While looking for ancient documents in the Mar Saba monastery library in the Judean Desert, scholar Morton Smith made a discovery that rocked the academic world: Copied onto the end-pages of a 17th-century book was a previously unknown letter from Clement of Alexandria, a second-century church father, that contained passages of a lost "secret" gospel of Mark. More than 50 years after this remarkable revelation, the debate over the authenticity of the document continues. But what did the letter say? What follows is Morton Smith's translation as it appears in his book Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark.Recent background here.
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
THE SECRET MARK LETTER attributed to Clement of Alexandria is published in Morton Smith's English translation in Biblical Archaeology Review.