Samuel Byrskog Libri

The concepts of social memory and social identity have been increasingly used in the study of ancient Jewish and Christian sources. In this collection of articles, international specialists apply interdisciplinary methodology related to these concepts to early Jewish and Christian sources. The volume offers an up-to-date presentation of how social memory studies and socio-psychological identity approach have been used in the study of Biblical and related literature. The articles examine how Jewish and Christian sources participate in the processes of collective recollection and in this way contribute to the construction of distinctive social identities. The writers demonstrate the benefits of the use of interdisciplinary methodologies in the study of early Judaism and Christianity but also discuss potential problems that have emerged when modern theories have been applied to ancient material. In the first part of the book, scholars apply social, collective and cultural memory approaches to early Christian sources. The articles discuss philosophical aspects of memory, the formation of gospel traditions in the light of memory studies, the role of eyewitness testimony in canonical and non-canonical Christian sources and the oral delivery of New Testament writings in relation to ancient delivery practices. Part two applies the social identity approach to various Dead Sea Scrolls and New Testament writings. The writers analyse the role marriage, deviant behaviour, and wisdom traditions in the construction of identity in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Other topics include forgiveness in the Gospel of Matthew, the imagined community in the Gospel John, the use of the past in Paul’s Epistles and the relationship between the covenant and collective identity in the Epistle to the Hebrews and the First Epistle of Clement.

From the inception of critical Jesus research, the questions of Jesus' understanding of his authority and his aims have been central to this field of inquiry. Up to this day, scholars are making efforts toward resolving those questions. This volume is a collection of contributions that were originally presented at the second Nordic Symposium on the historical Jesus in Lund 2012. Researchers from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden continue and broaden a conversation that was initiated in Turku 2010. The topics of Jesus' identity and aims are coupled under the concept of „mission,“ which includes his notion of being sent, the purposes that he aimed to fulfill, and the means of carrying out these purposes. Contributions to the volume discuss methodological problems, analyze proposals made in previous research, and suggest new understandings of various aspects of the mission of Jesus.

Much of the Jesus scholarship has concentrated on the so-called self-identity of Jesus. However, due to the recent emphasis on the subjective perception and memory processes in the methodology of Jesus research, it is meaningful to re-conceptualize the question. The authors of this volume approach the question of the identity of Jesus from different angles. Viewpoints vary from that of comparative religion to the analysis of the narratives Jesus told, some key events of his life and existing identities of the first century Judaism. The overall aim in this collection of articles is to provide informative and updated perspectives on one of the most central questions of the research field. The papers given in the first Nordic Symposium of the Historical Jesus in Åbo 2010 have been modified and collected to cover important aspects in the historical Jesus research. While contributions come from a rather heterogeneous group of scholars, the geographical and linguistic proximity have enabled keen and fruitful interaction, thus making Nordic voices worth hearing.