Chapter 5 Oral Traditions and Legend Making - Introduction

Most people today can open a Bible and read the four Gospels which are accounts of the life of Jesus, a man who claimed to be God, did miracles, died and rose from the dead. We are considering a very important question that everyone should consider. Are these accounts historically accurate or are they legends? It is easy for someone to say they are legends but then they need to to explain how the legend came into existence. 

In the first century, Jewish cultural information was mainly transmitted orally, so early followers of Christ would have relied on oral traditions for what they knew about him. How reliable these oral traditions were is a very important topic. Some say the accounts we have of Jesus today are the result of oral traditions that evolved over time and are not historically accurate. They base this idea on four assumptions. We will be looking at these assumptions in detail in future posts. Right now we will just list them for you to consider.

1. In the early days of Christianity there were few written  accounts and therefore nothing to help keep oral traditions from being altered or distorted.
2. Oral traditions can't pass on long story lines so the gospel writers created the overall story of Jesus.
3. In oral cultures people are more interested in current needs and issues than historical accuracy. Those current needs help shape the the tradition.
4. Traditions are primarily transmitted by communities and are not influenced or regulated by individuals such as eyewitnesses. 

As you can see, these assumptions have significant implications on the question we are considering. These assumptions have influenced thoughts about this topic since the early twentieth century. However research and studies of oral tradition in the last 30 years suggest some serious problems with these assumptions. We will consider them in weeks ahead.