I would like to see these studies as well!
Additionally I would like to remind you that any study done regarding this subject would likely be no older than a handful of generations (if that) within an insular community. With Christianity we are dealing with hundreds, if not thousands, of different culture and languages across two millennium. This compounds the problem exponentially because we aren’t dealing with just a few hundred or even a few thousand people but millions! And throughout all of this we are supposed to believe that when reciting or copying these teachings that someone never misspoke or misstated? Never substituted a word? Never made any changes at all? If this is difficult to believe then it opens a larger avenue of thought, one that says if this one part is different then so could this other part and so on and so forth.
indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/oral-traditions.html
raco.cat/index.php/RevistaTeologia/article/viewFile/266990/363051
Collective memory is memory preserved by a culture or a group. Individuals remember together as a group, repetition is the method of remembering. Expressing collective memory often is how the tradition is handed on. Whether it is hearing the same thing repeatedly, singing the same songs, reciting the same prayers/chants, or enacting the same ritual, it is repetition and expression that preserves a collective memory of a people.
“Memorare” is how this is expressed in Catholicism. When we talk of remembrance, we mean to make present, not to recollect. It is a marked difference between Catholicism and Protestantism (most), where in the Eucharist we make present the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are not bringing to mind a recollection. We are making present what is now, that history views in time as past. We are expressing what we see a perpetually occurring, as a people, through hundreds of years and many generations. It is not remembering, but living.
Literary memory does not rely on repetition but recollection. The telephone game is a game of recollection, not a collective memory but reflects an individual’s ability to listen and recall.
Catholics and Orthodox are not individualists, in the sense, we are a communion of people. We have a collective memory, that is preserved, expressed and handed on.
At any rate, your claim that oral tradition produces errors, particularly in Christianity, needs to be backed up.
Pointing out the many denominations and beliefs is not what I’m asking for. Evidence on a Catholic board that Catholic/Orthodox collective memory was lost, or made into something different. From our end, we’ll point to rituals and teachings that are preserved, which express what we remember and practice as a group and culture.
However, if you would like to continue this discussion feel free to shoot me a pm and we can talk more there!
Thanks for the invitation. However, in the case of public claims being made I prefer all replies/rebuttals remain public.
Unitarian Universalists are different from Deist in one key way. The major difference between the two is that UUs take an all paths lead to the mountaintop viewpoint regarding religion. They tend to believe that there is not one singular answer but many, all different versions of the same Truth. Deists, on the other hand, believe that that other religions are mistaken because of their basis on Divine Intervention. Since Deists believe that God no longer interferes with the Universe then these texts cannot have come from a divine source. Instead, Deists hold that when God created the Universe he gave humans the capacity for reason and a conscious, it is with these tools that we are supposed to understand the self-evident nature of God in the Universe and our purpose. Most Deists believe that our purpose is to work towards understanding the Universe through our reason and conscious.
That being said, I would like to reiterate that fact that just because we believe that revealed religions (religions founded on the basis of Divine Intervention) are mistaken does not mean we believe they are worthless. Most deists tend to be academics who appreciate the moral and ethical teachings evident in almost all religions and the cultures they come from, we just don’t accept them as Divine Truth.
Now, depending on the Deist, there are several issues where we agree with UU regarding religion. There are two major areas on which they agree and these are the reasons why when Deists seek out a spiritual community they lean towards UU. They are listed as follows.
*] Deists and UUs both believe that people should be free to find, know, whorship God in their own way and that all views of God should be respected. However, this is only true so long they do not cause harm or oppress the views of others.
*] All humans are created equal under God with the same natural right.
Now the reason why Deists tend to be more accepting of other beliefs systems is because we view the process of understanding the Universe (and by extension the Creator) as a journey. We believe that our view of religion and God is the correct version (just like almost every other religion) and that eventually all people will come to follow our beliefs through the application of reason and conscious. Followers of other religions are just at different points in the journey so to speak. We hold that each person is given the tools they need from birth to understand and its each individuals personal responsibility to reach the end goal. That being said, we do try to create a supportive environment for people of all faiths since we understand that everyone is completing this journey at their own pace and in respect of this we do not proselytize, though we are not afraid to share our beliefs if asked.
Thanks for the information.
