Biblical Performance Criticism: An Exegetical Tool to Analyze Communication Events in the New Testament

Abstract

Since the beginning of the world, people have communicated orally through speech. As time progressed, communication technology advanced and began to aid oral communication to make it more accessible and permanent. The invention of the alphabet is a prime example. There is ample evidence that the New Testament authors employed writing not as the primary force of communication, but as a way to supplement the oral transmission of the biblical texts. Their use of communication technology obligates pastors and exegetes to study the Bible in light of the oral nature of communication events in the New Testament. By embracing the field of Biblical Performance Criticism and employing its methods, students of the Bible will be awarded a fuller understanding of a given text and will be more prepared to preach, teach and emphasize God’s written and spoken word.