Jesus Tradition in the Apostolic Fathers: Their Explicit Appeals to the Words of Jesus in Light of Orality Studies (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament)

Stephen E. Young reevaluates the tradition of Jesus sayings in the Apostolic Fathers in light of the growing recognition of the impact of orality upon early Christianity. Based upon research into oral tradition done in the wake of the pioneering work of Milman Parry and Albert Lord, he advances the thesis that an oral-traditional source best explains the form and content of the explicit appeals to Jesus tradition in the Apostolic Fathers that predate 2 Clement . He also draws attention to ways in which this tradition informs our understanding of the use of oral tradition in Christian antiquity. Preface ...............................................................................VII Table of Contents ....................................................................IX Abbreviations .......................................................................XIII Chapter 1: Orality and the Study of Early Christianity ...............1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................1 1.2 Thesis ..........................................................................5 1.3 Problems .......................................................................9 1.4 An Alternative to Form Criticism and the Rabbinic Model .........11 1.4.1 Form Criticism .......................................................11 1.4.2 The Rabbinic Model ................................................15 1.5 Parameters ...................................................................24 1.5.1 Apostolic Fathers ...................................................24 1.5.2 Explicit Appeals to Jesus Tradition ..............................25 1.6 Definition of “Oral Jesus Tradition” ....................................29 1.7 Presuppositions and Assumptions .......................................34 1.8 Procedure ....................................................................35 Chapter 2: A Brief History of Scholarship on the Sources of the Jesus Tradition in the Apostolic Fathers .................................36 2.1 Introduction .................................................................36 2.2 Foundation for a New Approach (1905) .................................39 2.3 Establishing the Scholarly Agenda: Massaux and Koester (1950s) .................................................42 2.3.1 Édouard Massaux ....................................................42 2.3.2 Helmut Koester ......................................................45 2.4 Furthering Koester’s Conclusions: Donald A. Hagner (1985) ......48 2.5 Refining Massaux’s Method: Wolf-Dietrich Köhler (1987) ........51 2.6 Applying and Refining Koester’s Method: Tuckett and Gregory ...........................................................54 2.6.1 C. M. Tuckett (1989) .................................................54 2.6.2 Andrew Gregory (2003) .............................................55 2.7 Coming Full Circle (2005) ................................................60 2.8 Conclusions ..................................................................67 Chapter 3: Method: Orality and Oral Tradition .......................70 3.1 Orality in Oral-Derived Texts ............................................70 3.2 Orality and Literacy in the Ancient Mediterranean World ...........74 3.3 Markers of Orality: Oral Indicators in a Written Medium ...........81 3.3.1 Additive Rather than Subordinative ...............................84 3.3.2 Aggregative Rather than Analytic ................................84 3.3.3 Redundant or “Copious” ............................................85 3.3.4 Conservative or Traditionalist .....................................85 3.3.5 Both Variable and Stable ...........................................87 3.3.6 Close to the Human Lifeworld ....................................88 3.3.7 Agonistically Toned .................................................88 3.3.8 Empathetic and Participatory ......................................88 3.3.9 Mnemonically Constructed .........................................89 3.3.10 Socially Identified ..................................................91 3.3.11 Situational Rather than Abstract .................................96 3.4 The Limits of Comparative Study .......................................97 3.5 Giving Scribality a Fair Hearing ... in Light of Orality ............102 Chapter 4: Identifying Markers and Ways of Orality: The Explicit Appeal to Jesus Tradition in 1 Clement 13.1c–2 ....................107 4.1 Introduction ................................................................107 4.2 Comparing the Jesus Tradition in 1 Clem. 13.2 to its Gospel Parallels ..............................................................113 4.3 Searching for the Redactional Footprints of the Evangelists ......114 4.4 Tracing the Sources of the Tradition in 1 Clement 13.2 ............118 4.4.1 Distribution of the Synoptic Parallels to 1 Clem. 13.2 .......120 4.4.2 Luke 6:36–38, Matthew 7:1–2, and the Contents of Q 6:36–38 .............................................................122 4.5 The Gospel Sources and 1 Clem. 13.2 .................................139 4.6 1 Clement 13.2, Oral Tradition, and Orality in Antiquity ..........146 4.7 Conclusions ................................................................149 Chapter 5: The Explicit Appeal to Jesus Tradition in Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians, 2.3 .............................151 5.1 Introduction ................................................................151 5.2 The Date of Polycarp’s Letter ..........................................153 5.3 Poly. Phil. 2.3 in Relation to its Parallels ............................158 5.4 Assessing Where We Stand .............................................173 Chapter 6: Seeking Consistency: Looking for Indicators of Orality in 1 Clement 46.7b–8 .........176 6.1 Introduction ................................................................176 6.2 The Relationship of 1 Clem. 46.8 to its Gospel Parallels ..........179 6.2.1 The Structure and Components of 1 Clem. 46.8 and its Parallels ..........................................................179 6.2.2 The Order and Wording of the Gospel Parallels to 1 Clem. 46.8 ..........................................................182 6.2.3 Seeking the Redactional Footprints of the Evangelists ......191 6.3 1 Clement 46.8, Oral Tradition, and Orality in Antiquity ..........195 Chapter 7: Liturgical Tradition in the Didache: The Lord’s Prayer in Did. 8.2 ...............................................201 7.1 Introduction ................................................................201 7.2 The Didache and the Gospels ...........................................203 7.2.1 C. M. Tuckett and Jesus Tradition in the Didache ...........204 7.2.2 A Critique of C. M. Tuckett’s Approach .......................206 7.2.2.1 The Didache and the Gospel of Luke ....................206 7.2.2.2 The Didache and the Gospel of Matthew ...............207 7.2.2.3 The Didache and Oral Tradition ..........................213 7.2.2.4 Conclusion ....................................................216 7.3 The Lord’s Prayer in the Didache .....................................218 7.4 Conclusion .................................................................224 Chapter 8: Three Isolated Sayings from the Jesus Tradition ...226 8.1 Introduction ................................................................226 8.2 Didache 9.5 ................................................................227 8.3 Ignatius, Letter to the Smyrneans, 3.2a ................................229 8.4 Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians, 7.2c ...........................232 8.5 Conclusions ................................................................237 Chapter 9: “Another Scripture Says ...”: Jesus Tradition in 2 Clement ................................................239 9.1 Introduction ................................................................239 9.2 The Jesus Tradition in 2 Clement in Relation to its Parallels ......240 9.2.1 2 Clement 2.4 ......................................................240 9.2.2 2 Clement 3.2 .......................................................242 9.2.3 2 Clement 4.2, 5 ....................................................244 9.2.4 2 Clement 5.2–4 .....................................................248 9.2.5 2 Clement 6.1–2 ....................................................251 9.2.6 2 Clement 8.5 .......................................................254 9.2.7 2 Clement 9.11 .....................................................257 9.2.8 2 Clement 12.2, 6 ..................................................261 9.2.9 2 Clement 13.4 .....................................................266 9.3 Assessing the Evidence from the Jesus Sayings in 2 Clement ....269 9.4 The Sources of Jesus Tradition in 2 Clement: Written or Oral? ...274 9.5 Conclusions ................................................................276 Chapter 10: Conclusions ....................................................278 10.1 Oral-Traditional Sources in the Apostolic Fathers ................278 10.2 Characteristics of Oral Tradition in the Apostolic Fathers ........280 10.3 Impact upon Larger Issues .............................................283 Appendix: The Fragments of Papias ............................................285 Fragment 1.1b–5 (Iren. Adv. Haer. 5.33.3–4) ............................286 Fragment 13.2 (George Hamartolos, Chronicon) .........................291 Bibliography ........................................................................295 Index of Ancient Sources .........................................................349 Index of Modern Authors ........................................................360 Index of Subjects ...................................................................367 Abstract: This dissertation reevaluates the tradition of Jesus' sayings in the Apostolic Fathers in light of the growing recognition of the impact of orality upon early Christianity and its writings. At the beginning of the last century it was common to hold that the Apostolic Fathers made wide use of the canonical Gospels. While a number of studies have since called this view into question, many of them simply replace the theory of dependence upon canonical Gospels with one of dependence upon other written sources. No full-scale study of Jesus tradition in the Apostolic Fathers has been published which takes into account the last four decades of new research into oral tradition in the wake of the pioneering work of Milman Parry and Albert Lord. Based on this new research, the present dissertation advances the thesis that an oral-traditional source best explains the form and content of the explicit appeals to Jesus tradition in the Apostolic Fathers that predate 2 Clement. In the course of the discussion, attention is drawn to the ways in which the Jesus tradition in the Apostolic Fathers informs our understanding of the use of oral tradition in Christian antiquity