Memory as Method: Some Observations on Two Recent Accounts

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.