Steven Carr

The model of oral tradition in mainstream Biblical scholarship involves free oral tradition where Christian rushed excitedly to other Christians to pass on oral traditions about Jesus.

In 1 Corinthians 3,Paul makes clear that he controls what is taught.

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

If Christians were passing on oral traditions about Jesus life and deeds, how could Paul stop Christians learning about this meat?

But if Paul was teaching exotic interpretations of scripture,rather than traditions about Jesus, Christians could not pass on the 'meat' until Paul had told them his interpretation of scripture.

How did Paul withhold the 'meat' from the Corinthians, if every passing Christian relayed the stories of Jesus that ended up in the Gospels?

If Paul was attempting to withhold things from the Christians, then the Christian message could not have been public knowledge of what Jesus had done, as relayed by people who had been there. Paul would have had no control over who heard that and who didn't.

Later Paul does complain about people believing all kinds of stories.

Nature abhors a vacuum. If Paul was not passing on oral tradition, then oral tradition would have been invented to be passed on.

Toto

Obviously, the stories about Jesus were not the "meat" of Christianity - they were more like the "milk" fed to babies, or fairy tales with a moral message. People could invent them to suit their own purposes.

Steven Carr

But how could they be 'milk' on the model of Jesus being a historical Lord and Saviour?

spamandham

The way I read that, is that whatever horse shit the poser pretending to be Paul wanted to sell, was not something people were already familiar with. "You weren't ready" is a psychological ploy to stroke the egos of the real target audience of the letter to get them to accept it. The real target audience is not some 1st century church in Corinth, but is instead a late 2nd century catholic audience (ok, it might be an early 2nd century Marcionite audience)...who by the way *is ready*.

Paul's letters are all later frauds, as I've statistically proven in another thread, and their purpose is to use the authority of the name of Paul to spread *new* ideas. Everything "Paul" says reinforces this conclusion.

(I don't know how or why the name of Paul is perceived as authoritative, but it was)

Littlejohn

"..they were more like the "milk" fed to babies.."

Again today the 'babies' of all ages are being fed with the same "milk "!...


Greetings


Littlejohn
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