Gospels, Q-theorie, and the Analogy of the Classroom Assignment

In the most recent reading of the Christian Apologetics UK blog site, I came across the article entitled, "John's portrayal of Jesus is so different from the Synoptics that some scholars have no confidence in its historicity."  It moved from this premise to examine four schools of opinion on the nature of John's Gospel over against the Synoptic Gospels.  They see John as 1) independent of, 2) interpretive of, 3) substitute for, and 4) supplementary to the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

In a discipline that endured Bart Ehrman's "Telephone Theory" of manuscript transmission and the dissecting of paganizing influences in the Gospel accounts, I enjoy the rebuffs as Christopher Price's assessment of the scholars who refuse to assert the historicity of Jesus due to the Christ Myth theory:

I have often been asked why more academics do not take the time to respond to the Jesus Myth theory. After looking into this question, I discovered that most historians and New Testament scholars relevant to the topic have concluded that Jesus Mythers are beyond reason and therefore decide that they have better things to do with their time.

I grew up with the theories and trends of the liberalizing scholars who have examined the four Gospels to death, questioning the construction, authorship, and integrity of these four separate accounts of the ministry of Jesus simply by stating that we don't have four separate accounts of Jesus ministry.  Just a core document, developed from a oral collection of Jesus episodes (Q or Quelle) which developed into a proto-gospel (Ur Mark, if not Mark itself), from which the other synoptics drew up their accounts.  I grew up in a time when the Documentary Hypothesis (remember JEDP?), late-dating of the Gospels, redaction criticism, and Formgeschichtemethode came and waned into scholarly oblivion.  I have not sought out the kerygma for quite a while.  I am confident that the furor over Ehrman's quandaries of today will follow the pathway of its liberal predecessors into the scholastic version of the "Twilight Zone."

It is not that I haven't an interest in the Synoptic Problem, three accounts of Jesus career expressed with both clear agreement and possible discrepancies due to viewpoint.  To a certain degree I have resolved it as the most obvious solution: four independent histories of the same three-year ministry of Jesus.  To explain it further, I offer this analogy.

THE ANALOGY OF THE CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENT

The teacher, Ms. Truman, offered the class a special assignment.  They were to write an essay about the day's proceedings.  However, she was to have the class go at it in a remarkably different manner.  In the end, there would be four complete essays.  She would be sure to assign the task to four special students.  Here would be her procedure:

1.  The first writer would be a special pick, a good wordsmith who would enjoy the writing assignment.  This fellow would be picked in light of a specific quality, being one of the more unpopular students.  This student would examine the day's proceedings in the viewpoint of one who enjoys the routine of the school day, and would be likely to insert reasons why the day would go swimmingly, even if others would not agree.

2.  Ms. Truman noted one student had hurt both hands in a recent accident.  She knows him to be capable of talking up the events of the day, and knows that if he could dictate them, a fine essay could be drafted.  She had enlisted the help of this student's mother, who agreed to help her child.  She is a fine amanuensis, and even injects a few comments based on her similar activities in a classroom.

3.  Ms. Truman's third writer is not from the classroom, but is brought in from another room to talk to the students of the classroom and carefully formulate the proceedings of the day through the various eyewitnesses that he speaks to and records.  The student is a fine practitioner of writing style and is quite capable of presenting an adequate account of the day.

4.  Ms. Truman's final writer is allowed one privilege not granted the other three.  This fellow is allowed to read the first three essays and is instructed to draw up an account of the day's activities that he felt were not touched upon.  Of course, he should make mention of some of the events of the others if it is a necessary part of the telling.

What will be the result of this assignment?  Exactly what one will expect in a comparative reading of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  You will have the retelling of the day, not with an exactitude of copying, but with the similarity of witnessing the same actions, hearing the same words, expressed in accordance to the personal style and point of view of four distinct individuals who were allowed to write under specific circumstances.  Each Gospel writer gathered and used events to their liking and predilections.

It is a simplistic explanation to the Synoptic Problem, although it could easily be expanded on if we understand the differing backgrounds of each writer.  It is at best a natural explanation, one that need not be bolstered with attendant theories to explain production.

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