The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Bible is the most influential collection of books ever assembled. Jesus is the most influential person to ever walk on this planet. The New Testament is about Jesus and His followers. John said, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." John 21:25.
We know many books and letters were written about the life and times of Jesus, but we don't know how many. There is clear biblical evidence of lost books and letters. For instance, an epistle to the Laodiceans is mentioned in Colossians 4:16, as the Apostle Paul says, "And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." Likewise, there is the Unknown Epistle of 1Corinthians 5:9, "I wrote to you in an epistle not to company with fornicators." To date, neither of these letters have been found. These missing letters are examples which without dispute did exist at one time but have since disappeared. However, such clear and convincing evidence is not the case for the mysterious Q source.
The Q is a document---that many scholars feel might have existed, yet no one knows for sure. The use of Q is simply an abbreviation of the German word quelle, which means spring or source. Scholars who promote the Q theory explain their point by noting that the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke have many similar passages that appear to be carbon copies of each other. The scholars guess is that Mark was written first and then Matthew and Luke used Mark as a reference and copied from the book. Interestingly, John Crossan in his book Who Killed Jesus? says, "Imagine yourself on a jury deciding a charge of plagiarism. The closer the defendant sticks to the order and content of the plaintiff's book, the easier your decision will be. In the passion narratives, for example, your jury might well agree unanimously that Matthew copied Mark, could possibly become a hung jury on Luke, and would probably find John innocent." page 29.
The Q theory hinges on the fact that there are similar passages or phrases in Matthew and Luke that do not appear in Mark. Therefore, it is suggested that Matthew and Luke must have known of another gospel or source of information---the Q source. For now, it's just a theory which is kind of like smelling the smoke and searching for the fire, or seeing flickering shadows on the wall. In brief, they think there is something out there, but they are not sure what it is.
Could there have been a Q source? Maybe so. Maybe not. We do know that the first three gospels are often called the Synoptic Gospels. This is because they give an account from the same point of view, or you might say they present a synopsis or general view of the same series of events, but they were written for different audiences and at different times. Some refer to Matthew as the sermon reporter, Mark as a biographer, Luke as a historian. However, overarching all is the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit in the writing of the scriptures. And, it is at this point where the road forks. There are many who see the Bible writers as plagiarists stealing from each other and making up the story as they go along. On the other hand, there are those who see God working through human agents and using the Holy Spirit to assure that the message is the same.
It is abundantly clear to those of us who accept the scriptures as the inspired Word of God that there is more than adequate information available in the books and letters of the Bible to guide us from here to hereafter. I don't think we can deny the possibility of a Q source or maybe many such sources. Personally, I hope we find much more information that will still further deepen our faith and trust in the Bible.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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