Few scholars have influenced New Testament scholarship in the areas of orality, memory, and tradition more profoundly than Birger Gerhardsson. Today, as these topics have again become important in biblical scholarship, his pioneering work takes on a new light. Though the esteemed contributors may differ on issues in the burgeoning study, they have all enthusiastically taken on the dual task of evaluating Gerhardsson's contribution anew and bringing his insights up to date within the current debate.
Additional contributors are Loveday Alexander (University of Sheffield), David E. Aune (University of Notre Dame), Martin S. Jaffee (University of Washington), Alan Kirk (James Madison University), Terence Mournet (North American Baptist Seminary), and Christopher Tuckett (University of Oxford/Pembroke College).
IntroductionSamuel Byrskog 1. Form CriticismChristopher Tuckett2. The Jesus Tradition as Oral TraditionTerence C. Mournet3. Jesus Tradition and the Pauline LettersDavid E. Aune4. Honi the Circler in Manuscript and Memory: An Experimentin "Re-Oralizing" the Talmudic TextMartin S. Jaffee5. Memory and Tradition in the Hellenistic SchoolsLoveday Alexander6. MemoryAlan Kirk Conclusion: The Work of Birger Gerhardsson in PerspectiveWerner H. KelberNotesBibliographyList of ContributorsIndex of Ancient SourcesIndex of Modern Authors
Werner H. Kelber is Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor Emeritus in Biblical Studies, Rice University. His other works include The Oral and the Written Gospel: The Hermeneutics of Speaking and Writing in the Synoptic Tradition; Mark, Paul, and Q; Mark's Story of Jesus; and The Kingdom in Mark: A New Place and a New Time). He lives in Bellville, Texas.
Samuel Byrskog is Professor of New Testament, University of Lund. He is the author or editor of several books, including Story as History - History as Story: The Gospel Tradition in the Context of Ancient Oral History; and Jesus the Only Teacher: Didactic Authority and Transmission in Ancient Israel, Ancient Judaism, and the Matthean Community. He lives in Lund, Sweden.