Patterson also explores other examples of this wisdom tradition, from the discovery of the Gospel of Thomas to the emergence of Apollos, a likely teacher of Christian wisdom to the main authority of the church in Jerusalem, JesusвЂ™s brother James.

Q contained a collection of JesusвЂ™s teachings without any narrative content and without accounts of the passion, though being the earliest version shared among his first followers-scripture that embodies a very different orientation to the Christian faith. He painstakingly demonstrates how historical evidence points to the existence of this common source in addition to Mark-recognized as the earliest Gospel-that both Matthew and Luke used to write their accounts. Patterson explains how scholars have uncovered a Gospel that preceded at least three of those in the Bible, which is called Q. In The Lost Way, Stephen Patterson, a leading New Testament scholar and former head of the Jesus Seminar, explores this lost ancient tradition and its significance to the faith. But another tradition also thrived from ChristianityвЂ™s beginnings, one that portrayed Jesus as a teacher of wisdom.

The church has long advocated the Pauline view of Jesus as deity and martyr, emphasizing his death and resurrection. In this rigorously researched and thoughtful study, a leading Jesus Seminar scholar reveals the dramatic story behind the modern discovery of the earliest gospels, accounts that do not portray Jesus exclusively as a martyr but recover a lost ancient Christian tradition centered on Jesus as a teacher of wisdom.

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