Birger Gerhardsson has devoted almost the whole of his academic career to the study of the oral tradition that is the basis of our canonical Gospels. His groundbreaking doctoral dissertation, Memory and Manuscript, drew a parallel between the way in which the rabbis taught their disciples and the way Jesus taught his disciples: both required memorization of the masterÂ’s teaching. Rabbinic disciples handed on their mastersÂ’ tradition with great care, and we can be sure that the disciples of Jesus would have been no less careful with what he taught them!
The Reliability of the Gospel Tradition presents three studies that illuminate how the early Christians passed on tradition. “The Origins of the Gospel Tradition” gives an accessible review of the debate regarding the extent to which the New Testament evangelists enable us to hear the voice of Jesus. “The Path of the Gospel Tradition” contains a critical discussion of the approach of the form-critical school to the problem of the early Christian tradition, ending with an alternative sketch of the path of the tradition. “The Gospel Tradition” offers a rather detailed picture of various aspects of the content and method of early Christian tradition and assesses the reliability of the four oldest of the extant written records.
“In the current climate of skepticism I know of nothing more helpful than Birger Gerhardsson’s writings, and that is why I am particularly delighted that the pieces that compose the present volume are again available in print. New generations of students deserve to have them, not merely because they ultimately vindicate the church’s estimate of Jesus, but because they are true to the nature of the Gospels themselves and to the purpose of those who wrote them.”—Donald A. Hagner (from the Foreword)
