How does your understanding of the history and chronology of New Testament literature shape the

How does your understanding of the history and chronology of New Testament literature shape the way you think about the New Testament as a whole?
How does your understanding of “Oral Tradition” shape the way you interpret the written gospels?
What evidence would you provide to suggest that the the oral tradition successfully or unsuccessfully carried the words or teachings of Jesus?
What aspect of our study of Tradition Criticism did you find most enlightening?  Most Difficult?