C
CatholicRoots
Guest
I think it is a very reliable source. Firstly oral tradition was a very reliable source in the first century world, not chinese whispers as some people try to falliciously assert. So I think we can say it was passed on with accuracy. It was much easier to spread the message orally than to try and write it, especially without the printing press since the process of writing texts over and over would be slow and dissemination even slower. So the oral foundation of the texts is reliable. Also the writings themselves are not that long after Christ’s life, especially since most (if not all) scholars agree that all the gospels were drawing on even earlier texts. (Though this is hypothetical it still has a very firm grounding. Quelle, passion narrative source etc…) Some of Pauls material such as Corinthians 15 is from about c. 33-36 so very early on.
Also common sense tells you that the Gospels were written early enough that original witnesses to some of these events would have been still living therefore they could have corrected and most certainly would have been consulted on matters of the Gospels and there contents.
Also common sense tells you that the Gospels were written early enough that original witnesses to some of these events would have been still living therefore they could have corrected and most certainly would have been consulted on matters of the Gospels and there contents.