The Words of Jesus, in the Source Gospels
(Materials developed based upon The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus. Robert Funk, Roy Hoover, and The Jesus Seminar. Macmillan, 1993. See Jesus Seminar, made up of some 135 New Testament scholars.)
"Source Gospels" are considered by the Jesus Seminar the primary texts containing the authentic words and thoughts of Jesus, and include six texts: Gospel of Q (Quelle or "Source"), Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John, and Gospel of Thomas. "Gospel" literally refers to the "good news, from the Old English for "god-spell."
p. 20-- The construction of the Gospels occurred chronologically between 0-30 C.E., when Jesus of Nazareth traveled and died about 30 C.E., and 150 - 325 C.E., when Christianity becomes a unified, state religion in the Roman Empire.
-- One of the first systematic codifications of Christian theology occurs with the Council of Nicea, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325 C.E. The Council legitimized the four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, "canonical" referring to a list of texts the Church authorities considered divinely inspired, i.e., the word of God. The Council's deliberations were influenced by the earlier work of Bishop Irenaeus of Gaul (France) during the late 2nd century, and the schism between an eastern and western interpretation of the texts had begun. Other texts and Gospels not considered "recognized" were destroyed and those endorsing them were ruled as "heretics."
-- Keep in mind that "all these Gospels were originally circulated anonymously. Authoritative names were later assigned to them by unknown figures in the early Church. In most cases, the names are guesses or perhaps the results of pious wishes."
-- In addition to the source gospels, many other texts and Gospels where also circulating throughout the varied Christian communities, such as the Gospel of Peter (written 70-160 C.E.), or the Gospel of the Hebrews, and the various Gnostic Gospels such as Phillip (written between 180-350 C.E.) and Mary (written 120-350 C.E.), both part of the Nag Hammadi Library discovered in 1945, and even the recently reconstructed (in 2006) Gospel of Judas (written before 120 C.E.).
-- Jesus Seminar methodology is based on established academic standards, and includes:
1. distinguishing the historic Jesus from the theological Christ.
2. attempting to get to the original versions, relying on a composite of literally thousands of early Greek manuscripts.
3. considering such speech characteristics given: orality (a short, catchy phrase is likely to survive the times as opposed to a long complicated sentence, e.g., "turn the other cheek"), irony (opposites likely to survive, e.g., "love your enemies"), and multiple attestation ("poor shall be blessed" in Matthew, Luke and Thomas).
4. avoiding sayings that are self-referencing as uncharacteristic of Jesus' language ("I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life" in John 14:1-14) and that contain an overtly community and/or theological agenda and thus bias.
5. Seminar coding, used in the course readings, is: Red = Jesus undoubtedly said this or something like this, Pink = Jesus probably said something like this, Blue = Jesus did not say this, but the ideas contained in it are close to his own (in the Five Gospels, Gray is used), and Black = Jesus did not say this; it represents the perspective or content of a later or different tradition. (see Mark, Teachings of Jesus and Parables.)
Gospel of Q (first edition version likely 50-60 C.E.)
Quelle, German for "sources"; yet undiscovered, lost collection of sayings; a primary text, reconstructed from Matthew and Luke, i.e., a list of materials found in Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark. See Q Document.
Gospel of Thomas (first edition version likely 50-60 C.E., with second and surviving edition about 100-150 C.E., attributed to Didymus Judas Thomas, revered in the Syrian Church) See Gospel of Thomas.
Gospel of Thomas contains roughly 150 sayings, aphorisms and parables. Thomas has 47 parallels with Mark, 40 parallels with Q, 17 to Matthew, 4 to Luke, either none or at most 5 to John. These numbers include sayings that have been counted twice.
About 65 sayings or parts of sayings are unique to Thomas, representing a tradition quite independent of the other Gospels.
What is being said by Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas that is not being said in the canonical Gospels? Why was Gospel of Thomas not acknowledged and recognized by the founding Church, and incorporated in the New Testament?
Gospel of Mark (first narrative Gospel about 70 C.E. and the canonical edition about 100 C.E., authorship is anonymous, but Church attribution to John Mark, companion of Peter)
Mark likely has an independence that suggests that is was a source for the subsequent Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Gospel of Matthew (incorporating Mark and Q, about 85 C.E., attributed to Matthew, or Levi, or an unknown author)
Matthew reproduces 90 percent of Mark
Gospel of Luke (incorporating Mark and Q, about 85 C.E., attributed to Luke, the physician and companion of Paul of the second century C.E., though subsequent research questions this assertion)
Luke reproducers 50 percent of Mark
Mark, Matthew and Luke are thus considered the "Synoptic Gospels," i.e., sharing in a common view of Jesus - for example, all include baptism by John the Baptist, Jesus speaks in parables and aphorisms, Jesus is a sage and an exorcist, Jesus says little about himself and is portrayed as humble, and Jesus seeks to help the poor and oppressed.
Gospel of John (incorporating the Gospel of Signs, about 90 C.E., with a third edition of insertions and additions about 100-150 C.E., attributed to an anonymous author around 90 C.E.)
Gospel of John begins with creation ("In the beginning was the word: the Word was with God and the Word was God:), with the baptism by John only presupposed. There are no references to the birth of Jesus or to his childhood stories. It contains very few aphorisms and no parables, and speaks in long, involved discourse. There is no mention exorcisms. Jesus reflects extensively on his own mission and person. He says little about the poor and oppressed.
John is written in a style distinct from the other Synoptic Gospels, with the frequent use of the "I am" phrase. "I am the bread of life" 6:35. "I am the light of the world" 8:12. "I am the way, and I am truth, and I am life" 14:6. The "I am" phrase was a widely used expression in the Greco-Roman world, and recognized as established speech formula attributed to one of the Gods. With the humility and self-effacing nature of the aphorisms and parables, reflective of the authentic language of Jesus, the "I am" phrasing is likely a quality the writers of John, in hindsight, assigned to Jesus. It is in John that Jesus is first introduced as God incarnate, the "son of God."
John was likely does not contain any authentic sayings of Jesus and was written by a later evangelist writer attempting to strengthen the message of Christ. It is likely based upon the earlier Gospel of Signs, which like Q, is independent of and the basis for John.
The Jesus Seminar Scholars conclude:
1. The Independent and thus Primary Texts: Gospels of Q and Thomas are reflective of the aphorisms and parables spoken by Jesus, and are thus independent and primary texts, while the Gospels of Mark and Signs are reflective of the stories about Jesus, though not actual words spoken by Jesus.
2. The Dependent Texts: The Gospels of Matthew and Luke, while inclusive of the aphorisms and parables of Jesus, are nevertheless dependent on preceding texts, such as the Gospels of Q and Mark, while the Gospel of John is reflective of the language of evangelist writers and derived from the Gospel of Signs, and does not contain the direct words of Jesus.
3. Based upon their very rigorous scholarly approach, the Gospel of Thomas is more authentic in the sense it reflects the actual words of Jesus than the Gospel of John, for example.