Tuomas Havukainen The Quest for the Memory of Jesus: A Havukainen Tuomas Viable Path or a Dead End? Tuomas Havukainen | This study is focused on the active international or a Dead End? Path Viable the Memory Quest for The of Jesus: A field of study in which various theories of mem- ory (e.g. social/collective memory and individual The Quest for the Memory of Jesus: memory) and ancient media studies (e.g. study A Viable Path or a Dead End? of oral tradition and history) are applied to historical Jesus research. The main purpose of the dissertation is to study whether the memory approach constitutes a coherent methodological school of thought. The dissertation discusses in what ways the memory approach distinguishes itself from earlier research and whether one can speak of a new beginning in historical Jesus research. A central focus of the study is the research-historical discussion on the nature and processes of the transmission of the Jesus tradi- tions in early Christianity, which is a significant research problem for both earlier historical Jesus research and the memory approach. | 2017 9 789517 658812 Åbo Akademi University Press | ISBN 978-951-765-881-2 Tuomas Havukainen (born 1988) Master of Theology (MTh) 2012, University of Wales Cover Photo: by Patrik Šlechta, September 11, 2014, from Pixabay.com. Photo licensed under CC0 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ https://pixabay.com/en/israel-path-dune-desert-499050/ Åbo Akademi University Press Tavastgatan 13, FI-20500 Åbo, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 215 3478 E-mail: [email protected] Sales and distribution: Åbo Akademi University Library Domkyrkogatan 2–4, FI-20500 Åbo, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 -215 4190 E-mail: [email protected] THE QUEST FOR THE MEMORY OF JESUS The Quest for the Memory of Jesus A Viable Path or a Dead End? Tuomas Havukainen Åbo Akademis förlag | Åbo Akademi University Press Åbo, Finland, 2017 CIP Cataloguing in Publication Havukainen, Tuomas. The quest for the memory of Jesus : a viable path or a dead end? / Tuomas Havukainen. - Åbo : Åbo Akademi University Press, 2017. Diss.: Åbo Akademi University. ISBN 978-951-765-881-2 ISBN 978-951-765-881-2 ISBN 978-951-765-882-9 (digital) Painosalama Oy Åbo 2017 Acknowledgements In this dissertation, I get to discuss the methodological questions of historical Jesus research, a topic which has been an interest of mine since working on my Master’s thesis on the Sermon on the Mount in 2011–2012. As the process of writing, which began in 2014, now comes to its close, it is time to acknowledge those who have supported and encouraged me during this journey. I sincerely thank professor Kari Syreeni for his advice, critique, and generally outstanding work as the supervisor of my doctoral studies. It has been an honor to be one of professor Syreeni’s last doctoral students before his retirement. I am also grateful for the critical and helpful comments on my dissertation from professors Chris Keith, Samuel Byrskog, and Lauri Thurén. I also thank Pekka Lindqvist, Tom Holmén, Matti Kankaanniemi, Sven-Olav Back, Juho Sankamo, Bill Stewart, and all of the other participants of research seminars as well as my fellow doctoral students, especially Johanna Wyrwal and Markus Mäenpää, for the many fruitful discussions on the chapters of this dissertation during the past three or so years. The Åbo Akademi Historical Jesus Research group (HJR), led by Dr. Holmén, of which I have been a member since 2014, also deserves mention here. My studies would hardly have been completed in such a timely fashion without any research grants. I want to express my gratitude for the three grants that I received in 2015–2017 and were made possible by professor Syreeni, the Graduate School at Åbo Akademi University (Forskarskolan vid Åbo Akademi), and Mikko Hupa, the principal of Åbo Akademi University. I also thank Keuruu Evangelical Lutheran Church for employment in 2015–2016, and Suomen Terveysravinto Ltd, Iso Kirja College, Aikamedia Ltd, and Karas-Sana Ltd for the opportunities to earn some income during my studies. I am also grateful for my former teachers Markku Ojaniemi, Matti Kankaanniemi, Hanno Heino, Marko Jauhiainen, Aija Paakkunainen, Taina Karhu, Samuel Aro-Panula, and others at Iso Kirja College, Keuruu. They taught me to apply myself when it comes to theological studies. Likewise, the notorious bunch of exegetes, pastors, ex-pastors, social scientists, theologians, Pentecostal renegades, and my dear friends, known in some circles as Pispala Gradu Gruppen (PGG), needs to be acknowledged here: Anna Lehmuskoski, Pilkku Lantela, Sirkku Hoikkala, Hanna Malinen, Matti Kankaanniemi, Markus Mäenpää, Tuomas Harri, Jake Lindqvist, and Markus Rautaniemi. Their friendship has been i invaluable to me throughout these years. Also, all of my other friends, fellow students, and co-brewers deserve my gratitude, especially Miika Tolonen, Juan Castillo, Tommi Lenho, and Kaisa Kytömäki, who all know into which categories to place themselves. Finally, I want to thank my family, my parents Merja and Kyösti Havukainen, my brothers Ilari and Aleksi, my sister Annika, my uncle Martti Havukainen, my aunt Helena Havukainen-Keller in Switzerland, and my parents-in-law Minna and Jonathan Smalldridge in California for their encouragement and support during these years. Above everyone else, I thank my wife Jonna for her love and support. Her patience with this project and with me in general often exceeded what can reasonably be expected from one individual. I dedicate this dissertation with gratitude to my late grandparents Laura (1927–2013) and Alvi (1929–2015) Havukainen who did not live to see the completion of my doctoral studies. Keuruu, December 2017 Tuomas Havukainen ii Abbreviations ABD David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992) AJP American Journal of Philology AYBRL The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library BDAG Walter Bauer, Frederick W. Danker, William F. Arndt, and F. William Gingrich, A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 3rd edn, 2000) BbibRes Bulletin for Biblical Research BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium BevT Beiträge zur evangelischen Theologie Bib Biblica BibInt Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches BPC Biblical Performance Criticism BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental (and African) Studies BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin BZNW Beihefte zur ZNW CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly ConBNT Coniectanea biblica, New Testament ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses ExpTim Expository Times HdTh Handbücher Theologie HSCL Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature HSCP Harvard Studies in Classical Philology HTR Harvard Theological Review HvTSt Hervormde Teologiese Studies Int Interpretation JAAR Journal of the American Academy of Religion JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JSHJ Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus JSJSup Journal for the Study of Judaism: Supplement Series JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series JTS Journal of Theological Studies LNTS Library of New Testament Studies Neot Neotestamentica NovT Novum Testamentum NTOA Novum Testamentum et orbis antiquus NTS New Testament Studies iii NTTS New Testament Tools and Studies Numen Numen: International Review for the History of Religions RBL Review of Biblical Literature RBS Resources for Biblical Study RQ Restoration Quarterly RR Radical Religion SBL Society of Biblical Literature SBLRBS SBL Resources for Biblical Study SBLSP SBL Seminar Papers SBLSS SBL Semeia Studies SBT Studies in Biblical Theology SEÅ Svensk exegetisk årsbok StUNT Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments TAPA Transactions of the American Philological Association TS Theological Studies TSAJ Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism TynBul Tyndale Bulletin TZ Theologische Zeitschrift WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament WTJ Westminster Theological Journal WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft ZTK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................i Abbreviations ..........................................................................................................................iii 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Quest for the Historical Jesus as a Research Problem ....................... 1 1.2 Purpose of the Dissertation ..............................................................................14 1.3 Methodological Considerations ......................................................................17 2 Form Criticism and Its Critics .........................................................................................23 2.1 Form Criticism ........................................................................................................23 2.1.1 Martin Dibelius ..........................................................................................24 2.1.2 Rudolf Bultmann .......................................................................................32 2.1.3 Critique & Evaluation