An interesting article in the Atlantic Monthly (12/96) about a quest on the part of some theologians to find in the hypothetical Q text a Jesus who is a “Galilee-based wise man who displayed no interest in the end of the world, resurrection, or redemption”. The author does a good job of representing the range of views on the development of the synoptic gospels, and summarizes nicely:
Attribute the Q phenomenon, if you will, to American enthusiasm, or to American entrepreneurship, or to the American university system, which tolerates more speculative scholarship than the European academy. But there is another factor at work: an understandable lack of willingness to accept that there are limits to what historical research can provide by way of hard information about Jesus and his earliest followers.… Given the scholarly urge to break new ground — especially in America, where there are so many universities — it is not surprising that an entire industry has grown from the Q scholars’ hypothesis.