I must ask for help on one question. Can anyone think of where Graves was getting his idea of a secret gospel transmission, presumably channeled through bishops? Is there any ancient warrant for that at all? Or did he make it up entirely himself? Because if there is no ancient source, I think we have another powerful piece of evidence confirming that Morton Smith forged the letter of Clement of Alexandria in which he describes The Secret Gospel of Mark.As I've noted before, Professor Jenkins thinks the idea of Secret Mark being genuinely ancient anything is laughable. The possibility that it is a late-antique forgery is still being defended. And I see that, perhaps contrary to my earlier comment, New Testament Apocrypha expert Tony Burke still (as of 2024) thinks that the Secret Gospel of Mark "might be authentic" and "is probably not a forgery," although I'm not sure exactly what that means. I'm also not sure what other positions specialists are still prepared to defend. This is not my area of expertise. I'm just watching. 🍿
For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Secret Gospel of Mark debate, follow the links from the link above.
I think this AB post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptues series. For earlier posts, see here and links.
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