Did you know that the roots of “Gospel” and “Gossip” are the same? Most biblical scholars would contend that, indeed, these biblical writing are collections of sayings about Jesus, possibly written, possibly spoken.
It is important to acknowledge that oral traditions were MUCH stronger previously, and people would often have full recollection of exact phrases and texts. Even today, countless Muslims claim to have memorized the entire Koran.
What really amazes me is the Book of Acts. Some of the material is covered in various Epistles, but the vast majority, I think, has no prior written existence, and it spanned visits to dozens (?) of cities that Paul traveled to along the way.
Biblical scholars have claimed that Acts was the last to be recorded in writing. Amazing that the “gossip” about the travels of Paul emerged into one reasonably coherent book.
Q
Interesting.
Printers did not exist. When you went to a public reading of something you needed to remember it. A reading might be in poetic form, to assist you in recollection. (The Psalms.) A gospel might be written from teaching notes. A Good example would be First John.
Luke was an historian, and starts by describing his method, how he set the material he was writing in order. He was educated and his Greek was closer to his Attic models. (If I remember correctly.) Unlike the rest of the N.T., which was restricted to Judea and Palastine, we see Paul and Luke Traveling around the Eastern Roman empire. It is an inflection point where and Judaic Christianity escape into the Cosmopolitan world of the eastern Roman Empire. Anyway, this is pretty commonly known stuff. (And I am not an old Professer!)