Oral Tradition and the New Testament: A Guide for the Perplexed

Description

The last three decades have seen an explosion of biblical scholarship on the presence and consequences of the oral expression of tradition among Jesus’ followers, especially in the earliest decades of the Common Era. There is a wealth of scholarship focused on ‘orality’. This scholarship is, however, abstract and technical almost by definition, and to date no introductory discussion exists that can introduce a new generation of biblical students to the issues being discussed at higher levels of scholarship. Rafael Rodríguez address this gap. Rodriguez adopts a fourfold structure to cover the topic, beginning with basic essentials for further discussion of oral-tradition research and definitions of key terms (the ‘what’). He then moves on to discuss the key players in this area (the ‘who’) before examining the methods involved in oral-tradition research among New Testament scholars (the ‘how’). Finally Rodriguez provides examples of the ways in which oral-tradition research can bring texts into clearer focus (the ‘why’). The result is a comprehensive introduction to this key area in New Testament studies. HalfTitle Series Title Copyright Contents List of Tables Preface CHAPTER ONE Introduction But is not the New Testament a written text? What do nt scholars mean by “orality”? Are we still studying the written texts of the nt, or something else? What is the plan of this book? PART ONE An introduction to biblical media criticism CHAPTER TWO The what of oral tradition and nt studies Glossary of terms CHAPTER THREE The who of oral tradition and nt studies Birger Gerhardsson Werner H. Kelber Joanna Dewey Paul J. Achtemeier Pieter J. J. Botha Kenneth E. Bailey Richard Horsley PART TWO A demonstration of biblical media criticism CHAPTER FOUR The how of oral tradition and nt studies The morphological approach to oral tradition and the nt The contextual approach to oral tradition and the nt CHAPTER FIVE The why of oral tradition and nt studies Casting Jesus out into the wilderness Melding tradition in the Johannine prologue Hearing Moses preaching Christ Inscribing Christ as king Notes Works cited Text Index Author Index Subject Index