Digital Continent | Page 33

25 with this model, however, is that even though it acknowledges some flexibility, “this model of memorization and the transmission of exact words is too rigid to explain the actual extent of variation in the Jesus traditions as we can observe them in the Gospels.”113 Informal Controlled Oral Tradition Kenneth Bailey adds interesting insight to the discussion of oral tradition in early Christianity in his article, “Informal Controlled Oral Tradition and the Synoptic Gospels,” which is based on his Middle Eastern Tradition of Oral Storytelling observations from his considerable time living in the Middle East. For Bailey, the behavior of Middle Eastern villagers, unchanged for centuries, holds the keys to understanding how oral tradition was transmitted in the early Church. He provides an example, in his article, of an archaeologist on a dig in the Middle East who came across puzzling construction patterns. The archaeologist remained confounded by the patterns and it was not until she witnessed local villagers building a house that she was able to find the missing pieces to the puzzle. Apparently, the villagers in the nearby town from the dig had been using similar building techniques as their ancestors, undoubtedly passed down for generations. Could this observation be the key to understanding how oral tradition was passed on by the ancients? 113 Bauckham, location 4090-4091; 4096-4098, Kindle edition.