The Case Against Q: Studies in Markan Priority and the Synoptic Problem

MARK GOODACRE, The case against Q: Studies in markan priority and the synoptic problem (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 2002). Pp. x + 228. Paper $30.

When one lives with a hypothesis long enough, one eventually begins to forget, or ignore the fact, that it is a hypothesis. Such is the case with Q, Mark Goodacre insists. Q's promoters have sensationalized and overstated their arguments, in the process transforming Q from a hypothetical source embedded in Matthew and Luke to a gospel in its own right. Q now serves as a lynchpin not only in studies of the relationships between the Synoptic Gospels but also in broader studies of Christian origins. The hypothetical Q has been replaced with the tangible Q, complete with synopsis, concordance, and critical edition. Indeed, Q has become so axiomatic for a whole cottage industry of NT scholarship that dispensing with it now would seem, at the very least, impractical.

Goodacre laments these developments in Q studies, arguing that the rhetorical force of Q scholarship has amounted to a drift of research that assumes that which should be demonstrated, obscures the hypothetical reality of...