Exam 1: The Texture of the Text of the New Testament

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One could certainly argue that one of the reasons the ancients preferred oral communication to writing was a matter of economics: Whereas writing was an expensive enterprise in antiquity (some things never change!), "talk is cheap"-quite literally!
But there is another, and at least equally important, reason: Oral communication requires proximity. In other words, oral communication is more personal; it is "upfront," "belly-to-belly" . . . well, "face to face," anyway. (Of course, depending on the relationship between the parties involved, this could be viewed as either an advantage or a disadvantage!)
Nevertheless, achieving proximity, when desirable, could also be an expensive endeavor, especially if the participants were separated by a great distance. In this case, a written document made much better economic sense.
But suppose that instead of having only two parties to a conversation, at least one end of the conversation is intended for multiple groups living in towns geographically distant from both the author and the other intended recipients. The advantages of the written word loom large. Multiple copies can be sent to various groups in a much shorter time than it would take the author to travel to each group for a tête-à-tête.
This is precisely the situation we find in the New Testament. Paul's preference for oral communication is reflected in the fact that he first traveled from town to town and ministered face to face. He sent letters when travel was precluded by either prison or other disadvantageous circumstances. He even retraced his itineraries and revisited his churches for follow-up.
Finally, we must understand that in antiquity, even the written word had an underlying oral model as its framework. These texts were meant to be heard. Even when one was alone, silent reading was almost . . . well, unHEARD of (sorry!). So, if we want to understand the New Testament, we will do well to acquaint ourselves with the various rhetorical devices and strategies common in oral communication.

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The first challenge that someone who needed to produce a written document faced in antiquity was finding someone to write it. Only about 10 percent of the population could read, and substantially fewer could write. That meant going to the trouble and expense of hiring a professional for the task.
Obtaining a writing surface contributed to the expense of the project. Part of the reason for this is that the process of making a papyrus or parchment manuscript was long and somewhat complex, involving numerous stages in proper sequence. Time is money, as they say, and this made the writing materials beyond the reach of the average Joe . . . well, Mary or John. Verbosity was not a luxury most authors could afford. The New Testament Gospels were among the largest single-volume documents in the ancient world.