Sunday, 15 January 2017

The Oral Gospel Tradition,
James D. G. Dunn, Eerdmans, 2013
Chapter 7, "John's Gospel and the Oral Gospel Tradition", page 189

In the second of a short series of quotes from James Dunn's important book about the orality of the gospels, he extends a consequence of the way in John differs from the Synoptic gospels:

In short, it is hard to doubt that John's version of Jesus' teaching is an elaboration of aphorisms, parables, motifs and themes remembered as characteristic of Jesus' teaching, as attested in the Synoptic tradition. At the same time, John's version was not pure invention, nor did it arise solely out of Easter faith. Rather, it was elaboration of typical things that Jeses was remembered as saying.

One of James Dunn's major work themes is "Jesus Remembered". John is not heretical, presenting new or unknown material; it is consistent with the Synoptic gospels. It is just remembered and presented in a different way - reworked and reconsidered over perhaps a longer time frame.