Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:2 (Jun 2025)
Article: Resurrection Misremembered? The Interpretative Options (Part Two)
Author: David Graieg

Resurrection Misremembered? The Interpretative Options (Part Two)

David Graieg

David Graieg is a teaching assistant at Curtin University; an adjunct lecturer at Alphacrucis University College, an adjunct lecturer at the Australian College of Ministries, a sessional marker at Morling College, an adjunct lecturer at East Asia School of Theology Singapore, and an academic sessional at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: This is the second part of a two-part article and considers the implications of a memory approach with respect to hypotheses relating to Jesus’s resurrection. Part 1 outlined five possible options concerning Jesus’s resurrection and commenced with an examination of the no-experience hypothesis. Part 2 investigates the remaining options: (2) The hypothesis has three variations: (a) The subjective hallucinations hypothesis indicates that it would be unlikely that there was a coherent collective memory and that such memories would be liable to suggestibility and possible false memory associations. (b) The objective visions theory would create memories similar to those of the supernatural resurrection hypothesis but would be predisposed to DRM associations. (c) The metaphorical interpretation hypothesis suffers from a lack of retrieval cues. (3) The mistaken identity hypothesis would be vulnerable to absent-mindedness due to superficial encounters, suggesting only shallow memory impressions. (4) The swoon theory would have created a flashbulb memory regarding Jesus’s survival but not regarding his resurrection. (5) The resurrection hypothesis has two variations: (a) The naturally rose hypothesis would initially produce similar memories to the supernatural resurrection hypothesis; however, when Jesus naturally died again, the memory of his resurrection would likely fade. (b) The hypothesis that God supernaturally raised Jesus would have made deep memory impressions on the early Christians. In conclusion, a memory approach supports the hypothesis that God supernaturally raised Jesus in confirming that the early Christians would have vividly remembered the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

Key words: memory, resurrection of Jesus, hallucination hypothesis, mistaken identity, swoon theory

VII. Intra-Mental Hypothesis

How does a memory approach impact the view that all the sightings of Jesus were intra-mental (cf. premise 3.1)?1 There are several versions of the intra-mental

JETS 68.2 (June 2025) p.268

hypothesis: (a) the subjective hallucination version,2 (b) the objective vision version,3 and (...