An Ode to Traditionsgeschichte

So, tradition history, we cannot do without you!
Come back, sources! Come back, strata! Come back, sifting!
Come back, that sensible and constructive sceptisism which recognises that the first-century world of the documents is not identical with the twentyfirst-century world of those who study the documents.

(David Catchpole, Jesus People. The Historical Jesus and the Beginnings of Community, Darton, Longman and Todd/Baker Academic, London/Grand Rapids, 2006, p. 57.