Collective Memory and the Reliability of the Gospel Traditions
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Used by permission: Harper Collins Christian Publishing and the authors.
Copyright © 2019 Darrel L. Bock and J. Ed Komoszewski
Staff and Students of Avondale College may access Jesus, Skepticism and the Problem of History from Avondale College Library (232.908 B63)
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Abstract
This chapter addresses the question of how the collective memories of Jesus and his teachings were formed, and then preserved for the 30 to 60 years between the events and their writing down in the Gospels. It considers the reliability of eyewitness memories, and how these would have been formed into the collective memories of the first followers of Jesus. Life tables are used as evidence that a significant number of eyewitness to the earthly life of Jesus would still be alive when the Gospel were written. It further provides evidence that eyewitnesses can reliably remember details of events over periods of 30 to 60 years.
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McIver, R. (2019). Collective memory and the reliability of the Gospel traditions. In D. Bock, & J. Komoszewski (Eds.), Jesus, skepticism, and the problem of history (pp. 125-144). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.