Analysis of the Effectiveness of Jesus’ Parable: A Cognitive Psychology Approach

Abstract Many doubt the effectiveness of Jesus’ teaching that was intended to be preserved in his disciples’ memory. The Gospels were written long after the Resurrection, and humans are prone to forgetfulness. These reasons alone suffice to arouse suspicion about the reliability of the disciples’ memory and the record of Jesus’ teaching in modern scholarship. To rebut this perception, this study argues that Jesus’ teaching in parables guarantees the retention of his messages in his disciples’ memory by using the research methodology of cognitive psychology. This study also presents and compares Jesus’ parables in the Synoptic Gospels.