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Q

Q

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Q (prob. an abbreviation of Germ. Quelle, source). A symbol denoting a (hypothetical) document used by the authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Its existence is inferred from parallel passages in those gospels, containing substantially the same material, which do not come from Mark (see SYNOPTIC GOSPELS). Thus the Q hypothesis proposes a second written source beside the gospel of Mark for Matthew and Luke. It normally envisages that Luke did not use Matthew, and is therefore the main rival to the view that Luke knew and used Matthew (within either a Mark-Matthew-Luke or a Matthew-Luke-Mark sequence).

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions

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