This is a different book about Jesus. It does not study the Gospels as sources for the historical Jesus, but reads them as memories about Jesus, each Gospel with its characteristic picture of Jesus. The book traces the transmission and growth of memories of Jesus in various contexts and in different historical periods. It also introduces readers to the little known counterstories to Christian memories in Jewish sources, as well as to the rival stories in the Quran. A central perspective in the book is the troubling fact that for centuries the memories of Jesus contributed to hate speech against the Jews in Europe. The passion narratives in the Gospels put the blame for the death of Jesus upon Jewish leaders, and these stories were transmitted across the centuries as historical truth. Memories of Jesus have served as identity markers not only for churches but also for societies and countries. The last chapters focus on how the memories of Jesus have played an important role in supporting the identity of oppressed and marginalized groups, in particular in the contemporary United States.
Halvor Moxnes is Professor of New Testament emeritus in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo. He is a member of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and author of Putting Jesus in His Place (2003), Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism (2012), and A Short History of the New Testament (2014).
“With this great book, Halvor Moxnes has transformed the study of the New Testament! We do not know Jesus, we remember Jesus, he argues, and he explores the memories expressed in the canonical Gospels, the apocryphal gospels, Jewish texts—all the way to the modern period, when scholars thought they were reconstructing history rather than grasping at memory. What will the future memories of Jesus bring to us? Moxnes tantalizes us, raising questions about historical and political contexts that shape our memories, and insisting that we consider our memories in light of our ethical commitments. A fabulous book for students, scholars, and interesting people!”
—Susannah Heschel, Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College
“Throughout his distinguished career, Halvor Moxnes has embraced and contributed to new approaches to the study of Jesus and the origins of Christianity in a careful and creative manner. Memories of Jesus brings together a lifetime of scholarly work and combines it with memory studies and reception historical approaches to the Bible to provide a remarkable book on a history of interpretation of Jesus. This landmark book points the way to the future of critical Jesus scholarship.”
—James Crossley, Professor of Bible, Society, and Politics, St. Mary’s University, London