The Source Q - a Document of the Early Jesus Movement

According to the widely accepted Two Source Theory, the so-called Source Q and the Gos-pel of Mark were used as the "two sources" in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. As a collec-tion of partly biographically contextualized words of Jesus, Q is a very early, independent thread of Jewish Christian tradition. Together with the Gospel of Mark, Q is widely accepted as the most important source for reconstructing the words and deeds of Jesus. This explains the lively interest of Gospel and Jesus research in Q during the last decades. Since there are no ancient manuscripts of Q, this important text has to be reconstructed from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In the context of the International Q Project (IQP) the pro-posed project contributes to the critical review of the history of research. On this basis Q will be reconstructed and interpreted. At first the original research contributions regarding every Q variant between Matthew and Luke are excerpted chronologically and sorted according to the particular author`s recon-struction. Then follows a detailed evaluation of the history of research and a well-founded own reconstruction of each variant by several members of the proposed project and the IQP. In those evaluations the previous literarkritisch, formgeschichtlich and redaktionsgeschichtlich Q research will be summed up, evaluated and innovatively carried on. Those evaluations do not only contribute to the reconstruction, but also to the interpretation of a particular Q text. During three years the proposed project will work on the texts Q 11:39-52 (Woes against Pharisees and Exegetes of the Law), Q 11:9-13 (Prayer), Q 14:26-27; 17:33; 14:34-35 (Dis-cipleship) and Q 17:20-37 (End Time and Judgment) to promote the reconstruction and in-terpretation of Q and similarly research on the historical Jesus and the early Jesus move-ment. The results of the proposed project will be published in the series Documenta Q: Re- constructions of Q Through Two Centuries of Gospel Research - Excerpted, Sorted and Evaluated (Leuven/Belgium: Peeters Press, 1996ff.). The advances in the reconstruction and interpretation of Q will also lead to a revision of the Critical Edition of Q which was published by the IQP in the year 2000 and which meanwhile is widely accepted as the "standard text" of Q. Co-operations exist in the context of the IQP with colleagues in Vienna, Germany, Belgium, U.S.A. and Canada. During the three years of the proposed project those co-operations will be intensified and made more productive through common attendance at scholarly meetings and through own meetings in Graz and Leuven/Belgium.

In the context of the International Q Project (IQP) the project in Graz contributed to the critical review of the history of Q research. On this basis important parts of Q were reconstructed and interpreted. According to the widely accepted Two Source Theory, the so- called Source Q and the Gospel of Mark were used as the two sources in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Since there are no ancient manuscripts of Q, this important text has to be reconstructed from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. As a collection of partly biographically contextualized words of Jesus, Q represents a very early, independent thread of Jewish Christian tradition. Together with the Gospel of Mark, Q is widely accepted as the most important source for reconstructing the words and deeds of Jesus. This explains the lively interest of Gospel and Jesus research in Q. The results of the project are published in the series Documenta Q: Reconstructions of Q Through Two Centuries of Gospel Research Excerpted, Sorted and Evaluated (Leuven/Belgium: Peeters, 1996ff.). In this series the project published the volumes on Q 6:37-42 (Not Judging The Blind Leading the Blind The Disciple and the Teacher The Speck and the Beam, 2011) and Q 11:39-52 (Woes against Pharisees and Exegetes of the Law Wisdoms Judgment on This Generation, 2012, two volumes). The manuscripts for the two massive volumes on Q 17:20-37 (End Time and Judgment) are finished and will be published in 2013. Further, the project provided support for the work on Q 7:18-35 (John the Baptist and Jesus, three volumes), Q 11:9-13 (Prayer) and Q 14:26-27; 17:33; 14:34-35 (Discipleship); those volumes will be published in the next four years. The project work proceeded as follows. At first the original research contributions regarding every Q variant between Matthew and Luke are excerpted chronologically and sorted according to the particular authors reconstruction. Then follows an evaluation of the history of research and an own reconstruction of each variant. In those evaluations the previous Q research is summed up, evaluated and innovatively carried on. Those evaluations do not only contribute to the reconstruction, but also to the interpretation of a particular Q text. Thus the Documenta Q volumes promote similarly research on the historical Jesus. The advances in the reconstruction and interpretation of Q will also lead to a revision of the Critical Edition of Q which was published by the IQP in the year 2000 and which meanwhile is widely accepted as the standard text of Q. The project cooperated in the context of the IQP with colleagues in Vienna, Germany, Belgium, U.S.A. and Canada. Already existing co-operations have been intensified and have been made more productive through common attendance at scholarly meetings and through own meetings in Graz (2009 and 2011) and Leuven/Belgium (2009).