03_Biblica_Foster_Layout 1 08/07/13 12:56 Pagina 375 375 IS Q A “JEWISH CHRISTIAN” DOCUMENT? Thus, in contemporary scholarship the dominant viewpoint is that the Q document and the group behind it are located firmly within the matrix of first-century Judaism, usually in Galilee. As such, the group and its text should be described as “Jewish Christian”, or “Christian Jewish”, or even simply Jewish. What these labels mean in reference to the group’s practices has been examined in varying degrees. There is also a minority opinion that the document represents Gentile Chris- tianity, and actually serves to undermine key aspects of Jewish iden- tity. Given this diversity of views and the lack of methodological clarity, it is worth re-examining the way in which the social location of the Q document might be determined. II. Defining Terms and Determining Social Location It must be acknowledged that the labels “Jewish Christian” or “Jewish Christianity” were never used as technical terms in antiquity, nor, as Carleton Paget states, do the ancient sources speak “straight- forwardly of Jewish Christians or of a party or entity called Jewish Christianity” 30. Nonetheless, as Carleton Paget observes, there is a range of closely related terminology. While such terms may not func- tion as precisely defined technical terminology, they are used de- scriptively with the assumption that it was understandable to those who encountered such references. Skarsaune observes expressions that encapsulate the sense of “Jewish believers in Jesus” are in fact “not without close analogies in the ancient sources” 31. However, per- haps his strongest example is drawn from the Martyrdom of Peter and Paul where, depicting a discussion between two Christian groups, the parties are described as οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι Χριστιανοί and [οἱ] ἐθνικοὶ [Χριστιανοί] 32. Obviously what the author intended by these J.C. PAGET, “The Definition of the Terms Jewish Christian and Jewish 30 Christianity in the History of Research”, Jewish Believers in Jesus (eds. O. SKARSAUNE – R. HVALVIK) (Peabody, MA 2007) 22-52, here 22. Skarsaune cites eight relevant examples: John 8.31; Origen, Cels. 2.1 31 (3 examples); Origen, Comm. Matt., in Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.25.4; Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.5.2, 4.22.8. O. SKARSAUNE, “Jewish Believers in Jesus in Antiqui- ty”, Jewish Believers in Jesus, 5-6. Martyrium Petri et Pauli (Greek) / Passio sanctorum apostolorum Petri 32 et Pauli (Latin), 5 in Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha Pars prior. Acta Petri, © Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati