The Formation of Q

In this groundbreaking study, John Kloppenborg traces the literary evolution of Q as a document of primitive Christianity by considering it within the context of ancient literary genres. He argues that Q is composed of three compositional layers, or strata, each of which reflects certain stages of development in the Q community. The earliest formative layer reflects the influence of ancient sapiential sayings: the second layer suggests the influence of the prophetic literature of judgment and contains prophetic oracles and many Son-of-Man sayings. The third layer contains a temptation story, moving the document from a chriae collection in the direction of a biography.