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The Generative Force of Memory: Early Christian Traditions as Processes of Remembering

2006; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 36; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/01461079060360010301

1945-7596

Werner H. Kelber,

Biblical Studies and Interpretation

This article seeks to carry forward recent work on social or cultural memory in relation to the early Christian tradition. It develops the concept of a memorially empowered tradition which operates less as transmission of traditions, and more precisely as a functioning social memory, e.g., as a dynamic driven by the desire to keep Jesus' words alive by making them communicate to the present. Memory understood as a continual process of commemorating activities, intent on remembering the past while simultaneously addressing social identity in the present, is seen as the grand motivating force of tradition.