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tradition. Five of the eight units of Q-context tradition in which Jesus directs questions to the disciples show this spectrum of relationship:

Q6:32-35 What credit is that to you...? (Gos. Thom. 95)
Q6:39 What happens if a blind man leads a blind man...? (Gos. Thom. 34)
Q6:41-42 Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye...? (Gos. Thom. 26)
Q12:23-29 Why do you worry...? (Gos. Thom. 36)
Q12:51 Do you think I bring peace...? (Gos. Thom. 16)

Only three of the eight units featuring questions by Jesus to the disciples in Q-context units are not perpetuated in Gos. Thom.:

Q6:46 Why do you call me "Lord, Lord"...?
Q11:11-12 Will you give a snake, scorpion, or stone...?
Q12:6 Are not sparrows sold for a half-penny...?

In addition to the five units where Jesus questions disciples, seven of the ten units of Q-context tradition that direct questions to crowds are perpetuated in full or partial form in the Gos. Thom.:

Q7:24-26 What did you go out to see...? (Gos. Thom. 78)
Q11:21-22 How can one enter a strong man's house...? (Gos. Thom. 11:21)
Q11:39-40 Did not the one who made the inside make the outside...? (Gos. Thom. 89)
Q/Luke 12:14 Who made me a divider...? (Gos. Thom. 72)
Q12:56-57 Why do you not know how to interpret the sky...? (Gos. Thom. 91)
Q13:18//Mark 4:30 What is the kingdom of heaven like...? (Gos. Thom. 20)
QLuke 15:4 Does he not leave the ninety-nine sheep...? (Gos. Thom. 107)

Only three of the ten units are not perpetuated in the Gos. Thom.:

Q7:24-26 To what will I compare this generation?
Q11:18 If Satan is divided against himself...?
Q14:34 If salt has lost its taste...?

The amount of the question-material in Q-context that is perpetuated in the Gos. Thom. is remarkable. The manner in which it is perpetuated is also remarkable. Sometimes only one small item is present in the Gos. Thom. performance of the tradition; sometimes virtually the entire content is present. This is exactly the relationship a person should expect if the mode of transmission in the Gos. Thom. is oral.

Questions in the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of John

The relation of questions in the Gospel of John to tradition in Gos. Thom. is very different from the relation of questions in Q tradition to Gos. Thom. One will not expect a similar percentage of perpetuation of tradition, since the Gospel of John is a much longer account than the Q material. But one might expect one or two units with a sustained clausal


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