The Question of Q.
Q is the term given to the second source supposedly used by Matthew and Luke in addition to Mark. The existence of Q has been challenged by such able critics as Austin Farrer, Michael Goulder, and Mark Goodacre. The alternative model proposed to the Two-Source Hypothesis is termed the Farrer-Goulder hypothesis. In this hypothesis, both Matthew and Luke have used Mark, but Luke has also used Matthew. Although the Farrer hypothesis does have a number of points to commend it, on balance I concur with the majority of scholarship that it is more likely that Matthew and Luke used Mark and Q independently. The purpose of this [ ] is to set forth the reasons for this judgment, which does not attain certainty but rather a probability.
The Two Source Hypothesis states that Matthew and Luke independently used Mark and a second source termed Q. Against the Farrer-Goulder hypothesis, it is maintained that it is improbable that the author of Luke consulted the Gospel of Matthew. The relative independence of Matthew and Luke is established by the convergence of several different arguments.
