose from the dead. And that really matters.
Lewis drives this Christmas reality home, saying: “Those who do not know that this great myth became fact when the Virgin conceived are, indeed, to be pitied.” (Myth Became Fact). In these words, Lewis not only emphasizes the historicity of the incarnation but also its importance for every person. To miss this truth is to miss the heart of what it means to truly know and experience the God every person has been longing for.
At Christmas, we are invited to see God’s love on full display. The incarnation isn’t just a story to inspire us. It’s the reality that changes everything. It’s God stepping into our brokenness to heal, redeem, and rescue.
And what does this mean for us? It means that every longing for a hero, every ache for redemption, every story that moves us deeply is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. It means that at Christmas, we celebrate the marriage of heaven and earth, the moment when the True Myth became flesh and dwelt among us.
When you hear the gospel, Lewis would want you to know that it’s not just a story. It’s the story. It’s the truth that breaks into time and space, calling you to trust the One who is both the storyteller and the hero. Jesus is the myth that became fact, and in Him, every longing finds its home.
