RT Article
T1 Joseph Remembered the Exodus: Memory, Narrative, and Remembering the Future
JF Journal of theological interpretation
VO 9
IS 2
SP 267
OP 286
A1 Reese, Ruth Anne
LA English
PB The Pennsylvania State University Press
YR 2015
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1572145560
AB The author of Hebrews selected, shaped, and narrated the events and characters of Heb 11. By drawing on collective memories shared between the preacher and the audience, the author encourages the congregation to share in the life of faith demonstrated by those who are referenced. This life of faith is not based on an unrealized future but rather on the presence of the future in the past. In the particular section of Heb 11 that deals with Abraham and his descendants (vv. 8-22), there are appeals to significant identity shaping collective memories such as the person of Joseph and the exodus. The surprising comment that Joseph remembered the exodus is one example of the way in which a collective memory such as the exodus is appealed to as evidence for a true hope, based on an eschatological future that is embedded in the memory of the past. The book of Hebrews describes the eschatological future as something that has already begun (demonstrated in Heb 12 as well as in Heb 1:2) and makes use of collective memory as one more means to solidify that anticipation. For early Christians, the memory of the exodus was a memory of God's deliverance demonstrated in the OT, as well as a memory of Jesus and the deliverance he pointed toward at the Last Supper, accomplished on the cross, and will bring to complete fulfillment on the last day.
K1 Christianity
K1 Faith
K1 Eschatology
K1 Theology
K1 Churches
K1 Preachers
K1 Narratives
K1 Collective Memory
K1 Descendants
K1 Memory
DO 10.2307/26373903