How did people “remember” Jesus in early Christianity, before there were any Gospels or other written sources of information? Did the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life sometimes forget what he said and did? Did they misremember? And when they told stories about him, did the people who heard the stories—and the people to whom those people told the stories— alter the memories? Did they sometimes, or often, invent false memories? Bart Ehrman, a leading authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the life of Jesus, considers these questions through a careful examination of our earliest Gospels, the writings that embody early-Christian memories of Jesus.
9:30 to 10:45 a.m. The Invention of Memories
No one can doubt that early Christians “remembered” words and deeds of Jesus that he, in fact, never said and did. We have numerous Gospels from outside the New Testament that were firmly believed by ancient followers of Jesus but that are full of fictions. Could any faulty memories of Jesus’ life also be found in the Gospels of the New Testament?
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses
Legal scholars and psychologists have long known that eyewitness testimony cannot be trusted as necessarily reliable. How do these findings affect our understandings of the Gospels? Were they based on eyewitness reports? If so, would that ensure their basic accuracy? And how would we know?
12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch (participants provide their own)
1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Distorted Memory and the Death of Jesus
Cognitive psychologists have long been intrigued with the phenomenon of distorted memory— that is, memory of things that in fact did not happen. Is there any way to determine if the early Christians perpetrated distorted memories of Jesus? Ehrman examines the question by looking at the most “remembered” part of Jesus’ life, the events leading up to his death.
3 to 4:15 p.m. Distorted Memory and the Life of Jesus
It is widely thought today that people living in oral cultures (such as those of the ancient world) had better memories than those in literate cultures, and took special care to transmit their traditions accurately (since they could not refer to writings for confirmation). Is that true? Ehrman reviews how cultural anthropologists have answered the question, and applies the findings to key episodes in the life and ministry of Jesus.
Ehrman is the James A. Gray distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His new book, Jesus Before the Gospels: How Early Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Stories of the Savior (HarperOne) is available for signing.
