Secret Mark, Gospel of

The Secret Gospel of Mark

In 1958 Morton Smith discovered a fragment of a letter of Clement of Alexandria in the back of a book, while cataloguing books & manuscripts in the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem, (the book being a 1646 edition of letters of Ignatius of Antioch). This letter contained information on an original or expanded Gospel of Mark that would later be called the Secret Gospel of Mark, . The first fragment is to be located between Mark 10:34 and 10:35.

For text analysis to confirm that Secret Mark is really part of the traditional Gospel of Mark it might be helpful to have frequency count of the original Greek letters and words to compare the two documents. It is my opinion that the frequency count would confirm that Secret mark is indeed part of what is now the traditional Gospel of Mark. Here is the text:

1¹And they come into Bethany, and this woman was there whose brother had died. ²She knelt down before Jesus and said to him, "son of David, have mercy on me". ³But the disciples rebuked her. ⁴And Jesus got angry and went with her into the garden where the tomb was. ⁵Just then a loud voice was heard from within the tomb. ⁶Then Jesus went up and rolled the stone away from the enterance of the tomb. ⁷He went right in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand, grabbed him by the hand, and raised him up. [Mark 5:41, 9:27] ⁸The youth man [neaniskos] looked at Jesus, loved him, and began to beg him that he might be with him. ⁹And going out of the tomb they came into the young man's house, (He was rich). ¹⁰And after six days Jesus told him what to do ¹¹and in the evening the youth came to him, a linen cloth having been draped over the naked body.* ¹²And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of God's domain. ¹³From there he got up and returned to the other side of the Jordan.

2 ¹The sister of the young man whom Jesus loved was there, along with his mother and Salome, ²but Jesus refused to see them.

*The linen cloth could be ritual clothes used in baptism, or it could have been a burial shroud. As there was that burial shroud discovered in Oxyrhynchus with the words "Jesus said: Nothing is buried which will not be raised". If it was an initiation the color white is important see the book, The Hiram Key details below:

Bibliography

Baigent, Michael.: The Jesus papers : exposing the greatest cover–up in history 1st ed. [San Francisco] : HarperSan Francisco, c2006. Description: xiv, 321 p., [32] p. of plates : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 24 cm. ISBN: 0060827130 (cloth) or 9780060827137. Includes bibliographical references (p. [287]–312) and index. Library of Congress call no. BT 303 .B219 2006. Secret Mark is discusses in chapter twelve "The Kingdom of Heaven" at pages 225 to 244.
"The central point of the text of Mark's secret gospel is that a youth was ritually initiated by Jesus into the "kingdom of God"!
– page 233.
Barnstone, Willis, 1927– (editor): The Other Bible edited by Willis Barnstone. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper & Row, c1984. xxiii, 742 p. ; 25 cm. ISBN: 0062500317 or 0062500309 (pbk.) Notes: A collection of ancient, esoteric texts from Judeo–Christian traditions, excluded from the official canon of the Old and New Testaments. Bibliography: p. 737–742. Secret Mark is at pages 339 to 342.
Bauckham, Richard: "Salome the Sister of Jesus, Salome the Disciple of Jesus, and the Secret Gospel of Mark" in Novum Testamentum, Vol. 33, Fasc. 3. (Jul., 1991), pp. 245–275. For those that have access to JSTOR the address is: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0048-1009%28199107%2933%3A3%3C245%3ASTSOJS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K
Bible, N.T. Gospels. English Scholars. 1994: The complete Gospels : annotated Scholars Version / Robert J. Miller, editor. – 1st HarperCollins pbk. ed. Sonoma, CA : Polebridge Press, HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. ISBN 0060655879. Library of Congress call no. BS 2553 .S24 1994. Secret Mark is at pages 408 to 411.
Brown, Scott G.: "The more spiritual gospel: Markan literary techniques in the longer Gospel of Mark" Thesis (Ph.D.)––University of Toronto, 1999. Ottawa : National Library of Canada, 2000. ISBN 0612411141
Brown, Scott G.: Mark's Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith's Controversial Discovery. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005. ISBN 0889204616. $65.00 Cloth, 384 pages. The Letter to Theodore is in two columns, English and Greek at pages xvii to xxii, and Clement's citations from the longer gospel is at page xxiii, again in English and Greek.
Brown, Scott G.: "On Composition History of the Longer ('Secret') Gospel of Mark." Journal of Biblical Literature 122 (Spring 2003): 89–110
Bruce, F. F. (Frederick Fyvie), 1910–: The secret Gospel of Mark : the Ethel M. Wood lecture delivered before the University of London on 11 February 1974 by F. F. Bruce. London : Athlone Press, 1974. 20 p. ; 21 cm. ISBN: 0485143186. Distributed in the U.S.A. by Humanities Press, New York. Series: Ethel M. Wood lecture ; 1974. Library of Congress call no. BS 2860.S42 B78.
Carlson, Stephen C.: The Gospel hoax : Morton Smith's invention of Secret Mark by Stephen C. Carlson. Waco, Tex. : Baylor University Press, ©2005. xix, 151 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. ; 21 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131–141) and index. Library of Congress call no. BS 2860 .S42C37 2005.
Crossan, John Dominic: The Historical Jesus : the life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. 1st Edition, San Francisco : HarperSanFrancico, c1991 ISBN 0060616075. Library of Congress call no. BT 301.2 .C76 1991.
Dart, John: Decoding Mark Harrisburg, PA : Trinity Press International, c2003. ix, 213 p. ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 199–201) and index. ISBN 1563383748. Contents include: Contents A night with Jesus, the lost episode –– Forgery, or clue to early Christianity? –– The "big omission" in Luke –– Better than Elijah, greater than Elisha –– Bracketing and bashing –– Deciphering the code –– Bringing back the lost Disciple –– The fabulous word mosaic of Mark –– Overlooked heroes –– Unashamed naked return to oneness –– Editor's motives, Luke's preferences –– In praise of secret Mark's discoverer –– Solving mysteries, facing new ones.
Library of Congress call no. BS 2585.52 .D37 2003.
Journalist John Dart uncovers step–by–step the original unedited version of the Bible's earliest gospel that includes a scantily dressed "young man" loved by Jesus. He discovers that literary coding common in the Bible – chiasms, or palindromes in prose – hide under Mark's story in vastly intricate patterns, revealing major surprises. He also shows readers how to decipher these long unseen codes in Mark and other New Testament writings.
"In Decoding Mark John Dart employs his refined journalistic skills to lead the reader through the fascinating paths of Markan research. With a light touch and an autobiographic flair, he explores the intricacies of the canonical and Secret Gospels of Mark. His rehearsal of significant scholarly moments is memorable, and his own solution to decoding the Gospel of Mark is as provocative as it is ingenious."
–Marvin Meyer, Griset Professor of Biblical and Christian Studies, Chapman University
– from the back cover
Fuller, Reginald H.: Longer Mark: Forgery, Interpolation, or Old Tradition? Center for Hermeneutical Studies in Hellenistic and Modern Culture, Colloquay 18. Edited by Wilhelm H. Wuellner. Berkley : Center for Hermeneutical Studies, 1976.
Haagensen, Erling and Henry Lincoln: The Templars' secret island : the knights, the priest and the treasure by Erling Haagensen and Henry Lincoln. Moreton–in–Marsh, Gloucestershire : Windrush Press, 2000. x, 194 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 25 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 185–186) and index. ISBN: 1900624370 Re: the Bornholm Island of Denmark. The pages we are interested in are the pages on initiation at page 92 to 94.
Humphrey, Hugh.: From Q to secret Mark : a composition history of the earliest narrative theology by Hugh Humphrey. New York : T & T Clark International, 2006. ISBN: 0567025020 (hardcover : alk. paper) or 0567025128 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Contents: Revisiting the Fathers –– A narrative version of "Q" –– The passion narrative in Mark –– Assimilation and a focus on discipleship –– The composition history of the gospel of Mark –– Appendix 1 : The "Mark without Q" hypothesis –– Appendix 2 : Assessing the quest for a proto–Mark.
Includes bibliographical references and index. Library of Congress call no. BS 2585.52 .H84 2006.
Jennings, Theodore W.: The man Jesus loved : homoerotic narratives from the New Testament x, 246 p. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 082981535X. Secret Mark is mentioned at pages 114–30, 124–25, 233–34. Library of Congress call no. BS 2545 .H63 J46 2003.
Knight, Christopher and Robert Lomas: The Hiram key : pharaohs, Freemasons, and the discovery of the secret scrolls of Jesus Rockport, Mass. : Element, 1997. ISBN: 1862040044 (hardbound : alk. paper) Notes: Includes index. Library of Congress call no.: HS403 .K55 1997. Re: the use of white aprons in freemasonry during initiation ceremonies.
Meyer, Marvin W.: Secret Gospels : essays on Thomas and the Secret Gospel of Mark vii, 199 p. New York : Trinity Press International, 2003. Includes bibliographical reference and index. ISBN 1563384094. Library of Congress call no. BS2851 .M49 2003. In Canada this book can be ordered from amazon
Mullins, Terence Y.: "Papias and Clement and Mark's Two Gospels" Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 30, No. 3. (Sep., 1976), pp. 189–192. And in JSTOR: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0042-6032%28197609%2930%3A3%3C189%3APACAMT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S
Parker, Pierson: "A Second Look at The Gospel Before Mark" Journal of Bibical Literature Vol. 100, No. 3. (Sep., 1981), pp. 389–413. URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9231%28198109%29100%3A3%3C389%3AASLATG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S
Sellew, Philip: "Secret Mark and the History of Canonical Mark" pp. 242–257 in The Future of Early Christianity: Essays in Honor of Helmut Koester Edited by Birger A. Pearson. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991.
Smith, Morton, 1915–: Clement of Alexandria and a secret Gospel of Mark Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1973. x, 452 p. illus. 25 cm. Notes in English, Greek, and Latin. Bibliography: p. 423–444. LCCN: 72148938 ISBN: 0674134907 Library of Congress call no.: BS2860.S42 S53
Smith, Morton, 1915–: "Clement of Alexandria and Secret Mark: The Score at the End of the First Decade" The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 75, No. 4. (Oct., 1982), pp. 449–461. For those that have access to JSTOR: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-8160%28198210%2975%3A4%3C449%3ACOAASM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I
Smith, Morton, 1915–: "On the Authenticity of the Mar Saba Letter of Clement." Catholic Biblical Quarterly vol. 38 (1976) p. 196–199.
Smith, Morton, 1915–: "Regarding Secret Mark: A Response by Morton Smith to the Account by Per Beskow" Journal of Biblical Literature 103 (1984): 624.
Smith, Morton, 1915–: The Secret Gospel; the discovery and interpretation of the Secret Gospel according to Mark. First Edition. New York, Harper & Row [1973] ISBN 0060674113. The University of Saskatchewan has a copy. http://library.usask.ca/ The Library of Congress call no. is BS2860 .S42S55 1973

Links

Any mistakes or problems e–mail: rhf330@mail.usask.ca