Oral transmission in the Bible is reliable

Point : There is no evidence that the Gospels were actually written from Oral Tradition. They may have been written from the mythical Legend of Jesus, not oratory information concerning his actual life. So the Gospels and the New Testament books may have nothing to do with Oral Tradition. From the fanciful tales and discrepancies in the Bible, I may very well be correct. The Jesus appearing in the Gospels is actually quite different to that written about by Saul/Paul, who was the earliest account of Jesus Christ, written around 20 years after the death of Jesus. Yet Saul never ever met Jesus and wrote from Hearsay, possibly oral tradition, though there is no evidence for this either, since Saul did not disclose his sources. He too may have taken poetic license and invented some of his own concepts surrounding Jesus Christ. Though the discrepancies between Saul’s version of Jesus and the Gospels is quite obvious, there are even more discrepancies just between the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ. Gospel Discrepancies (too many to mention here): 1: Differences in the personification or character of Jesus Christ: John: , Jesus talks about himself all the time: Jesus proclaims himself to be the bread of life;(John 6:35), I am the way and the truth (John 14:6) I am the light of the world (John 8:12). Mark: Jesus teaches principally about God and the coming kingdom, and rarely ever talks directly about himself: Jesus talks about how he must go to Jerusalem and be rejected and be crucified and then raised from the dead. In Mark, Jesus never identifies himself as divine, as he never says, I am the son of God in Mark. Here is a typical teaching from Jesus according to Mark. “18And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?there isnone good but one,that is, God. 19Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. “ Mark 10:18-21. Thus in John, Jesus is Extremely Narcissistic and in Mark, Jesus is quite humble. They cannot possibly be writing about the same Jesus Christ. Such differing accounts of the very same person make Oral Transmission from the same sources seem unlikely. Since John was written nearly 60 years after Jesus died, it is likely the Author of John, took his own narrator’s license in reinventing Jesus in order to convince non-believers in Jesus Christ. 2: Differing reasons for the death of Jesus Christ: According to Mark, Jesus's death is an reparation or expiation for sin (atonement). “ 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working withthem, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” Mark 16:16-20 According to Luke, it's the reason people realize they're sinful and need to turn to God for forgiveness. 44And he said unto them, Thesearethe words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, andinthe prophets, andinthe psalms, concerning me. 45Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48And ye are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:44-48 Thus the death of Jesus gives a different message from different Gospels. 3: Different last words Jesus Uttered: Mark and Matthew: “ Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Luke: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” John: “It is finished” So the writers of Mark had evidently read Matthew or vice versa, being a decade apart, so much of Matthew was copied by Mark or possibly the same orator. Though the other two, with totally different versions of the event of the Death of Jesus, is destroying Pro’s concept of accurate Oral Transmission. 4: The Darkening and the Earthquake before the Tomb was found open. Matthew and Mark mention the darkening, Mark doesn't mention the Great Earthquake, John was totally oblivious to any such events, yet Matthew declared the Earthquake to be very violent (Matthew 28:2).These are a few of many discrepancies between the Oral Transmissions of just the Death of Jesus.There are even more discrepancies concerning the resurrection story, such as Jesus was recognized in Matthew ( Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him." , Mark and Luke, but in John, nobody recognized Jesus, not even Mary (John 20:14), "14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus."In John, Jesus had to demonstrate to his disciples who he was, yet in the others, he was instantly recognised. There is the matter of the number of angels at the tomb. Matthew has 1 angel, John has 2 angels.This is only a small number of the many discrepancies such as how long Jesus wandered among them before he ascended, from same day to many days.Here are a few more contradictions which display the severe weakness of Oral Tradition in the written Bible creation. Though chances are Oral Tradition has nothing to do with the Bible, a lot if it was more likely invented by the Authors or those altering their works at the Councils.[ 1) How many generations were there between Abraham to David? Matthew 1:17 lists fourteen generations. Matthew 1:2 lists thirteen generations. 2) Is Paul lying? In Acts 20:35 Paul told people "to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Since Jesus never made such a biblical statement, isn’t Paul guilty of deception? 3) When did the leper become not a leper? (Matthew 8:13 & 8:14) Jesus healed the leper before visiting the house. (Mark 1:29-30 & 1:40-42) Jesus healed the leper after visiting Simon Peter’s house. 4) Who approached Jesus? (Matthew 8:5-7) The Centurion approached Jesus, beseeching help for a sick servant. (Luke 7:3 & 7:6-7) The Centurion did not approach Jesus. He sent friends and elders of the Jews. 5) Was she dead or just dying? (Matthew 9:18) He asked for help, saying his daughter was already dead. (Luke 8:41-42) Jairus approached Jesus for help, because his daughter was dying. 6) Just what did Jesus instruct them to take? (Matthew 10:10) Jesus instructed them not to take a staff, not to wear sandals. (Mark 6:8-9) Jesus instructed his disciples to wear sandals and take a staff on their journey. 7) When did John find out Jesus was the Messiah? (Matthew 11:2-3) While imprisoned. John the Baptist sent followers to Jesus to inquire if Jesus was the messiah. (Luke 7:18-22) While imprisoned. John the Baptist sent followers to Jesus to inquire if Jesus was the Messiah. (John 1 :29-34,36) John already knew Jesus was the Messiah. 8) Who made the request? (Matthew 20:20-21) Their mother requested that James and John, Zebedee’s children, should sit beside Jesus in his Kingdom. (Mark 10:35-37) James and John, Zebedee’s children, requested that they should sit beside Jesus in his Kingdom. 9) What animals were brought to Jesus? (Matthew 21:2-7) two of the disciples brought Jesus an donkey and a colt from the village of Bethphage. (Mark 11:2-7) They brought him only a colt.]Source: http://www.evilbible.com...http://www.religioustolerance.org... There is also the Synoptic Problem concerning the Gospels which makes Oral Tradition unlikely.http://en.wikipedia.org...Bart Ehrman a noted Biblical Scholar who has researched the issue of Oral Traditions has this to say:"And as anyone knows who has been subject to oral traditions – this would include all of us – the stories told about a person can change absolutely overnight! It happens all the time. What happens, then, to stories in circulation for 40 or 50 years, in different countries, told in different languages, among people who never laid an eye on an eyewitness or on anyone else who had? My sense is that the stories get changed, often a lot; and many of the stories simply get made up. It’s just the way it happens And it can be shown to have happened with the Gospels, since the same story is often told in very different ways. Every historian will tell you: evidence matters!"Source: http://ehrmanblog.org...Also: http://www.str.org...Yes, I agree that Oral Tradition can hold small pearls of wisdom, though for recording and preserving one off events accurately it suffers from the same problem presented in Chinese Whispers or The Telephone Game, in that the minds of those passing the Tradition on being wired differently neurologically, will alter the message and thus distort the information/details.More about this in the next round.Though Oral Traditions contain great stories:http://www.youtube.com... Thanks Pro and back to you!