Memory Study May Lend Credibility to Bible Stories

For Christians there’s a great deal at stake in the idea that ancient people had excellent memories. If they didn’t, how can we be sure that the Gospels accurately portray who Jesus was? After all, the Gospels weren’t written down for decades after the death of Jesus. In answering this question a number of scholars have turned to the study of memory and social memory theory in particular to explain the relationship between what actually happened and the events recorded in the New Testament. For example, biblical scholar Richard Bauckham, author of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses has argued that the memories of eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus impacted the subsequent tradition.