The Oral Gospel Tradition
Pages
400
Publisher
Eerdmans
Published
10/3/2013
ISBN-13
9780802867827
A collection of James Dunn's essays on the oral tradition of Jesus' teachings
The traditions about Jesus and his teaching circulated in oral form for many years, continuing to do so for decades following the writing of the New Testament Gospels. James Dunn is one of the major voices urging that more consideration needs to be given to the oral use and transmission of the Jesus tradition as a major factor in giving the Synoptic tradition its enduring character.
In fifteen scholarly essays Dunn discusses such issues as the role of eyewitnesses and of memory, how the Jesus tradition was shaped by oral usage, and the importance of seeing the biblical materials not so much as frozen writing but as living tradition, today almost as much as in the beginnings of the Gospel tradition.
The traditions about Jesus and his teaching circulated in oral form for many years, continuing to do so for decades following the writing of the New Testament Gospels. James Dunn is one of the major voices urging that more consideration needs to be given to the oral use and transmission of the Jesus tradition as a major factor in giving the Synoptic tradition its enduring character.
In fifteen scholarly essays Dunn discusses such issues as the role of eyewitnesses and of memory, how the Jesus tradition was shaped by oral usage, and the importance of seeing the biblical materials not so much as frozen writing but as living tradition, today almost as much as in the beginnings of the Gospel tradition.
Reviews
kanewby
October 6, 2016
October 6, 2016
This was a required text for my class on the Synoptic Gospels that was colisted between masters and doctoral students. I really enjoyed the book and felt that Dunn did a brilliant job explaining the oral transmission behind the synoptics. A main takeaway was Dunn's discussion of scholarships over reliance on textual explanations for synoptic problem issues. Dunn argues for oral transmission as a means to explain synoptic variances and relationships.