Oral and Written Tradition Reviewer

ORAL AND WRITTEN TRADITION
Apostles – first 12 disciples (their experience with Jesus is what they tell to people)
- By word of mouth, they proclaimed salvation/goodness.
- Early Christians were allowed to exorcise (exorcism is a gift)
o But they were uncomfortable practicing it.
The Oral Tradition: The Apostolic Preaching

Luke 9: 1-6
- The Bible passage talks about the empowerment of Jesus Christ to His disciples to continue the
mission.
The Light of Faith (Lumen Fidei) of Pope Francis
- reminds us that this is how the Church’s tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus (gift of
faith and salvation).
The Oral Tradition
- became the way of Jesus’ followers to continue His mission of Salvation that is entrusted to them.
o They went to different places to preach, teach, heal, and even exorcise.
o They travelled around Roman world preaching the message of Jesus with missionary zeal.
They did not tend to write during that time.
 Reasons:
 Jesus told them to PROCLAIM (not to write it) the Good News.
 The early followers of Jesus Christ expected Jesus to come back soon after His
resurrection. (Parousia – second coming)
 They were uneducated but not illiterate.
o They were taught by their parents.
Proclamation of the Early Christian Communities

- Oral tradition came first before the formation of the New Testament.
- What they had written in the 4 gospels is Jesus from oral tradition.
Main Mission:
1. Preaching the core message of death and resurrection
2. Teaching further instructions and encouragement to recently baptized Christians
o Catechesis/catechism/catechetics – catechists
o Today: Parish
o In School: RVE and Cle subjects/teachers
o Basic prayers are included
3. Defending the beliefs and practices against accusations from outside
The manner of Preaching in the Oral Tradition by the Early Christians
- The disciples did not repeat what Jesus said. They preached in the way they understood them after
the resurrection.
- Disciples and preachers re-interpreted and re-formulated the words and deeds of Jesus Christ in
order to relate to their current situations.
Sacramentals (like words, gestures, objects) – instruments
- Instituted by the church
- Lead us closer to God  we pray to Mary  we ask Mary’s help  she will lead us closer to Jesus
The Written Tradition by the Evangelist

- God’s goodness and divine wisdom revealed to us through the Lord Jesus.
- Through Christ, the word made flesh, we were able to encounter the Father.
- Now we encounter the living God through the words written in the scriptures.
- Through the Gospels, we receive and experience the kingdom of God.
Gospel
- Greek word: Euangelion, which means “good news”
- Good news – salvation (kaligtasan at kaginhawaan)
The Gospels
- Narrative accounts for the infancy and childhood & public ministry
- Recital of the historical events of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Reasons why it took 40 years before the gospels were written

- the proclamation was confined to Palestine and the facts of Jesus’ life were sufficiently known
- people preferred the spoken, “living” word to the written word
- the early Christians expected Jesus to come back soon
Reasons for the writing of the Gospels
- The gospel was preached farther and farther away from Jerusalem and converts came flocking into
the young churches.
- death of the apostles and other witnesses and the ever-increasing number of communities
- The Christians gradually realized that Jesus would not come back as early as they originally expected
(parousia).
The task of the Evangelists
- editors of small independent units of stories, parables, sayings, deeds of Jesus compiled by the
Christians – known as pericopes (meands biblical passages)
- they were especially guided by God’s Spirit (Holy Spirit), an experience called the gift of
inspiration
Writers of the Gospels

AD means Anno Domini – year of the Lord
The Gospel of Mark (16 chapters)
- Author: John Mark of Jerusalem
- Implied Author: Bilingual (Aramaic & Greek); Christian
- Audience: Mostly Gentiles (persons who are not Jewish – walang pinaniniwalaan)
- Place of Writing: Rome
- Time of Writing: 60’s AD or 70’s AD ()
- Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the Suffering Servant
The Gospel of Matthew (28 chapters)
- Author: Matthew the Apostle
- Implied Author: Bilingual (Aramaic and Greek); Early Jewish Christians
- Audience: better educated Jews
- Place of Writing: Galilee
- Time of Writing: Late 70’s or 80’s AD
- Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the Emmanuel (means God is with us)
The Gospel of Luke (24 chapters) – pinaka-educated
- Author: Luke, a Physician and Companion of Paul
- Implied Author: Christian Gentile convert; well educated Greek
- Audience: Wealthier Gentile Christians
- Place of Writing: Greece
- Time of Writing: Mid to late 80’s AD
- Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the savior of all humanity
The Gospel of John (21 chapters)
- Author: John the Apostle
- Implied Author: The “Beloved Discipline”
- Audience: Mixed: Mostly Jews, some Gentiles, Samaritans, etc.
- Place of Writing: Galilee or Syria
- Time of Writing: Main edition 90’s AD
- Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the “Word of God”
The Synoptic Gospels

Introduction to the Gospels
- The Gospels are the heart of the Scriptures.
- The four Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
- The Gospels bring the Good News of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Characteristics of the Gospels
- The Gospels are the main source of information about the life and teachings of Jesus (see CCC, 125).
- The Gospels are God’s Revelation.
- When we encounter Jesus in the Gospels, we encounter God’s most definitive and perfect
Revelation.
Writers of the Gospels (Saint Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
Synoptic Gospels
- Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called synoptic Gospels.
- Synoptic comes from a Greek word meaning “seeing the whole together.”
- These Gospels are similar in style and share much of the same content.
- Many scholars also proscholars believe that both Luke and Matthew used Mark as a source when
writing their Gospels.
- Luke and Matthew may have used a second source known as the Quelle, or the Q Source.
The Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke
- They include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same
wording, in contrast to the very different picture of Jesus presented in the Gospel of John.
Synoptic Problem
Four-Source Theory
1. Mark was the oldest written Gospel, which provided a
narrative framework for both Matthew and Luke.
2. Aside from Mark, Matthew and Luke used a common
source known as Q-Source (first letter of the German
“Quelle” meaning “source”).
3. Matthew and Luke, however, had their own particular
unique sources.
John’s Gospel differs from the Synoptic Gospels
- It covers a different time span than the other Gospels.
- It locates much of Jesus' ministry in Judaea.
- It portrays Jesus discoursing at length on theological matters.

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ORAL AND WRITTEN TRADITION

The Oral Tradition: The Apostolic Preaching

Proclamation of the Early Christian Communities

The Written Tradition by the Evangelist

Reasons why it took 40 years before the gospels were written

Writers of the Gospels

The Synoptic Gospels

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