Historiographical Jesus

The Historiographical Jesus introduces a new theory and approach for studying the life of Jesus. Anthony Le Donne uses the precepts of social memory theory to identify ""memory refraction"" in the Jesus tradition--the refocusing distortion that occurs as the stories and sayings of Jesus were handed down and consciously and unconsciously framed in new settings with new applications. Recognition of this refraction allows historians to escape the problematic dichotomy between memory and typology. The author focuses on the title ""Son of David"" as it was used in Jewish and Christian traditions to demonstrate both how his new theory functions and to advance historical Jesus research.