Memory as Method: Some Observations on Two Recent Accounts

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
Andrew Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Memory Theory ◽  
Vital Part ◽  
Scribal Culture

This review essay considers the use of social memory theory in two monographs on the gospels, and the extent to which that theory aids their arguments and conclusions. In the case of Jesus’ Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee, by Chris Keith, I argue that the author uses social memory theory to provide a helpful account of what historians do, but that his conclusion could stand without explicit appeal to his theoretical understanding. In the case of Q in Matthew: Ancient Media, Memory, and Early Scribal Transmission of the Jesus Tradition, by Alan Kirk, I argue that his use of social memory theory, alongside his account of individual neurobiological memory and cognitive processes, is a vital part of the argument that he presents.

Jesus at the Crossroads of Inference and Imagination

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-89
Author(s):  
Jordan J. Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Social Memory ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Historical Imagination ◽  
Memory Theory ◽  
Methodological Foundation ◽  
Question And Answer

A significant re-evaluation of the historiographical methods and approaches used in historical Jesus research has been underway in recent years. Some scholars have begun to look to social memory theory for a way forward. Although social memory theory provides some valuable insights, a solid methodological foundation is still lacking. The intention of this article is to advance the discussion by drawing attention to R.G. Collingwood’s contributions to the philosophy of history and historiography in The Idea of History (1946). In particular, I will discuss his historiographical principles of inference, evidence, question and answer, historical imagination, along with his critique of ‘scissors-and-paste’. These principles have the potential to form the foundation of a theoretically grounded historiographical practice in Jesus research.

Q in Matthew: A Review Essay

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 169-191
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Rollens
Keyword(s):  
Review Essay ◽  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Memory Theory

This essay reviews Alan Kirk’s recent book Q in Matthew: Ancient Media, Memory, and Early Scribal Transmissions of the Jesus Tbrradition, which analyzes the techniques of ancient scribal composition alongside memory theory to better understand how the author of the Gospel of Matthew used his sources.

scholarly journals Matthew, memory theory and the New No Quest

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeba Crook
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Memory Distortion ◽  
Memory Theory

This article explores the effects of cognitive and social memory theory on the quest for the historical Jesus. It is not the case that all memory is hopelessly unreliable, but it is the case that it commonly is. Memory distortion is disturbingly common, and much worse, there is no way to distinguish between memories of actual events and memories of invented events. The Gospel of Matthew was used to illustrate this very difficulty. This article also draws attention to the fact that although numerous criteria have been developed, refined and used extensively in order to distinguish between original Jesus material and later church material, those criteria have long been unsatisfactory, and most recently, because of the effects of thinking about memory theory and orality, have been revealed to be bankrupt. Since memory theory shows that people are unable to differentiate accurate memory from inaccurate and wholly invented memory, and since the traditional quest criteria do not accomplish what they were intended to, this article argues that scholarship about Jesus has been forced into a new no quest.

Memory, Orality, and the Fourth Gospel

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 143-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley E. Porter ◽  
Hughson T. Ong
Keyword(s):  
Recent Article ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Redaction Criticism ◽  
Memory Theory ◽  
Research Areas

This article examines and responds to the arguments made by Paul Foster in a recent article in jshj regarding social-memory theory, orality, and the Fourth Gospel, where he argues that recent research in these areas are dead-ends for historical Jesus research. We do not necessarily wish to defend the research he criticizes, but we respond to Foster by pointing out some of the limitations in his analysis and provide further comments to move discussion of these research areas forward. Our comments address his assumption that form- and redaction-criticism accomplish the purposes that he envisions for historical Jesus research and a number of other problematic arguments he raises regarding each of these areas.

The Problem of Selectivity in Memory Research: A Response to Zeba Crook

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
Anthony Le Donne
Keyword(s):  
Social Memory ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Memory Distortion ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
Memory Theory ◽  
Memory Applications ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study

Zeba Crook argues that there is an emerging consensus that the Gospels are reliable historical narratives by those to have applied ‘memory’ theories to historical Jesus research. Crook argues that this emerging consensus betrays a selective reading of research done on ‘memory distortion’ in interdisciplinary study. This essay demonstrates that Crook misunderstands and misrepresents social memory theory both in and outside Jesus studies. A better understanding would have properly represented the spectrum from theoretical ‘presentism’ to ‘continuitism’ in memory applications/adaptations.

scholarly journals From vectors to symbols to cognition: The symbolic and sub-symbolic aspects of vector-symbolic cognitive models

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A Kelly ◽  
Robert West
Keyword(s):  
Linear Algebra ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Theoretical Unification

To achieve a full, theoretical understanding of a cognitive process, explanations of the process need to be provided at both symbolic (i.e., representational) and sub-symbolic levels of description. We argue that cognitive models implemented in vector-symbolic architectures (VSAs) intrinsically operate at both of levels and thus provide a needed bridge. We characterize the sub-symbolic level of VSAs in terms of a small set of linear algebra operations. We characterize the symbolic level of VSAs in terms of cognitive processes, in particular how information is represented, stored, and retrieved, and classify vector-symbolic cognitive models in the literature according to their implementation of these processes. On the basis of our analysis, we speculate on avenues for future research, and suggest means for theoretical unification of existent models.

New Testament Media Criticism

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-337
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Elder
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Media Criticism ◽  
Memory Theory ◽  
Performance Criticism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Modern Media

This article introduces and overviews New Testament media criticism. Media criticism is an emerging biblical methodology that encompasses four related fields: orality studies, social memory theory, performance criticism, and the Bible in modern media. The article addresses the methodological foundations of these fields and reviews recent contributions in each of them.

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