Was A Secret Gospel of Mark Discovered?

Episode Outline:
0:00 What is the so-called Secret Gospel of Mark, and why did its discovery shock New Testament scholarship?
1:31 Bart and Megan on frazzled schedules, retirement, and why small undergraduate seminars are so rewarding
5:12 The basic claim: Morton Smith discovered a letter of Clement mentioning a longer, “secret” version of Mark
7:12 Who Morton Smith was, and why he was uniquely equipped to make this kind of discovery
9:43 How the manuscript was found at Mar Saba while Smith was cataloging the monastery library
11:57 Why this was not a standalone manuscript, but handwriting copied onto blank end pages of another printed book
15:42 Why the discovery mattered so much: a lost letter of Clement, a possible expanded Mark, and shocking new Jesus material
17:46 Free webinar promo: Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Actually Write Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?
19:15 The first major issue: is the Secret Gospel even authentic?
21:10 Who Clement of Alexandria was and why a new letter from him would be significant
23:19 Who the Carpocratians were and why Clement accused them of abusing secret traditions
26:19 Why Clement quotes the passages: to distinguish the “real” secret Mark from heretical misuse
28:01 Would a secret or esoteric gospel actually be surprising in the broader ancient Christian world?
29:26 Morton Smith’s big argument: the longer version may have been original, with later editors cutting material out
31:20 The key passage: Jesus raises a young man, who later comes to him at night wearing only a linen cloth
33:45 Why Smith connected this to the mysterious fleeing young man in Mark 14
35:25 The main objection: Smith’s interpretation may go far beyond what the text itself says
38:02 The continuing debate: homoerotic overtones, Markan origins, and possible forgery
40:20 Weekly Update: Bart previews longer semester-style online courses with lectures, Q&A, and quizzes
44:04 Listener Q&A: salvation outside Christianity, apocalyptic victory tropes, class structure in Roman Palestine, and how power shaped doctrine
50:50 Final summary: the Secret Gospel of Mark would be a sensational discovery if authentic, but its meaning and authenticity remain deeply contested

Episode Description

When a scholar claims to have discovered a new text from early Christianity, it can send shockwaves through the academic community. In the case of the "Secret Gospel of Mark," the shockwaves are still being felt today after over 65 years later. And scholars still can't agree on whether the text in question is authentically ancient, a modern forgery, or something else. There are huge implications. The traces of this "secret Gospel" allegedly discovered in 1958 by Morton Smith, a professor of ancient history at Columbia University, have been interpreted (by Smith himself) to indicate that Jesus engaged in homosexual rituals with the followers he baptized in the nude. In this week’s episode, we’re discussing the discovery of this amazing text, what it actually says, and how scholars have interpreted the intriguing passages it contains

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Megan asks Bart:

- What is the secret gospel of Mark?

- Who was Morton Smith?

- In 1958 he visited the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Mar Saba to catalog their library. Could you tell us about his discovery?

- How significant (apart from being only letter) was this discovery?

- Are there questions about its authenticity?

- Who was Clement of Alexandria? Do we know him from other sources?

- Who were the Carpocratians, and why was Clement concerned with them?

- Is Clement copying these sections of the secret gospels into his letter to show how they’re being misused?

- The idea of secret knowledge isn’t really new to the ancient world - if we’re looking at early Christianity, the Gnostics were particularly fond of such things. Is it surprising that there would be a whole secret gospel?

- Clement of Alexandria apparently thought that these passages were from a later version of Mark’s gospel. Could they have actually been part of the original composition?

- What did Morton Smith write?

- What do the preserved passages of the secret gospel actually say, and how did Smith interpret them?

- How else has this section been interpreted by scholars?

- Have other scholars offered alternative interpretations?

- What are the ongoing issues in the debates about the secret gospel?

- Are there other sections of Mark that would benefit from having something re-inserted?