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Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History
What did Jesus think of himself? How did he face death? What were his expectations of the future? In this volume, now in paperback, internationally renowned Jesus scholar Dale Allison Jr. addresses such perennially fascinating questions about Jesus. The acclaimed hardcover edition received the "Best Book Relating to the New Testament 2011" award from the Biblical Archaeology Society.
Representing the fruit of several decades of research, this major work questions standard approaches to Jesus studies and rethinks our knowledge of the historical Jesus in light of recent progress in the scientific study of memory. Allison's groundbreaking alternative strategy calls for applying what we know about the function of human memory to our reading of the Gospels in order to "construct Jesus" more soundly.
624 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
19 people are currently reading
311 people want to read
About the author
Dale C. Allison Jr.
33 books68 followersDr. Dale C. Allison Jr., an Errett M. Grable professor of New Testament exegesis and early Christianity, has been on the faculty of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary since 1997. Before then he served on the faculties of Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas) and Friends University (Wichita, Kan.).
His areas of expertise include Second Temple Judaism, and he is the author of books on early Christian eschatology, the Gospel of Matthew, the so-called Sayings Source or Q, and the historical Jesus.
He has also written The Luminous Dusk, a book on religious experience in the modern world, and a full-length commentary on the Testament of Abraham. His most recently published works are The Love There That’s Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison, The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus, and Constructing Jesus: History, Memory, and Imagination. He is currently at work on a full-length commentary on the Epistle of James. He is married to Kristine Allison and they have three children.
His areas of expertise include Second Temple Judaism, and he is the author of books on early Christian eschatology, the Gospel of Matthew, the so-called Sayings Source or Q, and the historical Jesus.
He has also written The Luminous Dusk, a book on religious experience in the modern world, and a full-length commentary on the Testament of Abraham. His most recently published works are The Love There That’s Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison, The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus, and Constructing Jesus: History, Memory, and Imagination. He is currently at work on a full-length commentary on the Epistle of James. He is married to Kristine Allison and they have three children.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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January 27, 2025I only read pages 221-304. Allison concludes by saying that "We should hold a funeral for the view that Jesus entertained no exalted thoughts about himself." There is certainly a wide range of views about how Jesus viewed himself and how the early church viewed him. At the very least, the evidence seems to indicate that Jesus viewed himself as an eschatological king in waiting.
Book notes if you're interested:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iUVy...
Book notes if you're interested:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iUVy...
September 19, 2016
A fascinating and provocative book, rich with humility and honesty. I disagreed with much of Allison's conclusions (I do not believe in Q, for example, and I think history and theology are far more mixed than e seems to think), but this was a helpful and critical work. I shall return sometime to give it a deserved second reading.
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December 18, 2023There should be little doubt that Allison is one of the best historical Jesus scholars. There is something profoundly honest about Allison's work. He refuses to assert the kinds of quick claims conservatives make. His critique of the over-employment of memory studies and biography used by folks like Dunn, Bauckham, Keener and others is careful and sobering. Meanwhile, he does not commit the kind of liberal circular argumentation Borg, Crossan, and Ehrman frustratingly make. For instance, Borg once argued that he did not think the passages about miracles attributed to Jesus were historical because he simply did not believe miracles can happen. Allison is much more careful, and his chapters on qualifying claims like these are excellent. However, this also means that Allison's work serves as a giant wet blanket to most historical Jesus scholarship, both liberal and conservative.
In the end, the book, despite the title, critiques more than constructs. He dismantles major claims from other historical Jesus scholars in each chapter. However, what what is left with is something modest: It seems like the writers of the New Testament believed Jesus did miracles, epitomized the agency of God's kingdom, proclaimed an imminent kingdom, believed he would suffer and die for this, etc. Claims like Jesus was actually a non-apocalyptic sage, did not think of himself as divine, did not go to his death willingly, etc. simply are not evident. On the other hand, one reason why these reconstructions are unconvincing is because so much of the former confidence in historical critical investigation is dispelled. Allison continually remarks that we simply do not know.
While Allison is a historian, his arguments pair well with Hans Frei's Identity of Jesus Christ or Luke Timothy Johnson's The Real Jesus. That is to say, while there are still many arguments supporting the plausibility and reliability of texts like the resurrection narratives, so much comes down to the following question: "This is what the narrative presents Jesus to be, do you trust this?"
In the end, the book, despite the title, critiques more than constructs. He dismantles major claims from other historical Jesus scholars in each chapter. However, what what is left with is something modest: It seems like the writers of the New Testament believed Jesus did miracles, epitomized the agency of God's kingdom, proclaimed an imminent kingdom, believed he would suffer and die for this, etc. Claims like Jesus was actually a non-apocalyptic sage, did not think of himself as divine, did not go to his death willingly, etc. simply are not evident. On the other hand, one reason why these reconstructions are unconvincing is because so much of the former confidence in historical critical investigation is dispelled. Allison continually remarks that we simply do not know.
While Allison is a historian, his arguments pair well with Hans Frei's Identity of Jesus Christ or Luke Timothy Johnson's The Real Jesus. That is to say, while there are still many arguments supporting the plausibility and reliability of texts like the resurrection narratives, so much comes down to the following question: "This is what the narrative presents Jesus to be, do you trust this?"
September 13, 2025
Limits of History & Memory; Enduring impression of Jesus
Allison offers a historical take on how to approach Jesus in light of various developments in how we remember/recall events, how we ‘tell’ histories, what can be known and what cannot with confidence, etc. Allison’s conclusion is that the best we can say as to the historicity of most of Jesus’ sayings or stories is that is may or may not be true, but we can rarely say it is definitely true or not. While it’s a long journey to basically end up where we started, it was a journey worth taking. Ultimately, I ended up with the understanding that most of what is recorded in the Synoptics is likely to have happened in some way even if it not exactly as recorded. Jesus left an impression on his earliest followers and the earliest believers that they captured as best they could even if what they captured isn’t a transcription of the actual saying or event. Most of what is told is not pure fiction, most of it is intended to convey facts even if the evangelists idea of facts and history is not what we understand it to be. I read the Kindle version which is not optimized for digital reading (no page numbers, no navigation, footnotes that link to the end of the book which requires awkward navigation back to the page that contained the note, etc.); I would recommend the physical book since the footnotes take up half the pages and are really necessary for the overall experience.
Allison offers a historical take on how to approach Jesus in light of various developments in how we remember/recall events, how we ‘tell’ histories, what can be known and what cannot with confidence, etc. Allison’s conclusion is that the best we can say as to the historicity of most of Jesus’ sayings or stories is that is may or may not be true, but we can rarely say it is definitely true or not. While it’s a long journey to basically end up where we started, it was a journey worth taking. Ultimately, I ended up with the understanding that most of what is recorded in the Synoptics is likely to have happened in some way even if it not exactly as recorded. Jesus left an impression on his earliest followers and the earliest believers that they captured as best they could even if what they captured isn’t a transcription of the actual saying or event. Most of what is told is not pure fiction, most of it is intended to convey facts even if the evangelists idea of facts and history is not what we understand it to be. I read the Kindle version which is not optimized for digital reading (no page numbers, no navigation, footnotes that link to the end of the book which requires awkward navigation back to the page that contained the note, etc.); I would recommend the physical book since the footnotes take up half the pages and are really necessary for the overall experience.
July 11, 2023
Breezy summerread!
In chapter 1, Allison introduces science on the mind and memory as a lense through which we can examine historical questions about the gospels. This lense is then largely abandoned and the argument becomes a mainstream historical one.
However, Allison (to me, not an historian) neatly sums up relevant evidence surrounding the argument. He doesnt impose his own views on the reader, but lets her think for herself. That makes it a good read to come back to when these arguments come up. The 460 pages of detailed bible-scrutiny are not so easily memorable.
In chapter 1, Allison introduces science on the mind and memory as a lense through which we can examine historical questions about the gospels. This lense is then largely abandoned and the argument becomes a mainstream historical one.
However, Allison (to me, not an historian) neatly sums up relevant evidence surrounding the argument. He doesnt impose his own views on the reader, but lets her think for herself. That makes it a good read to come back to when these arguments come up. The 460 pages of detailed bible-scrutiny are not so easily memorable.
August 18, 2017
This is an excellent work on the historical Jesus. Allison has managed to combine a sound historical approach with insights from memory studies, and came up with an entirely plausible reconstruction of Jesus. I read it in preparation of a class, and can recommend it wholeheartedly.
April 25, 2018
Dale Allison is tied with our own Joel Marcus for asking the most interesting questions about the New Testament.
March 18, 2016
Historical, redaction, and form critics have long been preoccupied with establishing knowledge of the historical Jesus through an analysis of, and judgment concerning, individual sayings and pericope found in the Gospels and other early sources. Allison, refreshingly admitting to disillusionment with these practices and the quality of the results they produce, has attempted to set a new course. Rather than dissecting each individual piece of information, Allison sought to engage with the overall structure and testimony of the texts, in order to establish the legacy of Jesus as found in the tradition. Even if individual pericope or sayings cannot be validated (or invalidated) with certainty, the overall tradition must be able to provide some confidence regarding what the earliest followers of Jesus believed about him, and this belief, when taken based on broad, verifiable impressions, is likely to lead us closer to the truth about Jesus than other sorts of analysis.
An example considers Jesus as a millennarian prophet, which Allison writes about extensively here and in other books. Although we cannot cast proper judgment on the historicity of any one eschatological saying, we can be sure, by the overwhelming volume of eschatological sayings attributed to Jesus, that eschatology was an important feature of his teaching. We can even be fairly sure of the flavor of his eschatology. Other examples abound.
I've said this many times, and every time I finish a book by Allison this judgment is confirmed, that regardless of ideological background, I find Allison to be the most fair minded, honest, and balanced scholar writing today. He repeatedly makes refreshing admissions about previously published conclusions that he no longer agrees with, and repeatedly confesses his own ignorance or lack of confidence in his conclusions (always with great insight as to why he might be wrong), and he is always fair to scholars from varying positions, regardless of how much he disagrees with them. All of this has been a great model for me in my own academic work.
With great length, it was inevitable that I would find things to disagree with, and I disagreed with more in this work than any Allison book I've read thus far. And yet, I always found each of his points well reasoned, and backed by a truly staggering knowledge of both primary and secondary material. His opening discussion on memory and oral tradition needs to be heard by all researchers of Jesus, and the employment of such ideas must be engaged. This book is massively helpful and I recommend it highly.
Although erudite, I found Allison's attitude to be maybe the most beneficial thing. His final paragraph deserves to be quoted (and heeded by more scholars):
"While I am proudly a historian, I must confess that history is not what matters most. If my deathbed finds me alert and not overly racked with pain, I will then be preoccupied with how I have witnessed and embodied faith, hope, and charity. I will not be fretting over the historicity of this or that part of the Bible."
An example considers Jesus as a millennarian prophet, which Allison writes about extensively here and in other books. Although we cannot cast proper judgment on the historicity of any one eschatological saying, we can be sure, by the overwhelming volume of eschatological sayings attributed to Jesus, that eschatology was an important feature of his teaching. We can even be fairly sure of the flavor of his eschatology. Other examples abound.
I've said this many times, and every time I finish a book by Allison this judgment is confirmed, that regardless of ideological background, I find Allison to be the most fair minded, honest, and balanced scholar writing today. He repeatedly makes refreshing admissions about previously published conclusions that he no longer agrees with, and repeatedly confesses his own ignorance or lack of confidence in his conclusions (always with great insight as to why he might be wrong), and he is always fair to scholars from varying positions, regardless of how much he disagrees with them. All of this has been a great model for me in my own academic work.
With great length, it was inevitable that I would find things to disagree with, and I disagreed with more in this work than any Allison book I've read thus far. And yet, I always found each of his points well reasoned, and backed by a truly staggering knowledge of both primary and secondary material. His opening discussion on memory and oral tradition needs to be heard by all researchers of Jesus, and the employment of such ideas must be engaged. This book is massively helpful and I recommend it highly.
Although erudite, I found Allison's attitude to be maybe the most beneficial thing. His final paragraph deserves to be quoted (and heeded by more scholars):
"While I am proudly a historian, I must confess that history is not what matters most. If my deathbed finds me alert and not overly racked with pain, I will then be preoccupied with how I have witnessed and embodied faith, hope, and charity. I will not be fretting over the historicity of this or that part of the Bible."
partially-read
January 11, 2015[Read preface, ch. 1, ch. 6, parts of all other chapters.]
This is Allison's big book on the historical Jesus. Methodologically he distinguishes himself by abandoning the criteria for evaluating the historicity of particular sayings, a task he generally regards as improbably, in favor of focusing on recurrent themes. Central to his approach was his reading scientific literature on memory, which suggest to him that Jesus' eyewitnesses were likely able to remember the "gist" of his teaching and deeds but not specifics. I am only partially convinced by his arguments, which used comparisons that I found dubious (e.g., looking for truth in medical meta-analyses rather than in individual data-points). However, once into the meat of the book, Allison demonstrates a truly breathtaking command of primary and secondary sources. Most of his arguments for particular points I found extremely compelling.
There are a few strange things about the book, though. One chapter is 190 pages. That's just ... not how books are supposed to be written. Some of the sections also look like direct downloads from Allison's brain, just tons of data splattered on the page to be sorted out later.
Overall I think this book is very important for people doing scholarly work on the historical Jesus, but others should steer clear of it.
This is Allison's big book on the historical Jesus. Methodologically he distinguishes himself by abandoning the criteria for evaluating the historicity of particular sayings, a task he generally regards as improbably, in favor of focusing on recurrent themes. Central to his approach was his reading scientific literature on memory, which suggest to him that Jesus' eyewitnesses were likely able to remember the "gist" of his teaching and deeds but not specifics. I am only partially convinced by his arguments, which used comparisons that I found dubious (e.g., looking for truth in medical meta-analyses rather than in individual data-points). However, once into the meat of the book, Allison demonstrates a truly breathtaking command of primary and secondary sources. Most of his arguments for particular points I found extremely compelling.
There are a few strange things about the book, though. One chapter is 190 pages. That's just ... not how books are supposed to be written. Some of the sections also look like direct downloads from Allison's brain, just tons of data splattered on the page to be sorted out later.
Overall I think this book is very important for people doing scholarly work on the historical Jesus, but others should steer clear of it.
November 16, 2015
Easily my favorite book on the historical Jesus...at this point in my life! Allison focuses upon doing the historian's task with a nod to memory studies. Instead of attempting to isolate and authenticate the historicity of this or that part of the broader Jesus-Tradition he focuses instead on reoccuring themes that emerge from the overarching Jesus-Tradition. I found his approach to be satisfying and honest.
December 20, 2014
The best historical Jesus book I've read!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews