Orality: Part Five: Orality and the BIble

Part 5: Oralitly and the Bible

God created us with the capacity and ability to tell and enjoy stories. Much of the Old Testament, the Gospels and Acts are stories that teach us about God, man, and how they interact with each other. Both much of the Old Testament and Gospels are narratives of happenings presented as stories strung together over time in the order they happened. One story is linked to another by the commonality of the story of God and Man.

Jesus often taught using stories and parables. It was a form of teaching that was molded to the oral learning needs of those he taught. Literacy during the time of Jesus has been estimated to only be 3-8%. It is believed that most of the disciples had little formal education and did not know how to read, yet they they became effective leaders. We know at least part of their training was in accomplished through the stories Jesus told. Mark 4 illustrates how Jesus shares a story to teach and then maintained the focus on the story as he shared more about it with the disciples. Later, after his resurrection, Jesus uses the stories of the Old Testament to tell about himself to those with whom he walked. What do these things tell us about knowing and telling the words of Jesus as he told them – as stories?

Sharing the stories of the Bible chronologically was used by Stephen in his speech before he was stoned. We know they caused at least one of the listeners to think about what he had heard – one of the persecuters named Saul. Later the author of Hebrews presented a story of faith chronologically.

Knowing the stories and parables of the Old Testament was emphasized by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Consider the reasons he gives for knowing the stories of the Old Testament. Other reasons are given in John 20:31, 1 John 5:13, Romans 15:4 and 2 Peter 1:19. What a great resource for the Christian life, so many reasons to know what was written in stories and poems and by the prophets. Yet how many of us as literates, choose not to teach the stories of the Bible and the wisdom they contain, but, instead, to teach the more literate sounding Pauline letters?

At first the stories of the Old Testament were passed on in verbal form and later written down, although the luxury of reading them were only for a select few. In the Old Testament we again see chronological presentations like those in Psalm 138 as well as 105, 106, 78. In Nehemiah 9 Ezra recounts the major events in Israel's history to the people.

A story is a powerful way to confront and change the way a person understands their world. It can confront someone in an indirect manner, where direct confrontation would fail. Nathan uses a story to teach rather than confront directly when he approaches David about his sin. God used a story to change a heart.

From generation to generation until the 1400's God's word was heard by the masses of people. An oral Bible was all they knew. Only a select few could read and study the Bible in printed form. Each copy was painstakingly made by hand.

Since the time of Gutenberg the desire to know the word of God has led many to learn to read so that they might better understand more about God and their relationship with him. Even so more than 300 years later in the 1790's it is estimated that literacy was only 10%. But since the time of Gutenberg “Christianity has increasingly walked on literate feet”. “By the 1900's Christianity and missions were so literate that believers were required to become literate before being baptized.” Being a leader or even just growing spiritually was associated with being able to read and write and understand and operate with in a literal approach to the world.

Pastors and Church Leaders are usually highly literate and teach in a literate manner with systematic approaches and abstract and logical reasoning presented with points and outlines and steps. These forms of communication are not understood, remembered or reproduced by oral communicators. Here in Brazil we have heard teachers try to reproduce what they have heard from a literate communication style. Most do so very poorly even though when they approach communication orally they are good, interesting teachers. To a certain extent it seems as if they desire to reproduce the form of literacy because that has been the form of presentation of many of the missionaries and their guests. Missionaries can help set the stage, so to speak, for the success of the local teachers and pastors by conforming at least some of our teaching to their way of communicating instead of the literal way we are often more comfortable with. We need to relearn how to be oral communicators.

It does not come down to a question of either oral or literal ways of communication as if one is right and the other wrong, one better the other not as good. There is a need for teaching that addresses both types of learning. What one needs to realize though is that the literal way we so often approach evangelism, discipleship, teaching and traning of leaders does not reach a certain segment of people in any place around the world. We can not just read to them either. The written word is not always seen as an authoritative source where people are oral. Other verbal means like the way a story is shared or CD's or DVD's may carry more legitimacy and authority in peoples minds.

The Bible simply needs to be made available to those who are oral in a way they can hear, understand, respond to and reproduce. We need to take a critical look at what training we require of our leaders, especially in countries where literacy is low and people do not, can not or will not read. If they can fulfill the Biblical requirements, is it really necessary that they be able to read? This is not to say that we should not teach them to read. Learning to read among believers is sometimes driven by a desire to know more of te word of God for themselves. We have a developing leader here who is well respected in his town but can not read. He has the desire and the heart to share Christ, but can not use our current materials to evangelize.

Even among those here that we know that do read, are some who are leaders in their church and have the desire to to evangelize and plant churches. Under the current system, they will never become pastors even if they desire to do so. They quite simply can not do the work a seminary would require of them. They can not function well in the literal world; their literacy skills are too poor. Should we deny them the opportunity to use their talents and gifts solely for this reason? What requirements should there be for a pastor in an oral society? How can literacy and orality exist side by side? How also, can we use the differences between secondary orality (it has been termed media literate) and literacy and primary orality to reach and train people? These are questions that need to be answered both here and in other locals for our ministry to become more effective.

Both orality and literacy have existed side by side for thousands of years. At the end of his life, Moses is told by God in Deuteronomy 31 to write down the law and give it to the priests. They in turn were to read it to the people so that they could hear and learn They could not refer to print to know the word.

Then Moses used the words to compose a song in chapter 32 that was to be a witness about God. The Israelites were to take the song spoken by Moses to heart, learn from it and live it out, with the words in their hearts. But beside the Arc of the Covenant was also a written copy of the law. It was also to be a witness.

Other stories were written later to be shared with the people. Much of the Old Testament is in the form of narratives or stories, poems, songs or proverbs. In the future, when word of mouth failed, the word of God would be found written on scrolls with the understanding that those who could read would share it with those who did not.

For some, though, as in times past, an oral Bible will be the only one they will ever have. They will carry it around in their hearts and minds and not their hands. They can become effective leaders and disciples and evangelists .They will be free to share stories in places and times where Bibles would be scorned or little understood; they can tell the stories from Genesis to revelation that will tell others of Christ. Will we give them the chance?