Short abstract
This lecture highlights two aspects of the Gospel of John's theory of knowledge of the past, namely, initial events and initial misunderstanding, as points of contrast with multiple efforts by Gospels and historical Jesus scholars to get "behind" the text. Although it will discuss how and why the author of the Gospel values particular kinds of "eyewitness testimony," it will highlight especially the difference between scholarly theories that Jesus's disciples took notes during his ministry and the Gospel's own historiographical program.
About Dr. Keith
Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at St Mary's University, Twickenham and Research Professor of Theology at The University of Notre Dame Autralia. He serves as the Director of the Centre for the Study of Judaism and Christainity in Antiquity. Among other studies, he is the author of The Gospel as Manuscript: A History of the Jesus Tradition as Material Artifact (Oxford University Press, 2020) and served as the lead editor of the three-volume Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries (T&T Clark, 2020).
