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Title: Q Thomas Reader by John S. Kloppenborg, Marvin W. Meyer, Stephen J. Patterson, Michael G. Steinhauser ISBN: 0-944344-11-9 Publisher: Polebridge Press Pub. Date: May, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Intriguing
Comment: This volume, The Q Thomas Reader, contains a bit of history unknown to most about the origins of Christian documents. The book is in two sections: the first deals with the Q, or Sayings, gospel, a hypothesised document most likely shared by Matthew and Luke as a basis for their gospels, and the Gospel of Thomas, an early document popular in some Christian communities, but which did not get incorporated into the final Christian canon of any community surviving past the ancient period.
The Q (short for Quelle, German for 'source') does not come down to modern times in any direct documentary form. Rather, it is a document whose existence has been theoretically accepted as a likely source for material that is shared by Matthew and Luke, but which is not found in Mark. The first three canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, are called synoptic gospels, as they look at essentially the same events in the essentially the same way; Matthew and Luke both contain substantial parts of Mark (albeit with some revisions), and each contain original material, but the amount of material they share apart from the Markan material led scholars to believe there was another source (hence Quelle, source) they held in common. The introductory essay by Michael Steinhauser discusses this theory, as well as the method of reconstruction for Q. This is not without controversy, both in the theory and in the reconstruction, which the authors admit freely.
The translation of Q by John Kloppenborg is based upon his work 'Q Parallels', a new translation based upon Greek texts (so any particular English version may not agree with the translations here). Q is set out in both Matthew and Luke frameworks; the boldface shows verbatim agreements between the two in the Greek text, with various other notations used to show the differences. Where these refer to Mark or other scriptural texts, this is also noted.
The Gospel of Thomas is set out in a dual language format. Consisting of 114 verses or so (the division of books of the Bible into chapter and verse did not come until the latter half of Christian history - a thousand years passed between the formation of the canon and the insertion of chapter and verse numbers), the book was found as part of the Nag Hammadi library (which consists of many books and book fragments from the ancient days of Christianity that never made it to the official canon). Like many non-canonical gospels, the Gospel of Thomas is more a collection of sayings (like Q) rather than a narrative story (like the four canonical gospels in the Bible).
The Greek text here is presented comes from the Nag Hammadi library, with a new translation by Marvin Meyer presented beside. Following this text is a collection of translated pieces from the Oxyrhynchus fragments, which also contain pieces of the Gospel of Thomas (and were discovered as documents half a century prior to the Nag Hammadi discovery, but were not identified until after the Nag Hammadi pieces were published).
An introductory essay by Stephen Patterson introduces the Gospel of Thomas in similar fashion to Q; historical placement, discovery, linguistic and theological issues are explored, particularly the relationship between Thomas and the other schools of thought that made progress through early Christianity.
This book presents a fascinating introduction to some alternative theories and readings, and shows the diversity of opinion about Jesus in the early church. To understand the historical context and documentary progression that leads from early Christianity to the present is to better understand our own world, and this text is one small part of that path to understanding.
Rating: 5
Summary: Two texts at the heart of today's quest for the real Jesus
Comment: Anyone who knows anything about the Jesus Seminar (and other recent questers for the historical Jesus) will know that the hypothetical Q and the Coptic Gospel of Thomas are highly prized sources. The highest proportion of "red" and "pink" (authentic) sayings of Jesus appears in the intersection of Q and Thomas, with the idea that sayings that appear in both of these sources must be old. This book by Polebridge Press (the publishers of the Jesus Seminar) presents in readily accessible form these two sources. The "Q" source is thought to be the second document used by Matthew and Luke (in addition to the Gospel of Mark), and so Q is presented in the forms of parallel passages in Matthew and Luke (as we don't have any manuscripts of Q). The Gospel of Thomas is extant in three Greek fragments and a complete Coptic version, so this book includes an English translation and the original Coptic text on the facing page. An appendix shows the parallels between Q and Thomas. There is an introduction of about 25 pages for Q, and an introduction of about 50 pages for the Gospel of Thomas. Anyone who is interested in ancient material on Jesus will find this book to be a useful presentation of the sources.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great book but i wanted more depth
Comment: this was truely a great book and i enjoyed reading it, however i desired more interpretation on "the secret sayings of the living Jesus." i thought the authors would elaborate in depth the sayings they've discovered, but rather they were just presented. I'd recommend buying the book, that is for sure, but you should research the gospel of Thomas deeply before you undertake the reading.
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Title: Excavating Q: The History and Setting of the Sayings Gospel by John S. Kloppenborg, John S. Kloppenborg Verbin, Stefan John, Michael Andreas ISBN: 080062601X Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $32.00 |
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Title: The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections by John S. Kloppenborg ISBN: 1563383063 Publisher: Trinity Press International Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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Title: Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels ISBN: 0375501568 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (Library of Early Christianity, Vol 7) by Shaye J. D. Cohen, Wayne A. Meeks ISBN: 0664250173 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: November, 1988 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation by Cain Hope Felder ISBN: 0800625013 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: July, 1991 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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