Monday, August 18, 2014

We tailor our stories

I’ve noticed lately that I can tell a story involving the same set of events in many different ways. And if the same person listens, they might conclude that 1) I’m telling stories of different but similar events, or 2) I’m not very good with recollection, or 3) I’m lying.

In telling stories, I tailor what to spend more words detailing, what to omit altogether, I might change the order of things to fit the theme, I might change the setting (for sensitive stories), etc. Time also changes the stories. I might have one perspective and interpretation just a few weeks or months from the event and a very different one years later.

The gospels aren’t historical accounts. They are stories. They have an audience with specific needs and contexts. The authors put them down in ink many years after the events. They are interpretations and theologies. They may contain facts, but they aren’t facts.

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