452 - Hillsdale talk - Mythological Thinking: The Crossroads of Psychology and Theology
The Symbolic World
This is a talk I did at Hillsdale College in March 2026. In this talk, I explore mythological thinking as a way of understanding how facts become meaningful. Facts do not present themselves to us neutrally. They are always organized by care, relevance, attention, and story. I look at examples from Genesis, Icarus, Spider-Man, the Tower of Babel, and modern science to show how myths preserve deep patterns of human experience. Rather than treating myth as fiction or primitive explanation, I argue that myth reveals the structures by which we perceive reality, understand purpose, and connect psychology with theology. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/DEShUddn8HY Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Register now to get 15% off before the early bird sale ends: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel 🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast: -Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5 -Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 Timestamps: 00:00 Coming up 01:38 Intro music 02:03 Introduction at Hillsdale College 06:59 Talk begins: hope, fragmentation, and new conversations 09:19 “Facts don’t care about your feelings” 12:12 Care organizes facts 16:50 Facts are always contained in a story 19:15 The Fifth Gospel course announcement 20:10 Why stories survive across generations 24:04 Mythological stories vs. scientific descriptions 27:14 Origin stories and why we care 30:37 Genesis as more than a scientific text 33:34 Genesis, relevance, and human categories 37:38 Why the mythological story should be primary 39:36 Myths are not primitive explanations 41:47 Babel, Icarus, Prometheus, and repeated patterns 44:16 Applicability vs. allegory 47:40 All remembered stories are mythological 49:24 Psychology, theology, and human care 51:27 The Incarnation as the myth that came true 54:34 How story unites psychology and theology 58:29 Returning to mythological thinking 59:55 Q&A: Bringing mythological thinking into science education 01:02:58 Q&A: How to recognize false myths 01:07:37 Q&A: Speaking truth in hostile circles 01:08:53 Q&A: Original sin as a true myth 01:11:13 Q&A: How artists discover truth through story 01:13:42 Q&A: Why live by Christ’s story rather than another? 01:18:21 Q&A: The modern fall into cold, hard reality Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/