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Document Details :

Title: The Plot of Q
Author(s): FLEDDERMANN, Harry T.
Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
Volume: 88    Issue: 1   Date: 2012   
Pages: 43-69
DOI: 10.2143/ETL.88.1.2164169

Abstract :
This essay addresses two questions: (1) Is Q a narrative?, and (2) Is Q a narrative gospel? Both questions receive an affirmative answer as Q has all the essential characteristics of a narrative, including an identifiable plot, and all the essential elements of a gospel. The author of Q develops the plot of Q in a series of dialogues and speeches. The five dialogues in Q provide a symbolic presentation of the transformation Jesus undergoes in the crucifixion and resurrection and a range of reactions to this tranformation. The speeches of Q unfold the four dimensions of the revelation contained in the transformation: (1) The disclosure of Jesus as the end-time savior and judge, (2) The revelation of a new way of living through absolute faith in God to the exclusion of any concern for the Self, (3) The revelation of a new radical ethic of love, and (4) The disclosure of a new understanding of community as a radical religious and economic democracy.

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