452 - Hillsdale talk - Mythological Thinking: The Crossroads of Psychology and Theology

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.<br /><br />YouTube version: https://youtu.be/DEShUddn8HY<br /><br />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<br /><br />🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe<br />💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com<br />🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  <br /><br />🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:<br />-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5<br />-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 <br /><br />Timestamps:<br />00:00 Coming up<br />01:38 Intro music<br />02:03 Introduction at Hillsdale College<br />06:59 Talk begins: hope, fragmentation, and new conversations<br />09:19 “Facts don’t care about your feelings”<br />12:12 Care organizes facts<br />16:50 Facts are always contained in a story<br />19:15 The Fifth Gospel course announcement<br />20:10 Why stories survive across generations<br />24:04 Mythological stories vs. scientific descriptions<br />27:14 Origin stories and why we care<br />30:37 Genesis as more than a scientific text<br />33:34 Genesis, relevance, and human categories<br />37:38 Why the mythological story should be primary<br />39:36 Myths are not primitive explanations<br />41:47 Babel, Icarus, Prometheus, and repeated patterns<br />44:16 Applicability vs. allegory<br />47:40 All remembered stories are mythological<br />49:24 Psychology, theology, and human care<br />51:27 The Incarnation as the myth that came true<br />54:34 How story unites psychology and theology<br />58:29 Returning to mythological thinking<br />59:55 Q&amp;A: Bringing mythological thinking into science education<br />01:02:58 Q&amp;A: How to recognize false myths<br />01:07:37 Q&amp;A: Speaking truth in hostile circles<br />01:08:53 Q&amp;A: Original sin as a true myth<br />01:11:13 Q&amp;A: How artists discover truth through story<br />01:13:42 Q&amp;A: Why live by Christ’s story rather than another?<br />01:18:21 Q&amp;A: The modern fall into cold, hard reality<br /><br />Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ <br />My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/