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Gospel
Christ
Tradition
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Interpretation
From ‘Notes on the Formation of the Gospels’,
by John Wijngaards;
published in Background to the Gospels
(Bangalore & Ann Arbor 1981)
and Together in My Name (London
1991).
Paul, who had been educated as a Pharisee and had spent some years in
Jerusalem as a disciple of Gamaliel (Acts 22,3), knew how to read and write in
Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. But in the rabbinical school he had
learned the interpretation of the Law through oral instruction. Opinions
of famous rabbis were committed to memory according to rigorous patterns; then
explained. These concerned `the traditions of the elders’ which were
contained in the mishnah. The traditions of the elders laid down the
observance and practice of Mosaic Law and the mishnah was the collection
of these oral traditions (from 200 BC to 400 AD).
See: BICKERMANN, ‘La Chaine de la tradition Pharisienne’,
Révue Biblique 59 (1952) pp. 44-54
It is difficult for us to imagine the place which memorisation held in
the transmission of rabbinical religion. Learning by heart of key texts was at
the heart of it. Here are some of the features of such oral teaching:
“Great care and attention was given given to preserving the exact
wording of the teachings of an ancient master. A careful study was made
regarding the authenticity of the tradition. The words of the master, tersely
expressed, were not synopsised. They were quoted as the master had said them -
together with the name of the one who had uttered them. An ancient rule for the
pupils was this: It is a man’s duty to state a tradition in his
teacher’s words.”
“While the pupil was thus in duty bound to preserve his
teacher’s exact words, the teacher was responsible for drilling his pupil
in their memorisation. A teacher could not simply mention the oral material
(his own doctrinal statements or teachings handed down to him) in a general
fashion. He must repeat it over and over again, and make his pupils repeat it,
until they know it by heart. The rule was: A teacher’s duty is to
repeat a passage to his pupil until he has learnt
it.”
“Although some written notes may have existed, it was not these
but the oral traditions that were normative. The rule was: You shall not
transmit in writing what has been transmitted orally. Until quite late in
Rabbinical history, in any case of doubt it was not a written text, but the
memorised form of a tradition that was held to be
authoritative.”
I have extracted these excerpts from B.GERHARDSSON, Memory and
Manuscript. Oral Tradition and Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and
Early Christianity, Uppsala 1961, esp. pp.
122-144.
This was the religious practice Paul and many Christian converts were
used to. Written notes were only a help, to recall certain prominent features.
For the ordinary person - and we can be sure that this is what most early
Christians were - learning things by heart was the only way to retain precise
information; and they were better at it than we are.
The origin of the traditions
Paul’s teaching, no doubt, consisted to some extent in a renewed
exposition of the Old Testament prophecies; such as he does in part of his
letters. But his teaching also included a passing on of a fixed body of
information which he calls ‘the tradition that you received from me’
(2 Thessalonians 3,6). He always urges that the traditions be strictly
maintained:
- ‘Remember me in everything and maintain the traditions
precisely as I have handed them on to you’ (1 Corinthians 11,2).
- ‘Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by
us’ (2 Thessalonians 2,15).
- ‘I sent Timothy to remind you of my ways in the Lord as I teach
them everywhere in every community’ (1 Corinthians 4,16-17).
- ‘You have become obedient from the heart to the standard of
teaching to which you were committed’ (Romans 6,17).
To this tradition belonged information
- about Jesus’ passion, death, burial, rising on the third day and
the resurrection appearances (‘I handed on to you what I have also
received . . . .’; 1 Corinthians 15,1-11);
- the institution of the Eucharist (‘I received from the Lord
what I in turn handed on to you’, 1 Corinthians 7,10);
- the prohibition of divorce (1 Corinthians 7,10);
- and many other sayings of Jesus.
Compare 1 Corinthians 9,14 and Luke 10,7; Galatians 6,2-3 and Mark
9,33; 2 Corinthians 10,1 and Matthew 11,29; Romans 12,14-17 and Matthew
5,38-44; Galatians 5,14 and Luke 10,25-28; see also D.L.DUNCAN, The Sayings
of Jesus in the Churches of Paul, Philadelphia 1971; F.NEYRINCK, ‘Paul
and the sayings of Jesus’, in L’Apôtre Paul, ed.
A.VANHOYE, Louvain 1986, pp. 265-321.
It presupposes a collection of memorised traditions. When did this
collection arise?
It is clear that some traditions must have arisen after
Jesus’ death and resurrection. The passion narrative belongs to this
category. The passion stories in all four Gospels are remarkably similar, as
anyone will have noticed from the readings during Holy Week. In fact, if one
matches Mark 14,1 - 16,8 with Matthew 26,1 - 28,8 and Luke 22,1 - 24,11, one
will find that the three evangelists recount 25 episodes in more or less the
same sequence and with more or less the same formulations. We may surmise the
existence of an oral account of Jesus’ passion that preceded
the three Gospels and that was known to Paul.
See: J.FINNEGAN, Die Überlieferung der Leidens- und
Auferstehungsgeschichte Jesu, Giessen 1934.
There also existed an oral tradition of
Jesus’ teachings as has been abundantly documented.
John Wijngaards
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