According to Clement, the story was added to Mark between verses 10:34 and 10:35. The first passage is a story of how Jesus miraculously raises a young man ( neaniskos) who has recently died, at the behest of his bereaved sister. Stephen Patterson gives this account of the passages noted by Clement: Today, however, there is almost unanimous agreement among Clementine scholars that the letter is authentic.' Early discussion of it was marred by accusations of forgery and fraud, no doubt owing in part to its controversial comments. In his introduction in The Complete Gospels, Stephen Patterson notes: 'The handwriting can be dated to around 1750. The Secret Gospel of Mark is known only from the references in this letter.Īlthough there has been some controversy over the letter, today it is generally agreed that the letter is authentic correspondence written by Clement. In 1958, Morton Smith found a letter of Clement of Alexandria at the Mar Saba monastary near the city of Jerusalem. Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on Secret Mark Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version (Sonoma, CA: Polebridge Press 1992), pp. Ron Cameron, ed., The Other Gospels: Non-Canonical Gospel Texts (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press 1982), pp.John Dominic Crossan, Four Other Gospels (Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press 1985), pp.Helmut Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press 1990), pp.Secret Mark is Authentic from Yuri Kuchinsky.The Bethany Youth in the Secret Gospel of Mark.The Strange Case of the Secret Gospel according to Mark.Identification of the Bethany Youth in the Secret Gospel of Mark with other Figures Found in Mark and John.Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum.

Secret mark text