Eric Metaxas and Martin Shaw: Discovering the True Myth

In this rich and deeply personal conversation, Eric Metaxas hosts Martin Shaw, a renowned mythographer, storyteller, and visiting scholar at Cambridge University, for a profound exploration of myth, storytelling, and the spiritual journey. Shaw recounts his unconventional path—from growing up in a book-rich, cash-poor household to living in a Mongolian tent for four years, learning 1,000 folktales by firelight. His 101-day vigil in Dartmoor Forest, where he told stories to the land in silent communion, culminates in a mystical experience: a star falling from the sky and transforming into a painted arrow, followed by a vision of the words 'inhabit the time and genesis of your original home.' This moment, combined with a transformative visit to an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy, leads Shaw to a renewed, embodied faith. He reflects on how myth and story are not mere entertainment but vital vessels of truth, presence, and divine encounter. The conversation delves into the universality of mythic archetypes—like Achilles’ rejection of underworld kingship as a prefiguration of Christian humility—and the deep resonance of Christ across cultures, even among the Lakota Sioux, who referred to Jesus as 'the little hippie guy.' Shaw advocates for a balanced spiritual life that honors both intellectual theology and embodied liturgical experience, warning against reducing faith to doctrine or dismissing non-Christian traditions as irrelevant. The episode closes with a celebration of storytelling as a sacred act, a bridge between heaven and earth, and a path to becoming a 'real human being.'