{"title":"Social Memory Theory and the Enigmatic Mediated Past in Historical Jesus Research","authors":"Thomas R. Hatina","doi":"10.1163/15685365-12341735","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\nThe recent appropriation of social memory theory in Jesus studies has brought us to a fork in the road in relation to what is meant by a continuity of remembrances about Jesus. Currently, the common claim among many Jesus scholars is that the past of Jesus is knowable through or is contained within the memory process, not behind it or apart from it. Mnemonic processes and their text-products are regarded as a means to an historical end as opposed to being an end in and of themselves. The main problem presented in this article is that the pervading references to, and assumptions about, the mediated past as a potential link between the evangelists’ present and the actual past of Jesus lack the clarification and critical support that is needed for advancing historical Jesus research.","PeriodicalId":19319,"journal":{"name":"Novum Testamentum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Novum Testamentum","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685365-12341735","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"N/A","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The recent appropriation of social memory theory in Jesus studies has brought us to a fork in the road in relation to what is meant by a continuity of remembrances about Jesus. Currently, the common claim among many Jesus scholars is that the past of Jesus is knowable through or is contained within the memory process, not behind it or apart from it. Mnemonic processes and their text-products are regarded as a means to an historical end as opposed to being an end in and of themselves. The main problem presented in this article is that the pervading references to, and assumptions about, the mediated past as a potential link between the evangelists’ present and the actual past of Jesus lack the clarification and critical support that is needed for advancing historical Jesus research.
期刊介绍:
Novum Testamentum is a leading international journal devoted to the study of the New Testament and related subjects. This includes text-critical, philological, and exegetical studies, and investigations which seek to situate early Christian texts (both canonical and non-canonical) and theology in the broader context of Jewish and Graeco-Roman history, culture, religion, and literature. ● For 50 years an unrivalled resource for the subject. ● Articles in English, French and German. ● Extensive Book Review section in each volume, introducing the reader to a large section of related titles.