1600 | Introduction to the Gospels & Acts
Some scholars who grow up in societies with less-developed memory skills challenge this background, arguing that Jesus’ disciples were unlike all the other disciples we read about in the same period; these scholars protest that the disciples were uneducated and illiterate. Against this premise several observations may be offered. First, texts about the disciples being“ unlearned” merely mean that they lacked the training available to the elite, not that they lacked all training. Fishermen made a better living, and probably had somewhat better education, than the majority of people in Galilee( most people were peasants). Second, in many cultures memory skills are inversely proportional to literacy— that is, sometimes people who are illiterate have even stronger memories because they cannot simply refer to other sources if they forget them. Finally, ancient sources are clear that memory skills were not limited to the highly educated. Traveling bards who recited all of Homer’ s poetry by heart were generally not educated, yet few scholars in the modern West could compare with them in their capacity to memorize. This observation also holds true today; in some places even those who are illiterate can, for example, recite large sections of the Qur’ an or other writings from memory.
The Gospel writers had a variety of memories, oral sources and written works on which they could draw. Normally memories and oral traditions remain most accurate in the first generation or two, within living memory of eyewitnesses who can communicate and confirm events. In antiquity, as today, writers of histories and biographies would consult eyewitnesses first and foremost. Throughout the first generation, when information about Jesus was becoming widespread, Jesus’ original disciples plus his brother James remained in positions of leadership in the church( Gal 1:18 – 19; 2:9; cf. 1Co 15:5 – 7). By the time Luke wrote, he could see his purpose as merely confirming information that was already widely known( Lk 1:3 – 4).
Some scholars protest that some lines of evidence for the accuracy of oral tradition come from only limited circles. Yet almost any claim about evidence we can identify from antiquity is limited; only a sample of sources have survived. The evidence we do have for accurate tradition, however, is undoubtedly a representative sample. It is widespread among varied settings and virtually all points in the same direction. No responsible scholar would dismiss virtually all the contemporary evidence we do have and then argue the opposite conclusion based on silence.
Jesus’ Teachings
Various ancient Jewish sages had their own distinctive teaching traits, but other forms of teaching were common among them. They commonly taught in parables very similar to those of Jesus( see the article“ Parables,” p. 1692); they used riddles to provoke thought; they used proverbs that often made a particular point without covering all possible exceptions or circumstances( cf. Pr 26:4 – 5); and they often used graphic hyperbole( rhetorical overstatement) to reinforce their points. Although Jesus often used the teaching techniques that were common in his day, other traits are distinctive to him, such as the phrase“ truly I say to you.” Most distinctive, of course, are passages where Jesus hints at his deity( e. g., Mt 18:20; Jn 8:58).
Because Jesus addressed especially crowds of poor Galilean farmers as he traveled from place to place, his teachings are not systematic; instead, they are often meant to provoke thought and make a point, sometimes in a graphic way that holds an audience’ s attention. For a modern reader to directly convert Jesus’ words into rules or statements of systematic theology therefore sometimes misses their point. For example, Jesus requires caring for parents in their old age( Mk 7:9 – 13), but summons people to abandon their family responsibilities if need be to follow him( Mt 8:21 – 22 parallel to Lk 9:59 – 62; Mt 10:37 parallel to Lk 14:26). Is Jesus pro-family, or is he a home-wrecker? In fact, Jesus should come before everything else, but“ hating” one’ s family( Lk 14:26) is hyperbole, merely a graphic way of making his point.
Hyperbole is common in Jesus’ teaching. We recognize it in the most obvious cases: for example, ripping out one’ s eye as a solution to lust( Mt 5:28 – 29), swallowing a camel whole( Mt 23:24), or squeezing a camel through a needle’ s eye( Mk 10:25). Some suggest that it would be consistent to view some other sayings in the same way— for example, giving up one’ s only cloak( Mt 5:40