Memories of Jesus

Lately in the field of historical Jesus research there has been a strong surge of investigation into the processes of human memory and cognition.  Check out The Jesus Blog for more on this.

My two cents:  (1)Human memory is frail,(2) because of this, historical facts are always uncertain.

That human memory is frail does not, however, necessitate that it is entirely deceived or contrived.  Especially, I would argue, when there are several people who are invested in the protection of the memory.  I do understand that the more significant the memory the greater the embellishment, but how can we be sure that this early community was not a memory-centered scribal culture in which the exact memorization and protection of events was a central practice?  Can't we argue that at least some of the writers were Jewish religious folk, meaning that they had been practicing the art of memorization under strict instruction for decades?  Can't we argue that these memories belonged not to individuals but to communities who would have kept one another accountable?

When I was 9 years old I asked a girl to go out with me.  I remember her friend, Kristen, standing next to her on the playground saying "Say yes, say yes!" I remember Kristen coming up to me in the hall later that day and telling me that Jessica had said no.  I remember how I felt.  I was 9.  I didn't have a community to keep the memory alive, I didn't know how to memorize things.  Sure, I can't remember "exactly" what Jessica said.  But I do remember that she told me, in some way, that she would have to think about it and that she'd tell me later.

Sure, the gospel narratives might not contain a whole lot of "word-for-word" Jesus sayings (thought I happen to think that they do), but I bet the authors (or the eye witnesses who informed the authors) remembered how they felt.  I bet they remembered how they were situated in the upper room when Jesus began washing their feet.  It's just a bet.  I can't prove it.

Then there are memories I'm not so sure of.  When I was 21 I stole a car and went to jail.  I've told the story so many times that I've forgotten exactly what the judge said, or what I told my mom on the phone at 5am that Thursday morning.  But I do remember that I called my mom.  I remember it was a payphone.  I remember the sadness in her voice.  I don't remember exactly what she said.  But I bet I could form a pretty accurate reconstruction based on who my mom is.

Unless they are fairy tales, the gospels represent stuff that Jesus said.  Maybe not word-for-word.  But representations.  An artist who hasn't seen his home in forty years can usually paint a fairly accurate image of the landscape.  There might be a tree out of place, or the skyline might be a little bit embellished.  But the representation would be unmistakable.

I ask you to think of the most amazing Christian that you know.  This experiment won't work  if you don't know any.  And, for that I'm sorry.  But I can think of a few.  They are people of integrity.
And if we look at the letters of the early church fathers (100-200 CE) they seem to be people of the same quality.  They are disciplined in love and truthfulness.  This is another claim that must rest in faith.  You either have to believe that the writers of the New Testament were spiritually formed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, or these documents are just dead history.

A good point has been raised about the memory of Jesus.  If, in fact, these authors were standard early Palestinian revolutionaries, then the New Testament would be nothing but a collection of socio-political propaganda.  This has been a common misunderstanding among thinking non-believers everywhere.




Thoughts?