Parables in the Q Document

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ruben Zimmermann
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: from 2010 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 162011301

This application is for an extension of a current project. The following reasons support continuing the present research:1) The issue of the text of Q remains an unsolved and central problem. Simply utilizing the Critical Edition of Q in scholarly endeavors is not sufficient as seen, e.g., through the thought experiment of attempting to reconstruct the text of Mark in triple tradition parables from the text of those parables in Matthew and Luke. Significant differences in wording reveal that, at least as far as the parables are concerned, the traditional approach to reconstructing Q through source criticism should be abandoned.2) Methodological questions: Central questions include: Is it possible to avoid the weaknesses of Q-reconstructions while at the same time continuing to embrace the Q-hypothesis and a (written) text of Q? What contribution can literary criticism make to Q scholarship? The double tradition (Matt/Luke) can be considered more precisely through an intertextual methodology. In the parables the foundational metaphorical and narratival characteristics are to be taken up and considered (e.g., metaphors/images and plot structures/characters retain a certain stability even when the wording is significantly different).3) Expansion of the passages considered: In addition to the parables of Jesus listed in the Kompendium der Gleichnisse Jesus, there are verses spoken by John the Baptist and the Centurion in Capernaum that can and should be recognized as parables. 4) Significant interest in professional circles: Invitations to conferences, themes taken up in the SBL Q-section, and an international conference in Mainz have encouraged a broader and more extensive study of the topic. It is to be expected that the approach will provide significant stimuli for Q scholarship.5) Qualified wiss. Mitarbeiter: The applicant has been able to secure Dr. Dieter T. Roth as wiss. Mitarbeiter for the project. As a bilingual scholar (German-American), he is the ideal candidate for this project since it requires intensive interaction with English-language scholarship. Furthermore, his doctoral work on the text of Marcion`s Gospel provided experience in working with secondarily attested texts leading to a carefully constructed and methodologically sophisticated approach to work on Q. His goal is to write a monograph that can also be submitted as a Habilitationsschrift.6) Expansion of the project team: Arne Bork, a doctoral student with an externally funded scholarship, is interested in the broader scope of the project through applying the methodology to other aspects of Q (i.e., character analysis). Contact and interaction between this work and the project creates a synergy effect.Extending the funding for this project would allow for a finer differentiation of the methods of Q-analysis, an application of the methods to all Q parables, and an in-depth presentation of the results in the first monograph dedicated to the Q-Parables.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants