VARIOUS FORMS OF THE GOSPEL TRADITION OR FORM CRITICS

VARIOUS FORMS OF THE GOSPEL TRADITION OR FORM CRITICS

According to form critics this unit of tradition took particular form and insisted this instinctive form, they are no creation of accident or free invention but there are determine by setting in which they wrote and the purpose for which they used. The technical term for this setting as the “sitz im Leben " meaning-Life Situation.

From

-          Dibelius, From tradition to Gospel

-          Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition

-          Vincent Taylor, The Formation of the Gospel

M. Dibelius	R. Bultmann	V. Taylor
Paradigm	Apopthegms – conflicts in controversies. Didactic/scholastic, biographical	Pronouncement stories
Novellen	Miracle stories	Miracles stories
Legends	Historical stories and legends	Stories about Jesus
Myths	Historical stories	Sayings and parables
Parenesis: this paranesis are sub-divided as-Maxims, metaphors, parabolic narratives, prophetic challenges and  commandments	Sayings of Jesus a.       Logia/Wisdom : I saying and parables b.      Prophetic/apocalyptic c.       Legal or community rules

Paradigms

Paradigms are brief epistles often controversial in character which culminates in an authoritative sayings of Jesus as sometimes in a statement about the reaction of the onlookers.

According to Dibelius, paradigms attain this particular shape in order to serve as examples or illustrations in the preaching of the early missionaries. Hence this name paradigm which comes from a Greek word ‘paradigma’ meaning example/model. According to him, it has five characteristics:

1.      Independents from the literary context

2.      Brevity and simplicity

3.      Religious rather than artistic colouring

4.      The word of Jesus is made to stand out as a climax of the narratives.

5.      The periscope ends with a thought useful for preaching either a word/act of Jesus on the reaction of the onlookers.

According to Debalius, the Sitz Leben of Paradigm was the contains of early Christian preaching. For Bultmann he prefer the term Apophthegms and sub divided as- the controversial and scholastic dialogue arose out of the myth for polemics and apologetic purposes and the biographical or can be use for edifying paradigms for Sermons.

Novellens

According to Dibelius, These are stories of Jesus’ miracles in which a good deal of details is given and which does not lead up to any decisive others. It can be subdivided into

1.      Exorcisms: Other healing miracles and natural miracles. All the stories follows the same structure. Description of the disease or situation to be remedy.

2.      Statement of cure or solution Achieve by Jesus.

3.      Statement of the result of the miracle. ( other healing miracles, and nature miracles).

Legends

They are religious narratives of a saintly man whose works …?... this shape and they arose in the Church to satisfy a twofold desire:

1.      The wish to know something of the virtues and lot of the holy men and women  in the story of Jesus and

2.      The wish which gradually arose to know Jesus himself in this world.