Earlier articles covered topics such as the Shannon-Weaver Communication Model, the psychology of Biblical interpretation, critical thinking, and the Kingdom of Heaven. This article is a follow up and a continuation of these psychological explanations useful for a correction of our Biblical interpretations and exegetics. Schema theory says that we have established organized bodies of knowledge by which to draw upon from memory to make sense of incoming information.
Schemas and Culture
Schemas provide the framework for understanding our world. Try and figure out the meaning of the following paragraph that is grammatically correct, simple in vocabulary, yet is difficult to activate a pertinent schema to allow interpretation or retainment in memory:
The procedure is actually quite simple. First arrange things into different bundles depending on make-up. Don’t do too much at once. In the short run this may not seem important, however, complications easily arise. A mistake can be costly. Next, find facilities. Some people must go elsewhere for them. Manipulation of appropriate mechanisms should be self-explanatory. Remember to include all other necessary supplies. Initially the routine will overwhelm you, but soon it will become just another facet of life. Finally, rearrange everything into their initial groups. Return these to their usual places. Eventually they will be used again. Then the whole cycle will have to be repeated.
After reading the preceding paragraph, try and remember as much as possible. You’ll find it very difficult. But, if it is revealed that the paragraph is describing washing clothes, suddenly insight occurs, and memory for more of the paragraph becomes much easier.
Sir Frederic Barlett
Sir Frederic Bartlett was a pioneering figure in the study of memory. His theories and experiments significantly advanced our understanding of how humans remember and interpret information. Here’s a detailed explanation of his concept of memory schemas, his notable experiment, and how the "telephone game" metaphorically relates to his theories.
Concept of Memory Schema
Sir Frederic Bartlett introduced the concept of a "schema" to explain how our knowledge of the world influences our memory. He defined a schema as a cognitive framework or structure held in memory that helps organize and interpret information. Schemas allow individuals to take in new information, connect it with existing knowledge, and make sense of it.
Influence of Schemas on Memory Retrieval and Interpretation
Schemas play a crucial role in how memories are retrieved and interpreted. According to Bartlett, memories are not static; they are dynamic constructs influenced by our mental frameworks. When recalling an event, people reconstruct the memory based on both the actual past event and their existing schemas. This process can alter the recalled memory, sometimes leading to distortions or inaccuracies. Schemas fill in gaps in remembered details by incorporating broader knowledge and expectations about the world.
Outline of Bartlett's Experiments
Methodology of "War of the Ghosts" Study
Bartlett's most famous experiment involved a story from Native American folklore titled "The War of the Ghosts." He asked participants from England to read the story, which was filled with unfamiliar names and concepts. After a period ranging from minutes to days or months, he then asked them to recall the story as accurately as possible. This procedure was repeated several times with the same subjects over extended periods.
Results and Conclusions from the Experiment
The findings of the "War of the Ghosts" experiment were enlightening. Bartlett observed that when participants recalled the story, they often altered details to make the story more congruent with their own cultural expectations and schemas. The retellings tended to be shorter, more coherent, and more conventional than the original story. This led Bartlett to conclude that memory is reconstructive and heavily influenced by personal and cultural schemas. The experiment highlighted how memory distortions occur due to the influence of existing schemas on recall processes.
The Telephone Game
How the Telephone Game is Played
The telephone game is a popular group activity where one person whispers a message to the next person in line, and so forth, until the last person announces the message to the entire group. Typically, the final version of the message significantly differs from the original. This originated as a psychological experiment but was appropriated for demonstrations and even party events.
Telephone Game as a Metaphor for Bartlett's Findings
The telephone game serves as a practical metaphor for Bartlett's findings on memory reconstruction. Each person in the game might slightly alter the message based on their own understanding or inability to hear clearly, similar to how individuals reconstruct memories based on their schemas. The gradual distortion of the message mirrors how memories can change when recalled and retold, influenced by the individual's cognitive frameworks. The game illustrates Bartlett's theory that remembering is an active process of reconstruction, not a mere replaying of events.
Through these discussions, we can see how Bartlett’s theories on memory schemas and the process of reconstructive memory have significantly shaped our understanding of cognitive psychology. The "telephone game" vividly demonstrates these concepts, showing how easily information can be reshaped by each individual's interpretative frameworks.
Examples of the Schema Effects on Hebraic Concepts
Saved and lost are two very popular words that are used today in the religious community but what do they really mean? What does it mean to be saved? What does it mean to be lost? Saved from what? Saved for what? From most people’s theological perspective today, saved means getting to go to heaven and lost means going to hell. Unfortunately, we have little or no understanding on what the biblical perspective on these two subjects actually is. Before we can delve very deeply into either subject or both, we need to understand something very important about the way the rabbis of Jesus’ day studied.
Their methods of study usually followed one of four basic rules that formed the acrostic pardes (פ ר ד ס). Each letter of the word stood for a method of interpretation and/or a way of understanding. The word pardes itself means an orchard from which one plucks the sweet and nourishing fruit. Each letter stood for a principal, method, or way of interpreting. P stood for pshat which means the simplest of the interpretations. The second letter R or resh, stood for remez which meant to hint back at something that had already been said; the word or passage to which the speaker was hinting would shed light on the real meaning of the subject. The third letter was D or derash which was a homiletical exegesis or exposition on that particular topic. The final letter, S or sod meant hidden or secret and was more of a mystical understanding of the passage or text. This was reserved for the more spiritually enlightened or aware. By utilizing one of the four principal methods for interpretation, the rabbis of the first century communicated their message.
It is imperative that one keep these four methods of interpretation in mind to understand the message of the speaker. This is especially true when it comes to the message of Jesus. He is a master of remez. He is always hinting back at something that has already been written or said, and if you know the passage to which Jesus is hinting (schema), you can understand very clearly what he is teaching. Then, and only then, does the full meaning of his message come to light.
Formation of Memory Schemas in Jesus’s Day
Once you understand this fact, you can ask yourself the question as you hear Jesus teach, where did He get that? If you are aware of the passage to which he is hinting, the meaning will become clear. This is all the more apparent when one realizes the individual in Jesus’ day had the entire biblical text committed to memory (a multitude of schema formations in Mishnaic Hebrew in the 1st century). As a matter of fact, the young child started learning to memorize the biblical text from the age of five and there are all kinds of exercises mentioned in the Mishnah and the Talmud that facilitate memorization. (He used to say [Judah ben Tema], At five years of age one is ready for [the study of] the Scripture, at ten [years] of age is fit] for [the study of] the Mishnah, at the age of thirteen for [the fulfilment of] the commandments, the age of fifteen for [the study of] the Talmud… Mishnah Tractate Avot 5:21) Once we recognize this important fact, we can begin to understand something of the words or the message to which Jesus is relating.
Schema Activation
In order to fully grasp the two words before us, we must ask ourselves the question, “Why did He come?” Luke 19:10 says “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those that are lost.” We can make sense of this only when we realize that this is a remez or a hint back to Ezekiel 34. It would do you well in your study to read the whole text of Ezekiel 34, but in order to highlight the main idea of this article, I simply want to point out several verses. Verse 11: “for thus says the lord God, behold I Myself will search for My sheep. I will seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his sheep so will I seek out My sheep and I will rescue them out of all places where they have been scattered.” Verse 16: “I will seek out that which is lost. I will bring back that which has strayed. I will bandage the hurt and the crippled and will strengthen the weak and the sick.” Verse 20: “Therefore thus says the Lord God to them, I, Myself, will judge between fat sheep and impoverished sheep.” Verse 24: “And I the Lord will be their God and My servant David, a prince among them I, the Lord, have spoken it.”
Moving forward to Matthew chapter 9, we can see how Jesus is carrying out Ezekiel 34:16 by what he is doing. After a few examples, in verse 19, it says “Yeshua arose and followed him, and so did his disciples.” Before we continue, let’s note that the Hebrew root for Jesus is ysha or yud shin ayin (Brown Driver Briggs Concordance 3467, 3468, and 3444.) As a feminine noun, Yeshua means salvation, prosperity, deliverance and victory. As a verb, it means delivered or saved and is frequently used of God who saves his people from external evils. In the context of the way it is used in the biblical text, it is something that happens today.
The point we are trying to make can be illustrated by looking carefully at Matthew 9:20, “a woman that was diseased with an issue of blood for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the tzitzit of His garment.” This little lady with the issue of blood was lost in a way to which we cannot relate. First, one must understand that as a menstruant, she would have no contact with her family. They couldn’t sit on the same bench on which she sat, nor come into any kind of contact with her lest they become unclean. She had borne this burden of being an outcast from society and her family for twelve years. Because she had the biblical text committed to memory and was able to tie different passages of scripture together, she said
within herself “if I can just touch the hem of his garment, ivashea , I can be whole (healed). Notice in Hebrew that Yeshua and ivashea contain the same root of ysha. Then we are told Yeshua turned and said to her “Daughter, your faith has hoshea’d you” and from that moment she was tivasha completely whole or in other words saved. And the question is, how did she know all this? One can look at this in English and actually understand very little.
Until applying remez to this account in the original language of Hebrew, the dramatic meaning is lost.
By looking back to Numbers Chapter 15, verses 3741, it is written that the Lord told Moses to instruct the Israelites to make a tassel, known as a tzitzit, and attach it to the corners of their garment and then they should look upon it, remember, and keep all of the commandments of the Lord. This tassel, or tzitzit, is still a major part of the prayer shawl worn today by religious Jews and not only has great significance but is rich in meaning. The tassel consists of eight cords with five knots that together equal thirteen. When converted to its numerical equivalent using gematria, the word tzitzit equals 600. The Torah’s 613 laws are represented by adding the two together. The first two sets of windings between the knots are seven and eight which together equal fifteen and stand for the Yud heh . The following set of windings are eleven which stands for Vav heh and the last set of windings are thirteen which stand for the word
Echad so that together they mean that God is one. Therefore, the tzitzit is the representation of
the 613 commandments and the fact that God is one.
But now an interesting question, why would this little woman go to so much trouble to reach out and grasp the tzitzit of Jesus’ garment? Notice from Numbers 15, Moses instructs the people to secure the tzitzit on the corner of the garment, but in Hebrew, the word corner is canaf which actually means wing as in a wing of a bird. In Malachi, Chapter 4:2, it states: “But unto you who fear My name shall the
sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings (canaf).” Because she knew the biblical text, she was able to tie all of these passages together: Ezekiel 34, Numbers 15, and Malachi 4. She understood that Yeshua as the sun of righteousness had healing in His wings. In realizing the power of the one that stood before her, she reached out and laid hold of the tzitzit, the wing of Jesus’ garment and when she did, she was yeshua’d or made completely whole. In other words, she was saved! Notice that salvation is something for today (Refer to the previous article by Robert Lindsey on the Three Dispensations of Jesus).
The Telephone Game-Cultural Syncretism
If the Hebrew word for saved means something for today, how did a belief in a literal heaven and a literal hell develop among the Jews in the first place, especially in spite of the fact that the Tanach (Old Testament) makes no direct reference to either? The Tanach does not mention either heaven or hell as a place where people go after death. Hebrew Cosmology was very simple. There was shamayim (the upper realm), and aretz (dry land), and below sometimes called Sheol (Isa. 7: 11, 17:. 9; Ezek. 31:. 14; Ps. 86: 13) Job 3:11 states that all that die, good or evil, rich and poor, etc. sleep in the dark and deep pit. Even the later Hebrew heroes of the faith, Abraham, Moses, and David were to be gathered to their ancestors (Genesis 25:7-8; Deut, 32: 48-50; I Kings 2:10). It was not until the time of the Babylonian Captivity (586 BCE) and influence of Zoroastrianism during that same time period as hinted in Psalms 49:13-15 where the concept of an existence being possible past the grave appears. Then (especially during the Christian age) the concept of a literal heaven or a literal hell came into being. During the early Talmudic Period, or the time of Roman rule, the concept of a heaven or hell as a place where people go after death began to be a subject for discussion.
Schema Mismatch
In Hebrew, Gan Ayden means a garden of luxury and became a metaphor for heaven (Garden of Eden is an English transliteration) and was translated into Greek as paradosis which is first mentioned in Genesis 2:8. The righteous would go to Gan Ayden and the unrighteous would go to Gehinnom (Greek transliteration of Gehenna). Gehenna was the valley of the son of Hinnom which is located south of Jerusalem and in Jesus’ day, it was used as a garbage dump. Prior to that, it was a place where children were sacrificed to the god, Moloch. As a result, the valley was deemed accursed, and the word Gehenna became a figurative expression for all that is evil and sinful. Hel (Hell), the Old Norse goddess of the underworld, was later associated with Gehinnom and over time became synonymous with the word hell which is first mentioned in Matthew 5:22. (The Second Jewish Book of Why Kolatch)
In Matthew 4:23, we are told that Jesus went all about Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people. (This is the first time the term gospel of the kingdom is mentioned.) Remember again from Luke 19:10, Jesus’ statement and start this time with verse 9 “Jesus said unto him ‘This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he, also, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save the lost.’” Again, we note how these words hint back at Ezekiel 34. When we look at the Hebrew, we see that Jesus (Yeshua) said unto him “this day is salvation (teshuah which has the same root) come to this house. Then the statement, once again of his purpose, “that the Son of Man is come to seek and to save (lehoshiah).”
Notice further in Matthew 10:68 that Jesus says to go to the lost sheep of Israel “And as you go, preach saying the kingdom of heaven has drawn near (had arrived). Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons (symptoms of being “lost”). Freely you have received, freely give” (deliver “salvation”).
By understanding the original meaning of saved and lost in the schema of Jesus and his followers in his day we see that those who are a part of the kingdom have the commission of making others who are lost, whole as Jesus did. When Jesus said, “the Son of Man is come to seek and save those that are lost”, lost was a state or a condition in which people were living in the present. The task or the responsibility of those who are a part of God’s kingdom is to endeavor to alleviate whatever conditions might exist that might prevent one from being whole or saved today.
