The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Sayings of Jesus [Paperback]

Marcus Borg (Editor), Thomas Moore (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1999

The image of the historical Jesus takes form in the words of the Gospel Q. The Lost Gospel Q represents the very first Gospel, older than the traditional Gospels and written by Jesus's contemporaries. It preserves Jesus's original words -- the Sermon on the Mount, Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, parables, and his counsel for a compassionate life. The original of the Gospel Q was lost for 2,000 years, but for the past 150 years historians and theologians have been digging through the many layers of the New Testament to uncover the original Gospel.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

So many particularly pithy passages appear in both Matthew and Luke that scholars believe those Gospels are based on an earlier compilation of the sayings of Jesus, designated Q, after the German word Quelle, which means "source." Scoring modern-day scholars for not previously presenting the general public with an edition of this hypothetical first gospel, editor-translators Powelson and Riegert make up the lack. They base their work, as have the Bible's English-language translators since even before the King James Version, on the wordings of previous renditions. (Why? Because Q exists entirely within the texts of Matthew and Luke.) Their versions of these, to Christians and the Christian-bred, very familiar words are crystalline and contemporary and may inspire new insight for many a reader. Meanwhile, their introduction and those by best-selling inspirational writer Thomas Moore and Jesus Seminar scholar Marcus Borg, respectively, put Q in inspirational, historical, and critical context. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Trinity Press, dist. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Ulysses Press, Seastone (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569751897
• ISBN-13: 978-1569751893
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling book Care of the Soul and fifteen other books on deepening spirituality and cultivating soul in every aspect of life. He has been a monk, a musician, a university professor, and a psychotherapist, and today he lectures widely on holistic medicine, spirituality, psychotherapy, and ecology. He lectures frequently in Ireland and has a special love of Irish culture. He has Ph. D. in religion from Syracuse University and has won several awards for his work, including an honorary doctorate from Lesley University and the Humanitarian Award from Einstein Medical School of Yeshiva University. He also writes fiction and music and often works with his wife, artist and yoga instructor, Hari Kirin. He writes regular columns for Resurgence and Spirituality & Health and has recently published A Life at Work and Writing in the Sand. He is a patron of Re-Vision, a London center of spirituality and counseling, and on the board of Turning Point, a bereavement counselors training program in Dublin, Ireland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unknown Source, December 5, 2001

By 

Patrick Doherty (Birmingham, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Saying of Jesus (Hardcover)

This book is based on the theory that the Gospel of Mark was written before any of the other synoptic Gospels. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke were then written with the help of those from Mark and another unknown source which is called the Gospel Q. In 1838 a German noticed that there were many sayings of Jesus which were common to Matthew and Luke but not included in Mark. The Lost Gospel Q is comprised of these sayings. Adding fuel to the argument was the discovery in 1945 near the Upper Nile River in Egypt of a codex called the Gospel of Thomas. It contained 114 sayings of Jesus. Over one-third of these sayings were similar to those found in the Lost Gospel Q.

If you accept the idea of the probable existence of Q, then you can look forward to reading sayings of Jesus which were recorded and used by some of His earliest followers less than two decades after His death and resurrection.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Lost Gospel Q", A Review, October 11, 2005

By 

Beth Avary (Boulder Creek, California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Sayings of Jesus (Paperback)

"The Lost Gospel Q"* is what many scholars believe to be the first Christian Gospel. Although this Gospel was never actually found, scholars surmise its existence because of over two hundred identical verses found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark. Since most scholars don't think Matthew and Mark knew each other, this material must have come from another source, what they call the Gospel Q. Then in 1945 early Christian manuscripts were found in Nag Hammadi. Among these was the Gospel of Thomas. One third of the sayings in it were found to be similar to those in Q. This demonstrated that Q was more than a collection of quotes. It was a handbook for early Christians, or pre-Christians.
The name Q comes from the German word Quelle, meaning source. It is believed this gospel was written only a couple of decades after Jesus died, and is therefore the closest thing we have to what he actually said, a real look into the spirit of Jesus.
The editors insert commentary on the text and time to help the reader picture what the historical Jesus and the day he lived in were like. It is a fascinating little book for anyone wishing to go back to the beginnings of the Jesus tradition.

Beth Avary
[...]

*Edited by Mark Powelson, Ray Riegert, and Marcus Borg consulting editor, with an introduction by Thomas Moore.

55 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars QUELLE: source, December 16, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Saying of Jesus (Hardcover)

The whole concept behind "Q" was to reconstruct the original sayings of Jesus. Many quotes of Jesus found in scripture might very well have been embellished or outright forged. And so it is of interest to some to endeavor to find the original or "lost" sayings of Jesus. This can be achieved by digging through the gospels and comparing/contrasting their contents until a common thread is found which might better reveal Jesus' true words. Thus, the quelle or source of Jesus' sayings is found. This little book is a fine work and effort. It certainly lives up to its concept.