Behind the Gospels: Understanding the Oral Tradition

by Eric Eve

For a hundred years, the million dollar question has been, What was the nature and state of the tradition between Jesus and the gospels? Eve surveys the major proposals, offers critical and constructive commentary, and makes appropriately nuanced suggestions of his own. On this topic, his work is now the place to start' Dale C. Allison, Jr. Professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary 'Eric Eve has written a magnificent guide to one of the most exciting areas in Gospels studies today - oral tradition and memory theory. With clear writing and judicious assessment, he covers the important personalities and ideas in the search to get behind the Gospels, from form criticism to the present. I highly recommend this book to scholars and students alike' Chris Keith, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, St Mary's University College, London 'Eric Eve gives a balanced and lucid account of all attempts to reconstruct the oral tradition behind the written Gospels . . . Eve's judgments on these questions are fair, his arguments convincing. This is a foundational book both for Jesus research and for our understanding of the literary history of the New Testament' Gerd Theissen, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, University of Heidelberg.

Genres: New Testament

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2013

Reviews

[Chris Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful survey of the current scholarship around oral tradition and the Gospels. Eve discusses in detail the development of ideas around how oral traditions shaped the writing of the Gospels, from the early form critics through to recent attempts to refocus on eye witness testimony, through the likes of Richard Bauckham (whose 'Jesus and the Eyewitnesses' gets a very mixed review).
In his conclusions Eve pumps for a very sensible middle way between those who would assert that most of what is in the Gospels is as close to verbatim testimony as is possible and those who claim that it's mostly a product of the Evangelists' imaginations and/or particular social contexts. Much depends on the presuppositions we bring to the texts.
An additional point that I found useful was the assertion mentioned in several places that the Gospels cannot be usefully dissected in such a way as to separate the historical core from later additions and redactive measures. This attempt to access 'the real Jesus' may have sustained many author's careers, but is unlikely to ever purposive satisfactory results, due to the reductive process involved.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walking through the history of understandings of how the Gospels came to be created, Mr. Eve offers a balanced analysis of each historical model/understanding. Each model is treated fairly, with adequate pros and cons articulated. Despite its academic nature, Behind the Gospels is accessible, though not wholly engaging. Mr. Eve tries his best to find the good in each model, and he does a good job of connecting each model to its successor. This positive approach is refreshing and helps the reader see the good in each model. As a result, Behind the Gospels is an interesting albeit somewhat dry read that is helpful for understanding how the Gospels may have been formed by the original authors.

His conclusion, that we likely will never know exactly how the Gospels came to be, is a bit disheartening and feels like a letdown, but it is realistic. After reading the book, I came to a greater understanding of why it is difficult to know the origin of the Gospels, and I learned a lot about social memory, memory in general, oral retellings, and eyewitness accounts. Though not the most exciting read, it is balanced, informative, and well-researched.

[Tommi Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summaries of scholarship