Vassiliadis Petros, The theory on Q Source. A critical study of the contemporary philological and theological problems of the Q Source, Dissertation Thesis, Athens, 1977, pp. 167.

The present work constitutes the doctoral thesis by Prof. Vassiliadis who is teaching N.T.  in the Theological Faculty of AUTH today.

             The dissertation is separated in three chapters. An introduction precedes in which the critical-philological research until then on Q Source and the writer’s opinion with regard to this research are expressed. Moreover, the relation of the historical and ideological background of Q Source with the Patristic thought is developed. Finally, the method and the provision of the present work are presented.

             In the first chapter the writer deals with the fundamental issue of the existence or not of Q Source. In this frame, various arguments, which were occasionally stressed in order that the theory in its entirety is refuted, are faced critically. In the end of this chapter, general conclusions are articulated and the arguments in favor of the theory of Q Source are enlisted all together.

             In the second chapter a critical examination of Q Source is further attempted for the confrontation of specific problems of the philological form, extent, as well as its genesis. More specifically, the writer explores whether and to what extent the Q Source circulated in oral or written form, if it was originally drawn up in the Aramaic or Greek language, and finally, whether it constituted a single text, at the time when it was used by the writers of the gospels according to Matthew and according to Luke. At the same time, there is an attempt to resolve the thorny problem of the reconstitution of the Source, and an improved method of reconstitution is proposed by the writer. This method is constituted by seven procedural rules that cover the whole non-Markian Synoptic tradition. Also, the conditions of genesis of the Source are explored with the examination of the problems of the writer, the place and time of its writing. In the end the conclusions of the chapter are drawn.

             In the third and last chapter, the various proposals on the theological characteristics of the Source are exposed systematically. Most of them were formulated at the recent past. These proposals are faced critically by the writer. Additionally, the eschatology and sophiology of the Source are examined extensively. In the end, the conclusions of the chapter are drawn.