The Five-Stream Developmental Model of Christian Origins: A Prepublication Framework Paper

This preprint establishes the author’s priority for the Five-Stream Developmental Model of Christian Origins, a reconstruction of the earliest literary layers underlying the later Christian gospels. The model proposes a developmental sequence beginning with the Alexandrian hypomnēmata1 notebook (76–79 CE), progressing through proto1-Mark and the Roman redaction layer proto2-Mark (79–81 CE), expanding into the hypomnēmata3 senatorial–memorial archive (84–95 CE), and fragmenting into multiple regional trajectories after the Domitianic purge (95 CE). The Five-Stream Model explains longstanding puzzles in early Christian studies, including: – the unwitnessed scenes and symbolic architecture of Mark, – the early and independent shape of Marcion’s gospel, – Justin Martyr’s pre-canonical sayings, – the divergence between Asia Minor and Roman survivor traditions, – the origins of the Diatessaron, and– the layered, non-linear development of narrative and sayings material. This framework paper provides the fundamental terminology, developmental map, and historical logic of the model. It is intended as the citable reference point for all future scholarly discussions of the Five-Stream Developmental Model. An accompanying diagram (“Five-StreamDevelopmentalMap”) summarizes the full developmental sequence.