ORAL TRADITION

ORAL TRADITION of NT Writings:

there are three stages in the formation of gospel (oral) tradition.

Stages

1.      The period of Jesus

This is the beginning of the tradition. It refers to the ministry of Jesus on earth calling his disciples, eyewitnesses and so on. This is probably about 30 years. This period supplies the primary source or the ‘raw Jesus material’ for studying the gospels of the NT.

2.      Apostolic period or Oral period. From the ascendance of Jesus to the writing of the gospels (30-60 AD). Why did it exist in the oral form?

i.                    The early believers were not educated like the other people Roman Citizen. Apart from the people in the city, most of them were illiterate and from the rural background. Literacy level was low.

ii.                  Writing was an expensive affairs.

iii.                The realization of Jesus as the Messiah came only after the resurrection.

iv.                Parousia (II Thess.3:10). They were expecting the imminent return of Jesus and they felt no need of writing the Gospel.

v.                  The importance of the oral tradition in the ancient world.

vi.                Judaism also had both oral and written traditions. The written Law-Torah was also called as “ Torah Shebiktav”. It is probably more than 50 times the size of the written book. It consist of the five books of the Old Testament, there are 79, 847 words and 3, 04, 805 letters are there in Torah and considered holy, so they even count all the words and letters . Along the written Law there was also Oral Tradition known as “Torah Shebal al Peh”- the law according to the mouth. Which were more in numbers, ro times the sizes of the written Torah (see ref.Mat.15:3, Lk.24:44). According to Scholars, apart from the written law these oral law were written down beginning around 200AD that these oral laws were written down and came to be known as Talmud. This kind of Oral tradition is regarded very important and this tradition is very prominent.

vii.              Jesus also used oral tradition to taught his disciples

viii.            The only time Jesus write was in John 8:8

During the oral period, the traditions about Jesus circulated as independent units and they would be recounted by preachers and teachers as the occasion demanded. This period is also known as Tunnel Period the tradition of about Jesus circulated as small independent units. It can hardly have been otherwise  since the acts and says of Jesus would be recounted and preachers and teachers are occasion demanded ( Mk. 2:1-3:6). This collection of short paragraph are known as pericopae (sing.pericope) which means something cut out. Each complete in itself with no essentials with what precedes or follows. This units tradition assumed particular form according to the functions which they perform in the Christian community.

3.      Written Period or The Evangelist Period:

This is the final stage of the gospel transmission which contains the works of the evangelists. Their work is logical and chronologically of the two previous stages.

            Mark – AD 65 (before destruction of Jerusalem)—Mk.13

            Mathew- 80-90 in ref.to destruction of Jerusalem.

The evangelist not only Jews from among the many tradition available but also arrange in organized into logical sequences that aggregating, expounding or even transposing where necessary and interpreted the gospel accounts to suit the needs of the audience.