Lex Communis has posted Forgery, Fraud and the Gospels, commenting on a recently published book critical of Morton Smith's account of the discovery of what is now known as "the Secret Gospel of Mark." There have always been some suspicions about the circumstances of the discovery of the related documents; the new book makes a frontal assault on Smith's claims. Apart from the details of the discovery and the questions of authenticity, most Christians find the basic thrust of the material in the reconstructed "Secret Gospel of Mark" and Smith's scholarly analysis of it rather troubling. Of course, most Christians find any new material related to the Bible rather troubling.
I posted a general summary of Secret Mark last year with several useful links. Here's another one: "Identification of the Bethany Youth in the Secret Gospel of Mark with Other Figures Found in Mark and John," by Miles Fowler. Whatever you think of the Secret Mark theory, the unnamed youth found in Mark's Gethsemane scene (see Mark 14:51-52) remains puzzling. He seems a little out of place.
I think the claim in the Lex Communis post that the Secret Mark material "uniquely depicts a homosexual Jesus" is overstated. As I read it, that theme is raised obliquely, if at all, in the narrative, although there's obviously enough there to make some folks uncomfortable. That issue alone probably shouldn't be the basis for rejecting Smith's account of Secret Mark. Is sounds like The Gospel Hoax: Morton Smith's Invention of Secret Mark offers plenty of additional evidence for the skeptic.
[retitled and modified, 6/17]
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