tracing the early jesus tradition: a proposal

See here for the preamble to this proposal, outlining some of the ideas upon which this proposal is based.

1. Informal and uncontrolled oral testimonies about Jesus of Nazareth circulated during his public career (ca. 27-30 C.E.) and for some time after.

• Memorable teachings of Jesus and stories of his remarkable deeds circulated during his public career primarily in Galilee and Judea (ca. 27-30 C.E.); among Jesus' closest followers these testimonies would have been less informal and uncontrolled, due to their repeated exposure to these teachings and greater proximity to Jesus himself.
• Accounts of his final days, his crucifixion, and his resurrection circulated in Judea and Galilee immediately after the events took place (ca. 30 C.E.).
• These combined informal oral testimonies continued to circulate during the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses, spreading throughout the eastern Mediterranean (to ca. 50-70 C.E.).

2. An oral, semi-formal, and semi-controlled "common Jesus tradition" developed among the Twelve within the first few years after Jesus' death (ca. 30-35 C.E.).

• This "common tradition" included a general narrative of Jesus' public career, including specific elements in a fairly conventional order: Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist, his teaching and miracle-working in Galilee, his messianic affirmation by his closest followers, his final journey to Jerusalem for Passover, his public entry into Jerusalem, his clearing of the Temple courts, his public confrontations with the Jewish religious elite, his final meal with his closest followers, his personal struggle with his destiny, his being handed over to the Jewish authorities, their handing him over to the Roman authorities, his suffering and crucifixion under the Roman authorities, his burial in a tomb before the Sabbath, the discovery of the empty tomb the day after the Sabbath, and resurrection appearances to his closest followers.
• This "common tradition" also included certain teachings of Jesus deemed most characteristic of him and/or most significant for those who wished to follow him: a set of teachings and parables about the kingdom of God (reflected e.g. in Mark 4); a set of ethical/halakic instructions (reflected e.g. in Matt 5-7); a set of missionary instructions (reflected e.g. in Matt 10); and a set of eschatological teachings (reflected e.g. in Mark 13).
• This "common tradition" was generally oral: it was taught orally to new adherents and especially to those who would be missionaries or teachers (e.g. Paul), but some elements of it found expression in varying degrees in a variety of written venues and forms (see below).
• This "common tradition" was generally semi-formal: though some elements of it were more formalized than others especially through liturgical repetition (e.g. a general narrative order of Jesus' career, a kingdom prayer, a last supper tradition, a passion narrative, a "gospel creed"), all elements were subject to the characteristic patterns of orality (esp. greater fixity of core words/concepts/traditions and greater fluidity of peripheral words/concepts/traditions).
• This "common tradition" was generally semi-controlled: the Twelve, centred initially in Jerusalem, were the tradents responsible for this body of tradition and viewed as authorities on this tradition, but this common tradition inevitably became expressed in different versions through interaction with the informal oral testimonies and in view of the fluidity of oral communication, noted above.
• This oral, semi-formal, and semi-controlled "common Jesus tradition" exercised widespread influence for the first century after Jesus (to ca. 150 C.E.), crossing geographical and apostolic boundaries wherever the early Jesus adherents moved.

3. Written expressions of these informal testimonies and this semi-formal and semi-controlled "common Jesus tradition" emerged as the early Jesus adherents found it necessary to communicate them in written form (ca. 40-50 C.E. on).

• Paul's writings (ca. 50-60 C.E.) witness to this "common tradition" he learned from Peter and the Twelve (cf. Gal 1:18; 1 Cor 15:3, 5, 11), including the narrative tradition (e.g. Rom 1:3; Gal 4:4; 1 Cor 2:8; 11:23-25; 15:3-5; 1 Thess 2:14-15) and the ethical, missionary, and eschatological teaching tradition (e.g. 1 Cor 7:10-11; 9:14; 1 Thess 4:16-17a). However, Paul's theological centre lay in the death and resurrection of Jesus, primarily accessed through his own experience of the risen crucified Jesus, and not in the Jesus tradition per se.
• The Epistle of James (ca. 50-60 C.E.) witnesses to this "common tradition," particularly the teaching material (e.g. 2:5; 5:1-3, 12). This was likely James the brother of Jesus, who learned this common tradition while among the Twelve in the first years after Jesus.
• The Epistle to the Hebrews (ca. 60-70 C.E.) witnesses to this "common tradition," particularly the narrative material (e.g. 2:3-4; 5:7-9; 12:2-3; 13:12-13).
• The Gospel of Mark (ca. 60-70 C.E.) was created to provide a written record of a Petrine-Roman version of this "common tradition," particularly the narrative tradition but also some of the teaching tradition. While the author may have had access to some written expressions of this version of the common tradition, he relied almost exclusively on oral expressions.
• The Gospel of Matthew (ca. 70-80 C.E.) was created to provide a more complete written record of this "common tradition" than the Gospel of Mark, for a Hellenistic Jewish audience concerned with maintaining their Jewish distinctives in the midst of an increasingly Gentile Christianity. The author directly used the Gospel of Mark in addition to an oral Matthean-Syrian version of the common teaching tradition.
• A first edition of the Gospel of John (ca. 70-80 C.E.) was created to provide an alternative to prevailing Petrine versions of this "common tradition," for an Asian Hellenistic Jewish community concerned with maintaining their Christian distinctives in the midst of an increasingly antagonistic relationship with non-Christian Jews. The author may have indirectly used the Gospel of Mark to access the Petrine version of the common tradition, and he may have known of the Matthean-Syrian version of the common teaching tradition, but the alternative Gospel he created reflected his own eyewitness Johannine-Asian version of the common narrative tradition and interpretation of the common teaching tradition.
• The Gospel of Luke (ca. 75-85 C.E.) was created to provide an alternative to the Gospel of Matthew as a more complete written record of this "common tradition," for a mixed Jewish-Gentile audience concerned with the status of Christianity following the Neronian persecution and the Jewish revolt. The author directly used the Gospel of Mark for his general narrative structure and the Gospel of Matthew as a source of the common teaching tradition, and directly or indirectly used the first edition of the Gospel of John, in addition to a variety of oral and probably written versions of various aspects of the common tradition.
• The Acts of the Apostles (ca. 75-85 C.E.), written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, witnesses to this "common tradition" in some of the speeches (e.g. 10:36-42), perhaps at times reflecting different sources than were used for the Gospel of Luke (e.g. 20:35).
• The final version of the Gospel of John (ca. 90-100 C.E.), edited by the author of the Johannine letters, was created after the death of the author of the first edition (the "beloved disciple"), for the same Hellenistic Jewish community as the first edition but now with more pressing problems of a docetic teaching. In addition to some stylistic changes, several sections were added to the original edition to create this final edition (chs. 1, 6, 15-17, and 21).
• The Didache (ca. 70-120 C.E.) witnesses to this "common tradition," particularly a Matthean-Syrian version of the common teaching tradition (e.g. 1:2-5; 8:3-10; 16:1-8).
• 1 Clement (ca. 96 C.E.) witnesses to this "common tradition," particularly the common teaching tradition (13:1-3).
• A first edition of the Gospel of Thomas (ca. 125-150 C.E.) was created to provide an alternative to prevailing versions of the teaching material of this "common tradition," for an Egyptian proto-gnostic community. The author at least knew of one or more of the canonical Gospels, and may have indirectly used them, but the alternative "sayings Gospel" he created reflected a distinctive Thomasine-gnostic version and interpretation of the common teaching tradition.
• Other written witnesses to this "common Jesus tradition" emerged throughout this period (see e.g. 1 Pet 2; 2 Pet 1; the Egerton Papyrus; etc.) that are worthy of further investigation.