Before the gospels were written, there were proto-gospels, notes, lists, and collections used to construct the gospels we have today. Some gospels were used and built upon to form other, expanded gospels. The “Q” Document was used as a memory tool and literary scaffolding by Matthew and Luke in the writing of their gospels. Although many scholars believe Mark had access to the oldest parts of Q, others believe he did not. Since Mark predates Matthew and Luke, they believe Mark was used as a template for Matthew and Luke. This would mean that Matthew started with Mark and added the Q sayings missing from Mark, along with Matthew’s own stories, which is why Matthew seems to be simply an expansion of Mark’s gospel. Of all the theories, the most accepted is the two source hypothesis, which maintains that Mark did not use Q but Matthew and Luke used both Q and Mark as their source materials.

The existence of a document containing a catalog of sayings was just a theory until the discovery of the Gospel of Thomas. Thomas is not Q, but is similar to Q in that it is an early repository of sayings of Jesus. Thomas and Q appear to be documents composed by people who followed Jesus and recorded his words. The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of 114 saying attributed directly to Jesus and proved the existence of a source material, which scholars believed explained why the wording of the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were so similar.

Mark also used a document called the Passion Narrative to establish a chronology and form the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Since Matthew and Luke used Mark as a second source, the passion narrative occurs in their gospels also.

The gospel of John used a different source, called the Signs Gospel, which explains why it is so different to Mark, Matthew, and Luke. We will examine the writings behind the gospels. If the Christian faith is built upon the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, then the underpinning documents, called “Q Gospel”, Signs Gospel”, and “Passion Narrative” are the foundation upon which these four gospels were based. They are the gospels behind the gospels and predate everything in the New Testament. They are the foundation stones of the faith upon which the four pillars of the gospels are built.

In this work, we will look at the Q, Signs, and Passion proto-gospels, along with Thomas and compare them to the Gospels we have today. We will then look at all of the words and sayings of Jesus found in the Holy Bible.