Assessing Bart Ehrman’s Assertion of the Duration of the Oral Gospel Tradition: A Dissection of the Arguments of the Cultural Background of the Greco-Roman World
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31802/GB.2023.48.1.001Keywords:
authorship of the canonical gospels, origin of the canonical gospels, oral gospel tradition, duration of the oral transmission of the gospel teaching, tunnel period, biblical scholar Bart Ehrman, cultural background of the Greco-Roman world, biblical science of the 17th–18th centuries, biblical science of the 19th centuryAbstract
This article examines the statements of the American biblical scholar Bart Ehrman about the length of the period between the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the time when the canonical Gospels were written. At the beginning of the article, a review is given of the opinions of scientists who addressed the question of the existence of a long period of oral transmission of the gospel teaching. The following are the opinions of researchers who oppose the existence of an oral period before the writing of the Gospels. Then an assessment is given of the arguments that arise when referring to the cultural background of the Greco-Roman world. As a result of the analysis of the cultural environment of the Greco-Roman world, in the light of the question of the origin of the canonical Gospels, the groundlessness of Bart Ehrman’s position regarding the duration of the oral transmission of the Gospel tradition was shown.
Downloads
References
Евсевий Кесарийский. Церковная история / ввод. ст., коммент., библиогр. список и указатели И. В. Кривушина. [Научное издание.] Санкт-Петербург: Изд. Олега Абышко, 2013. (Серия «Библиотека христианской мысли. Источники»).
Ириней Лионский, свт. Против ересей. Доказательство апостольской проповеди. Санкт-Петербург: Изд. Олега Абышко, 2008. (Серия «Библиотека христианской мысли. Источники»).
Ткаченко А. А. История изучения жанровых особенностей Евангелий // ПЭ. 2007. Т. 16. С. 652–653.
Alexander L. The Living Voice: Skepticism Towards the Written Word in Early Christian and in Graeco-Roman Texts // The Bible in Three Dimensions: Essays in Celebration of Forty Years of Biblical Studies in the University of Sheffield / D. J. A. Clines, S. E. Fowl, S. E. Porter. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990. (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series; vol. 87). P. 221–248.
Baird W. History of New Testament Research. Vol. I: From Deism to Tubingen. Minneapolis (Minn.): Fortress Press, 1994.
Bauer G. L. Hebräische Mythologie des alten und neuen Testaments, mit Parallelen aus der Mythologie anderer Volker, vornehmlich der Griechen und Romer: in 2 Bde. Leipzig: Weygand, 1799.
Botha P. J. J. Greco-Roman Literacy as Setting for NT Writings // Neot. 1992. № 26. Р. 195–215. Brewer B. K. Models for the Oral Transmission of the Gospel Traditions and the Problem of Continuity: An Analysis and Evaluation. A Dissertation Submitted to the Caspersen
School of Graduate Studies. Drew University. Madison (N. J.), 2005.
Bryan C. A Preface to Mark: Notes on the Gospel in Its Literary and Cultural Settings. New York (N. Y.); Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Burkitt F. C. The Gospel History and Its Transmission. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1906.
Bushell T. L. The Sage of Salisbury: Thomas Chubb 1679–1747. New York (N. Y.): Philosophical Library, 1967.
Chubb T. Posthumous Works. Vol. 2: Concerning Divine Revelation. London: Printed for R. Baldwin, Junior, 1748.
Collins R. F.Introduction to the New Testament. Garden City (N. Y.): Image Books, 1987.
Crossan J. D. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus. [San Francisco (Ca.)]: Harper San Francisco, 1998.
Culley R. C. Oral Tradition and Biblical Studies // Oral Tradition. 1986. № 1/1. P. 30–65.
Dewey J. The Gospel of Mark as an Oral-Aural Event: Implications for Interpretation // The New Literary Criticism and the New Testament / ed. E. S. Malbon, E. V. McKnight. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994. (Journal for the Study of the New Testament. Supplement Series; vol. 109). Р. 146–163.
Dibelius M. From Tradition to Gospel / trans. B. L. Wolff. London: Ivor Nicholson and Watson, 1934.
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of Eminent Philosophers. Vol. I / trans. R. D. Hicks. Cambridge: HUP, 1925. (LCL; vol. 184).
Dunn J. D. G. A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Baker Academic, 2005.
Ehrman B. D. Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife. New York (N. Y.): Simon and Schuster, 2020.
Ehrman B. D. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Ehrman B. D. Jesus Before the Gospels — How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior. New York (N. Y.): Harper Collins, 2016.
Eichorn J. G. Einleitung in das Neue Testament: in 5 Bde. Leipzig: Weidmann, 1820–1827.
Ellis E. E. Prophecy and Hermeneutic in Early Christianity. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Baker Books, 1993.
Farmer W. R. The Synoptic Problem: A Critical Review of the Problem of the Literary Relationships between Matthew, Mark, and Luke. New York (N. Y.); London: The Macmillan Company; Collier-Macmillan Limited, 1964.
Gamble H. Y. Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts. New Haven (Conn.); London: Yale University Press, 1995.
Gamble H. Y. Literacy and Book Culture // Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship / ed. C. A. Evans, S. E. Porter. Downers Grove (Ill.); Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Gerhardsson B. Memory and Manuscript: Oral Tradition and Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity with Tradition and Transmission in Early Christianity. Grand Rapids (Mich.); Livonia (Mich.): William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Dove Booksellers, 1998. (The Biblical Resource Series).
Gerhardsson B. Oral Tradition (New Testament) // A Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation / ed. J. Coggins, J. L. Houlden. Philadelphia (Pa.): Trinity Press International, 1990. P. 498–501.
Gieseler J. C. L. Historisch-kritischer Versuch über die Entstehung und die frühesten Schicksale der schriftlichen Evangelien. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1818.
Guthrie D. New Testament Introduction. Downers Grove (Ill.): Inter-Varsity Press, 1970.
Guttgemanns E. Candid Questions Concerning Gospel Form Criticism: A Methodological Sketch of the Fundamental Problematics of Form and Redaction Criticism / trans. W. G. Doty. Pittsburgh (Pa.): Pickwick Press, 1979.
Harris W. V. Ancient Literacy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Henaut B. W. Oral Tradition and the Gospels: The Problem of Mark 4. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993. (Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series; vol. 82).
Herder J. G. Vom Erlöser der Menschen: Nach unseren drei ersten Evangelien / ed. B. Suphan. Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1967. (Sämtliche Werke; Bd. 19).
Holladay C. R. A Critical Introduction to the New Testament: Interpreting the Message and Meaning of Jesus Christ. Nashville (Tenn.): Abingdon Press, 2005.
Holtzmann H. J. Die Synoptischen Evangelien: Ihr Ursprung und ihr geschichtlicher Charakter. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1863.
Huskinson J. Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity, and Power in the Roman Empire. London: Routledge, 2000.
Jones T. P. Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus. Downers Grove (Ill.): InterVarsity Press, 2007.
Kelber W. H. The Oral and the Written Gospel: The Hermeneutics of Speaking and Writing in the Synoptic Tradition, Mark, Paul, and Q. Philadelphia (Pa.): Fortress Press, 1983.
Kümmel W. G. The New Testament: The History of the Investigation of Its Problems / trans.
MacLean Gilmour, H. C. Kee. Nashville (Tenn.); New York (N. Y.): Abingdon Press, 1972.
Lessing G. E. Neue Hypothese über die Evangelisten als bloss menschliche Geschichtsschreiber betrachtet. Berlin: C. F. Voss und Sohn, 1784. (Theologischer Nachlass).
Linnemann E. Is There a Synoptic Problem? Rethinking the Literary Dependence of the First Three Gospels / trans. R. W. Yarbrough. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Baker Book House, 1992.
Meier J. P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Vol. I: The Roots of the Problem and the Person. New York (N. Y.): Doubleday, 1991.
Millard A. Reading and Writing in the Time of Jesus. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.
Nutton V. Anciet Medicine. London; New York (N. Y.): Routledge, 2004. (Sciences of Antiquity).
Ong W. J. Preface // Kelber W. H. The Oral and the Written Gospel: The Hermeneutics of Speaking and Writing in the Synoptic Tradition, Mark, Paul, and Q. Philadelphia (Pa.): Fortress, 1983.
Perrin N. What Is Redaction Criticism? Philadelphia (Pa.): Fortress Press, 1969.
Reddish M. G. An Introduction to the Gospels. Nashville (Tenn.): Abingdon Press, 1997.
Reicke B. The Roots of the Synoptic Gospels. Philadelphia (Pa.): Fortress Press, 1986.
Schleiermacher F. D. E. Einleitung ins Neue Testament / ed. G. Wolde. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1845. (Friedrich Schleiermacher’s sämtliche Werke; Bd. 8).
Schmithals W. Einleitung in die drei ersten Evangelien. Berlin; New York (N. Y.): Walter de Gruyter, 1985.
Schmithals W. Evangelien // Theologische Realencyclopadie. 1982. № 10. S. 570–626.
Schmithals W. Kritik der Formkritik // ZThK. 1980. № 11. S. 149–185.
Schmithals W. Ökumenischer Taschenbuch-kommentar zum Neuen Testament. Bd. 2: Das Evangelium nach Markus. Gütersloh; Würzburg: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn; EchterVerlag, 1979. (Gütersloher Taschenbücher Siebenstern; Bd. 503).
Schmithals W. Vom Ursprung der synoptischen Tradition // ZThK. 1997. № 94. S. 288–316.
Schnelle U. The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings / trans. M. E. Boring. Minneapolis (Minn.): Fortress Press, 1998.
Shiner W. Proclaiming the Gospel: First Century Performance of Mark. Harrisburg (Pa.): Trinity Press International, 2003.
Simon R. Histoire critique de texe du Nouveau Testament: in 3 vols. Rotterdam: Chez Reinier Leers, 1689–1693.
Stein R. H. Studying the Synoptic Gospels: Origin and Interpretation. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Baker Book House, 2001.
Strecker G. History of the New Testament Literature / trans. C. Katter. Harrisburg (Pa.): Trinity Press International, 1997.
Theissen G. The Gospels in Context / trans. L. M. Maloney. Minneapolis (Minn.): Fortress, 1991. Twentieth Century in the Making. Vol. l: Themes of Biblical Theology / ed. J. Pelikan; trans. R. A. Wilson. London; New York (N. Y.): W. Collins; Harper & Row, 1969.
Wellhausen J. Das Evangelium Lucae. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1904. Wellhausen J. Das Evangelium Matthaei. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1904. Wellhausen J. Das Evangelium Marci. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1903.
Wellhausen J. Einleitung in die drei ersten Evangelien. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1905.
Witherington III B. Bart Interrupted. Part 4. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2009/04/bart-interrupted-part-four.html (дата обращения 01.12.2021).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
