review article of Alan Kirk's book, Q in Matthew (T&T Clark 2016)

What is it about?

This essay summarizes the argument of Alan Kirk's book, Q in Matthew, and highlights some key strengths of and remaining questions for the book. Noted strengths include Kirk's facility with media and memory studies and Kirk's presentation of the author of Matthew as a tradent of the Jesus tradition rather than (merely) an author of a text. Three remaining questions are noted: (i) To what extent are media and memory dynamics separable from Kirk’s commitment to the Two Document Hypothesis? (ii) To what extent has Kirk essentialized differences between oral and written media, building his analysis on the shaky foundation of “irreducible properties of each medium”? and (iii) Is the apparent success of Kirk’s argumentation diminished by an analogous study of Q (and Mark) in Luke?.

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Why is it important?

Alan Kirk's Q in Matthew is a tour de force that sets the agenda for a number of discussions in scholarship of the New Testament, the Synoptic Gospels, and Christian origins. His handling of memory and media- and source-utilization needs to be extended to other authors and texts (and other media of tradition-instantiation). His defense of Matthew's use of a now-lost source, Q, requires answer from adherents of other source-critical hypotheses (esp. the Farrer [or Markan Priority without Q] Hypothesis). And his advocacy of the Two Document Hypothesis needs to extend his analysis to the other secondary Synoptic Gospel: Luke.

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