Footnote 3 – How Mary Magdalene Became a Whore

The two-source theory of the literary relationship among the Synoptic Gospels holds that Mark has been used by Matthew and Luke. They also use a second, hypothetical source, simply called Q for the German word quelle (source). (See Helmut Koester and Stephen J. Patterson, “The Gospel of Thomas—Does It Contain Authentic Sayings of Jesus?” BR 06:02.) Further, Matthew and Luke each have access to special sources of written or oral information (M and L). The Gospel of John is viewed as having no direct literary relationship with the synoptics.