So what was this Oral Tradition?

The earliest church was nothing like what we have today.  That's a real shame.  Not for them, I assure you.

Many of today's scholars have dedicated their efforts to a supposed written work they've titled 'Q'.  'Q' has only been theorized, never found.

These scholars believe this written work is where the Gospels finally came from; Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were theorhetically copied in some way from 'Q' (either directly or via one of their other comtemporay Gospels; i.e., Mark copying Matthew or vice versa).  'Q' was supposedly a written compilation of all the original Jesus stories.  But there are currently no extant copies.  Why?

Because it was oral only.  That's why.

So really, I'm not saying that 'Q' didn't exist.  It in fact did.  Only it was memorized by the believers, followers and Apostles of Jesus.  It did not exist in written form but was passed from person to person in a very normal Hebrew method.  What now makes up the Gospels was once available only through word of mouth from another; probably the first 40 or so years of Christianity.  Just like the ancient Hebrew way of Holy Oral Tradition, the first Gospel was forbidden to be written down.  The Gospel was carried on the heart only.

So when you see the Gospels of today (and some other stories that didn't make it into the Bible) that is what was being memorized and taught in the first century congregations. 

The Oral Tradition of Jesus was also two-fold (not unlike the Oral Tradition of the other Hebrew rabbis).  On the surface the stories were memorized and elemental lessons could be garnered from a straightforward understanding.  But there was another level as well.  Only the disciples were privy to this. 

Next post: The Discipleship material