Oral Tradition and Synoptic Verbal Agreement

New Testament scholars routinely claim that verbal agreement among parallel Synoptic pericopae is a reliable indicator of literary borrowing by the Synoptic Evangelists. In Oral Tradition and Synoptic Verbal Agreement, T. M. Derico presents a critical assessment of that claim through a consideration of the most recent empirical evidence concerning the kinds and amounts of verbal agreement that can be produced among independent performances of oral traditions. ""A remarkable book, the product of years of work, including doctoral study in Oxford and firsthand research among Arabic-speaking Christians of the Middle East. Through incisive and detailed engagement with scholars' ideas, Derico thinks the unthinkable, and asks if the almost universal assumption that high levels of agreement between the gospels require a literary explanation is actually true. A timely, informative, and important contribution that should not be ignored."" --David Wenham, Tutor in New Testament, Trinity College, Bristol ""Most New Testament scholars still operate under the assumption that verbal agreement among the Synoptic Gospels can be explained exclusively in terms of literary dependence. A growing body of research, however, suggests that oral tradition may also account for verbal agreement. T. M. Derico's analysis of the processes by which oral tradition is transmitted is a welcome addition that offers new empirical evidence in support of that claim."" --Armin D. Baum, Professor, Freie Theologische Hochschule Giessen, Germany ""Derico's assessment of the contributions of such scholars as Bailey and Crossan is insightful and persuasive, underlining, for example, the difficulty of comparing traditional material that stretches over generations with the one-generation Jesus tradition of the Synoptic Gospels, and the differences between illiterates in a predominantly oral society and twentieth-century students. . . . I am happy to warmly commend Derico's work and do so without reservation."" --James Dunn, Author; Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University T. M. Derico teaches Bible and Religion at Huntington University in Indiana.