Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§8.3 The Tradition
ems and proverbs. 179 (ii) Some flexibility — parables and recollections of people
and events important to the identity of the community. 'Here there is flexibility
and control. The central threads of the story cannot be changed, but flexibility in
detail is allowed', (iii) Total flexibility —jokes and casual news. 'The material is
irrelevant to the identity of the community and is not judged wise or valuable' . lm
In the haflat samar the community exercises control over the recitation.
These poems, proverbs and stories form their identity. The right telling of
these stories is critical for that identity. If someone tells the story "wrong",
the reciter is corrected by a chorus of voices. Some stories may be new. But
the stories that matter are the accounts known by all. The occasion is informal
but the recitation is controlled. 1 ^ 1
He illustrates more recent tradition by retelling stories about John Hogg,
the primary founder of the new Egyptian evangelical community in the nineteenth
century. These were orally transmitted and sustained stories which had
been drawn on for Dr Hogg's biography (published in 1914) and which were still
being retold in almost the same way when Bailey dipped into the tradition in
1955-65. 182
He also tells two stories from his own experience. 183 One concerns a fatal
accident that took place at a village wedding, where it was customary to fire hundreds
of rifle rounds into the air in celebration. On his way (back) to the village
Bailey heard the story from several people, including the boatman taking him
179. The same observation is made by Vansina, Oral Tradition as History 48-49.
180. Bailey, 'Informal' 42-45 (his emphasis).
181. Bailey, 'Oral Tradition' 365; 'Stories critical for the community's identity can be
repeated in public only by those deemed worthy to repeat them' (364). Vansina also notes that
the more important a tradition to a community's identity, the greater the control likely to be exercised
over its recitation and transmission {Oral Tradition 31-39) and concludes, 'Various
methods of transmission may be used, some of which are capable of ensuring that the prototestimony
does not alter much in the course of transmission' (46; see also 78, 199). 'Communication
of oral tradition is part of the process of establishing collective representations' (Oral
Tradition as History 124; see also 41-42, 96-100).
182. Bailey, 'Informal' 45-47; 'Oral Tradition' 366. To be noted is the fact that 'community'
here does not equate to 'individual village', since the evangelical community would be
scattered over many villages. Bailey's claims regarding the stability of the stories told about
Hogg have been seriously challenged, particularly by T. Weeden in http://groups.yahoo.com/
group/crosstalk2/message/8301 and /8730. In personal correspondence Bailey has expressed
his regret at some overstatement in regard to the Hogg traditions, but insists that his hypothesis
is based primarily on his own experience of the haflat samar. Weeden's further critique of
Bailey's anecdotes and their significance misses much of Bailey's point, is unduly censorious,
and weakens Bailey's case hardly at all.
183. Bailey, 'Informal' 48-50.
207