Finding the Shards #15
The other major obstacle to an advance in Q studies was that such a definition did not produce a unified text of Q, since it was still firmly embedded in the texts of the two gospels. Those who wanted to study Q did not have a single text to read, but had to work with a synopsis of the gospels, comparing readings in two columns, jumping back and ahead to get the sequences straight, and pondering material that may or may not have been part of the original text. Only those having great patience, thorough familiarity with the synoptic tradition, boxes of colored pencils, and a capacity for detailed analysis could even read Q, much less hope to argue for this or that refinement of the text or explore its genre, content, and composition.
After Streeter's work, Q studies were put on hold while New Testament scholars worked on other questions felt to be more pressing. One question, still unresolved since the turn of the century, threatened the Protestant desire to think of early Christianity as a pure, un-contaminated religion. Study after study had shown that early Christianity was not a unique religion but had been "influenced" by the religions of late antiquity. Especially troubling was the similarity of the early Christian message to Jewish apocalyptic thought, a discovery that linked Christianity too closely with Judaism on the one hand, and estranged the modern church from its origins on the other. Also unsettling was the discovery that early Christianity bore a distinct resemblance to the hellenistic mystery Cults, particularly where it mattered most, namely in their myths of dying and rising gods and in their rituals of baptism and sacred meals. Whether or not early Christianity differed from the religions of surrounding cultures became a burning issue that diverted attention away from Q and the quest for the historical Jesus.