The Sayings Gospel Q

Context of Q

The Gospels in the New Testament are

all narrative gospels. The words and deeds of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection are incorporated into a narrative about him. The narrative starts with his baptism by John the Baptist (in Matthew and Luke with narratives about his birth) and ends with his crucifixion and resurrection. Mark, the earliest of these Gospels, was written in about 70 CE.

There were, however, also other kinds of gospels in early Christianity. One kind, the ‘sayings gospels’, probably predate the ‘narrative gospels’. A sayings gospel is a collection of sayings of Jesus. Two examples of these kinds of gospels are the Sayings Gospel Q and the Gospel of Thomas. Q no longer exists as a separate document. The Gospel of Thomas, which is an extra-canonical writing, was only discovered in 1945 in its complete form. To discuss the Sayings Gospel Q in a meaningful way, one needs to examine the sources of the first three canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) (see box).

Q is reconstructed from the material common to Matthew and Luke and which is not derived from Mark. Although this source is currently only available as embedded in Matthew and Luke, some scholars are of the opinion that it initially existed as a separate writing. The Sayings Gospel Q was tentatively reconstructed by New Testament scholars.

It is characteristic of Q that the sayings of Jesus are not assembled at random. The sayings are organised into discourses. It is, moreover, striking that Q contains no material about Jesus's suffering, crucifixion and resurrection. This also applies to the other sayings gospel, namely the Gospel of Thomas. contains no material about Jesus's suffering, crucifixion and resurrecti also applies to the other sayings gospel, namely the Gospel of Thomas.