A four-document hypothesis or four-source hypothesis is an explanation for the relationship between the three
Gospels of
Matthew,
Mark, and
Luke. It posits that there were at least four sources to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke: the Gospel of Mark and three lost sources (
Q,
M, and
L). It was proposed by
B. H. Streeter in 1925, who refined the ''
two-source hypothesis'' into a ''four-source hypothesis''.
Description
According to
B. H. Streeter's analysis the non-Marcan matter in Luke has to be distinguished into at least two sources,
Q and
L. In a similar way he argued that Matthew used a peculiar source, which we may style
M, as well as Q. Luke did not know M, and Matthew did not know L. Source M has the
Judaistic character (see the
Gospel according to the Hebrews), and it suggests a
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
origin; source L Streeter assigned to
Caesarea
Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...
; and source Q, the analysis posits, was connected with
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...
. The document Q was an Antiochene translation of a document originally composed in
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
– possibly by the
Apostle Matthew for Galilean Christians. Gospel of Luke developed in two phases (see picture).
According to this view the first gospel is a combination of the traditions of Jerusalem, Antioch, and
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, while the third gospel represents Caesarea, Antioch, and Rome. The fact that the Antiochene and Roman sources were reproduced by both Evangelists Matthew and Luke was due to the importance of those Churches. Streeter thought there is no evidence that the other sources are less authentic.
Streeter hypothesized a proto-Luke document, an early version of Luke that did not incorporate material from Mark or the birth narrative. According to this hypothesis, the evangelist added material from Mark and the birth narratives later. Telling against this hypothesis, however, the gospel has no underlying passion tradition separate from Mark, and Luke's travel account is evidently based on
Mark 10.
A contemporary version of the four-source theory omits proto-Luke, with the evangelist combining Mark, Q, and L directly.
Still, the gospel might have circulated originally without the birth narrative in the first two chapters.
[ Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "Birth & Infancy Stories" pp. 497–526.]
See also
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Augustinian hypothesis
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Farrer hypothesis
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Gospel harmony
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Gospel of Marcion
*
Hebrew Gospel hypothesis
The Hebrew Gospel hypothesis (''proto-Gospel hypothesis'' or ''Aramaic Matthew hypothesis'') is that a lost gospel, written in Hebrew or Aramaic, predated the four canonical gospels. Some have suggested a complete unknown proto-gospel (a so-called ...
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Marcan priority
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Two-gospel hypothesis
The two-gospel hypothesis or Griesbach hypothesis is that the Gospel of Matthew was written before the Gospel of Luke, and that both were written earlier than the Gospel of Mark. It is a proposed solution to the synoptic problem, which concerns ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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{{Synoptic problem
Christian terminology
Synoptic problem