Even after the Israelites were firmly established in the Promised Land, they had yet to conquer the Canaanite peoples. In the years that followed, tribal leaders such as Samuel, Jephthah, Gideon, Deborah, and Barak would rise up to defend the Israelites from the paganism around them. But it was ultimately David who was led down the road to kingship, following his heroic victory over the Philistine champion, Goliath. Though troubles afflicted him in dealings with figures like Saul, Uriah, Nathan, and Bathsheba, David would remain the archetypical King of Israel, handing on his kingship to his gifted son, Solomon.

While the word "myth" has come to mean "untrue account," we mean something quite different. Throughout the long ages of human life and culture, myth has been a way of expressing deep truths. And so, here, "mythic narrative" means "meaningful account." Indeed, it is an account that might be entirely true... or mostly false... or somewhere in between. We know where we stand, but that's for each listener to discover.

www.primematters.com

A text version of this project is under production by ActsXXIX. See www.primematters.com/text.