Oral tradition

Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and tradition transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants. In this way, it is possible for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledges across generations without a writing system.

A narrower definition of oral tradition is sometimes appropriate. Sociologists might also emphasize a requirement that the material is held in common by a group of people, over several generations, and might distinguish oral tradition from testimony or oral history. In a general sense, "oral tradition" refers to the transmission of cultural material through vocal utterance, and was long held to be a key descriptor of folklore (a criterion no longer rigidly held by all folklorists). As an academic discipline, it refers both to a set of objects of study and a method by which they are studied—the method may be called variously "oral traditional theory", "the theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition" and the "Parry-Lord theory" (after two of its founders; see below) The study of oral tradition is distinct from the academic discipline of oral history, which is the recording of personal memories and histories of those who experienced historical eras or events. It is also distinct from the study of orality, which can be defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population.

New Testament

The New Testament (Koine Greek: Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη,Hē Kainḕ Diathḗkē) is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The Greek New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity. Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament (in whole or in part) has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world. It reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated (along with readings from the Old Testament) into the various Christian liturgies. The New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom, and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music.

The New Testament is an anthology, a collection of Christian works written in the common Greek language of the first century, at different times by various writers, who were early Jewish disciples of Jesus. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books. The original texts were written in the first and perhaps the second centuries of the Christian Era, generally believed to be in Koine Greek, which was the common language of the Eastern Mediterranean from the Conquests of Alexander the Great (335–323 BC) until the evolution of Byzantine Greeks (c. 600). All the works that eventually became incorporated into the New Testament seem to have been written no later than around 150 AD, and some scholars would date them all to no later than 70 AD or 80 AD.

Lynne Kelly

Lynne Kelly (born March 1, 1969) is an American author of books for children and young adults. Her first novel, Chained, was published in May 2012 by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux/Margaret Ferguson Books.

Biography

Lynne Kelly is an author of middle grade and young adult fiction. She was born in Galesburg, Illinois and grew up in Houston, Texas. While studying for a psychology degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, she started working as a sign language interpreter and continued that career after graduation. Kelly became certified as a special education teacher in 2002, and started working on her first novel, Chained, while teaching in Spring ISD near Houston.

Kelly currently resides in the Houston, Texas area.

Works

Chained, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux/Margaret Ferguson Books, May 2012

Chained was also published by Penguin India in January 2014 and will be published by Bayard (France) in 2014, and by Suzuki Publishing (Japan) in 2015.

Reception

Chained is a 2013 South Asia Book Award Honor and a recipient of the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrator's Crystal Kite Award. The book was reviewed in Kirkus, The Horn Book and School Library Journal.

Darrell L. Bock

Darrell L. Bock (born December 12, 1953) is an American evangelical Christian New Testament scholar and research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas, United States. Bock received his PhD from Scotland's University of Aberdeen.

Dr. Bock is also known for having mentored New Testament scholars F. David Farnell and Daniel B. Wallace.

His works include the monograph "Blasphemy and Exaltation" in the collection Judaism and the Final Examination of Jesus, and volumes on Luke in both the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament and the IVP New Testament Commentary Series. Bock is a past president of the Evangelical Theological Society. He serves as a corresponding editor for Christianity Today, and he has published articles in the Los Angeles Times and The Dallas Morning News.

Bock is known for his work concerning The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. In a response to the theological implications of the novel, Bock wrote Breaking the Da Vinci Code, his best-selling work to date. The book challenges the historicity of various extra-biblical ideas expressed in The Da Vinci Code, most notably the supposed marriage of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. He also has written many pieces for beliefnet.com and ChristianityToday.com. Bock also wrote The Missing Gospels, which argues for the existence and legitimate primacy of early Christian proto-orthodoxy over non-canonical gospels and beliefs.