Memory, Tradition, and Text: Uses of the Past in Early Christianity (Semeia Studies-Society of Biblical Literature) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589831497 ISBN 13: 9781589831490

Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005

Synopsis

Social and cultural memory theory examines the ways communities and individuals reconstruct and commemorate their pasts in light of shared experiences and current social realities. Drawing on the methods of this emerging field, this volume both introduces memory theory to biblical scholars and restores the category memory to a preeminent position in research on Christian origins. In the process, the volume challenges current approaches to research problems in Christian origins, such as the history of the Gospel traditions, the birth of early Christian literature, ritual and ethics, and the historical Jesus. The essays, taken in aggregate, outline a comprehensive research agenda for examining the beginnings of Christianity and its literature and also propose a fundamentally revised model for the phenomenology of early Christian oral tradition, assess the impact of memory theory upon historical Jesus research, establish connections between memory dynamics and the appearance of written Gospels, and assess the relationship of early Christian commemorative activities with the cultural memory of ancient Judaism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1589831497
• ISBN 13: 9781589831490
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296
• Editor: Kirk Alan, Thatcher Tom