Anastasios
Objection 1: The Gospels were written decades after the events. Why they did not write immediately?
Objection 2: If the events were reported decades later, it means the memory of what had really happened cannot be accurate.
On the contrary, in John 6:66-69 it says: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’”
I answer that, here we have one problem that need to be considered: the role of memory in ancient cultures. In an article in theconversation.com (September 26, 2016) called “The Memory Code: How Oral Cultures Memorise So Much Information” by researcher from Monash University Duane W Hamacher he says: “In oral cultures, knowledge is power. It is imperative that the most important knowledge be maintained and preserved by a few select custodians who have proven their worth. In indigenous cultures, elders who have passed the highest levels of initiation hold the deepest levels of knowledge. This is reflected in ceremonial sites where knowledge is passed down. Aboriginal initiation sites include a secret area where the most sacred knowledge is discussed. We also see this at Stonehenge, where the perimeter of standing stones shields the centre of the ring, where the most important aspects knowledge are passed on through ceremony. These sites include features that are unique in shape and form. At Uluru, the Anangu elders associate every crevice, bump, and notch around the perimeter of the mountain with knowledge that is stored to memory.”
So we need to understand that ancient cultures were based on memory, on its use to preserve power and knowledge. It is not surprising that a so important information as the life of Jesus may be preserved quite faithfully in the mind of his followers.
Reply to Objection 1: Reinventing Jesus. How Contemporary Skeptics Miss the Real Jesus and Mislead Popular Culture says: “Scholars often point to two catalysts that prompted the writing of the Gospels. First, the apostles started to die off. And second, the Lord’s return was evidently not going to happen within the first few decades of the church’s existence. These two factors are often suggested as the main reasons why the Gospels began to be written” (p 27). We have not take these two factors as the main reason, but they may have played a role in the decision to write down the Gospels, together with the fact that the Church was expanding. For this expansion you may need to write down some important events to let people who were not first hand witnesses to teach and preach the Gospel. Indeed, this may explain why the Gospels are so synthetic, devoid of all the details you can find in the apocryphal Gospels, that are indeed very rich of many stories, as if they were really written to impress and not to give a fair account of what has really happened.
Reply to Objection 2: As we have said, the role of memory was very important in retaining information. And we are not speaking of our own memories, now not accustomed to memorize many things because we can store information in computers, tablets or cell phones. At that time to have a book was not something so available to everyone: they were precious commodities. So, we need to think about the importance of memory together with the fact that the good news, even if not written, was constantly preached. So they were not just remembering or asking people who were present at the time of the events, but that some message was constantly preached in the communities, making it easier for the evangelists to write down those facts that were considered important from those shared and accepted memories, living memories.
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