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Mark's Other Gospel : Rethinking Morton Smith's Controversial Mark’s Other Gospel Rethinking Morton Smith’s Controversial Discovery Scott G. Brown ESCJ Studies in Christianity and Judaism/Études sur le christianisme et le judaïsme brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page i MARK’S OTHER GOSPEL Rethinking Morton Smith’s Controversial Discovery brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page ii Studies in Christianity and Judaism / Études sur le christianisme et le judaïsme : 15 Studies in Christianity and Judaism / Études sur le christianisme et le judaïsme publishes monographs on Christianity and Judaism in the last two centuries before the common era and the first six centuries of the common era, with a special inter- est in studies of their interrelationship or the cultural and social context in which they developed. GENERAL EDITOR: Peter Richardson University of Toronto EDITORIAL BOARD: Paula Fredrickson Boston University John Gager Princeton University Olivette Genest Université de Montréal Paul-Hubert Poirier Université Laval Adele Reinhartz Wilfrid Laurier University Stephen G. Wilson Carleton University brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page iii Studies in Christianity and Judaism / Études sur le christianisme et le judaïsme : 15 MARK’S OTHER GOSPEL Rethinking Morton Smith’s Controversial Discovery Scott G. Brown Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion/ Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses by Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2005 brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page iv This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Brown, Scott G. (Scott Gregory), 1966– Mark’s other gospel : rethinking Morton Smith’s controversial discovery / Scott G. Brown. (Studies in Christianity and Judaism = Études sur le christianisme et le judaïsm ESCJ ; 15). Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-88920-461-6 1. Secret Gospel according to Mark. I. Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion II. Title. III. Series: Studies in Christianity and Judaism ; 15. BS2860.S42B76 2005 229´.8 C2005-901621-3 © 2005 Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion / Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses Cover design by Leslie Macredie. Cover image: St. Mark at his desk, from the Gospel of St. Mark (vellum) by French School (9th century), Ebbo Gospels (816–35) Ms 1 fol. 60v. Courtesy of Bibliotheque Municipale, Epernay, France/Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library. Text design by Catharine Bonas-Taylor. Excerpts from Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark by Morton Smith reprinted by permission of the publisher from CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA AND A SECRET GOSPEL OF MARK by Morton Smith, pp. 446–48, 450, 452. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Copy- right ©1973 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Printed in Canada Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777. Order from: Wilfrid Laurier University Press Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5 www.wlupress.wlu.ca brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page v For my parents, Judy and Doug, Eric and Claire brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page vi brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgments / ix Preface / xi List of Abbreviations / xv The Letter to Theodore / xvii Clement’s Citations from the Longer Gospel / xxiii Part One: Rethinking the Dominant Paradigms /1 Chapter 1: A Longer, Esoteric Version of Mark’s Gospel / 3 Scholarly Assessments of the Longer Gospel / 6 A Literary Thesis / 19 Chapter 2: The Question of the Authenticity of the Letter to Theodore /23 The Manuscript / 25 The Possibility of Modern Forgery / 28 The Possibility of Ancient Forgery / 59 Conclusions / 71 Chapter 3: Longer Mark’s Relation to Other Gospels / 75 Longer Mark’s Basis in Oral Tradition / 76 Longer Mark’s Relation to John / 85 Longer Mark’s Relation to Matthew and Luke / 98 Longer Mark’s Relation to Non-Canonical Gospels / 101 Longer Mark’s Relation to Canonical Mark / 105 Chapter 4: The Nature of the Longer Gospel / 121 Clement’s Conception of the Genre of the Longer Gospel / 121 The Reason for the Discretion Surrounding the Use of the Longer Gospel / 135 Conclusions / 142 vii brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page viii viii CONTENTS Chapter 5: The Original Purpose and Later Use of the Longer Gospel / 144 The Baptismal Reading of LGM 1b / 144 The Baptismal Reading of the Letter to Theodore / 147 Alternative Cultic Interpretations / 150 The Need for a Literary Perspective on LGM 1 and 2 / 153 The Original Purpose and Later Use of LGM 1 and 2 / 158 Conclusions / 162 Part Two: Analysis of Markan Literary Techniques / 163 Chapter 6: Longer Mark’s Use of Intercalation / 165 The Formal Characteristics of Intercalation / 166 The Hermeneutical Significance of Intercalation / 174 Excursus on the Relevance of Intercalation to the Question of the Authenticity of the Letter to Theodore / 176 Chapter 7: Longer Mark’s Use of Framing Stories / 180 What Constitutes an Inclusio? / 181 Do Mark 10:32 and 16:7–8 Create an Inclusio? / 182 LGM 1 and 2 and Mark 16:1–8 as a Frame for the Passion / 195 Chapter 8: Longer Mark’s Use of Verbal Echoes / 198 Reminiscences of the Man with Many Possessions / 199 “And After Six Days” / 201 The “Great Cry” from the Tomb / 203 “The Mystery of the Kingdom of God” / 205 LGM 1:12 as an Elaboration of Themes Introduced in Mark 4:11–12 / 207 The Mystery of the Kingdom of God and the Markan Gospel’s Imperative of “Spiritual” Understanding / 210 Deeper Understanding as a Literary Agenda Shared by the Longer and Shorter Gospels / 214 Chapter 9: Conclusions / 215 The Nature and Original Purpose of the Longer Gospel / 215 Who Wrote the Longer Gospel? / 220 How and When Was the Longer Gospel Composed? / 231 Longer Mark’s Relevance to Scholarship / 235 Notes / 239 Bibliography / 283 Modern Authors Index / 313 Ancient Sources Index / 318 Subject Index / 328 brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page ix Acknowledgments number of people contributed in important ways to the production of A this book. Above all, I want to thank my family for all the encourage- ment and support they gave me. Without their patience and generosity, this book would never have come about. I am also indebted to numerous scholars and friends. When this book was still a dissertation, my supervisor, Leif Vaage, read through the manuscript three times, offering insightful feedback on practically every page; his thor- oughness and high standards made this a much better work. Michel Des- jardins read the dissertation manuscript twice and corrected more scribal errors than I care to admit. Schuyler Brown and John Kloppenborg took turns supervising me during the period before my general exams. I want to thank the former for directing me to a form of biblical scholarship that is the- oretically intelligible; the latter, for directing me away from thesis topics that would never have been as interesting as this one. I am likewise indebted to the series editor, Peter Richardson, under whose guidance this book lost most of the trappings of a dissertation. Peter and the staff at Wilfrid Laurier University Press were easy to work with and very accommodating of my concerns. My work has also benefited greatly from my ongoing correspondence with Charles W. Hedrick and from the insightful comments of the two anonymous appraisers for the Aid to Schol- arly Publications Programme. Other scholars whom I have not yet had the pleasure to meet took the time to reflect on my work or answer my inquiries and send me materials. I will mention them in roughly the order in which I corresponded with them. Quentin Quesnell amiably and generously assisted my investigation by clar- ifying issues pertaining to his article on longer Mark and offering feedback ix brown_00_fm.qxd 2005/04/26 12:22 PM Page x x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS on the finished dissertation. Shawn Eyer provided me with copies of some materials I could not locate. Andrew Criddle offered me detailed information about the methodology he employed in his article. And Marvin Meyer took on the role of external reviewer for my dissertation late in 1998. Many more scholars offered me their insights after I defended my dissertation in Febru- ary 1999, and their assistance helped shape this revised and updated version. Edward C. Hobbs thoughtfully replied to numerous inquiries and gave me a different perspective on various scholarly and unscholarly exchanges. Shaye Cohen, Hershel Shanks, Thomas Talley, Annewies van den Hoek, Glenn Bowman, and Charles E. Murgia likewise shed light on matters that were inac- cessible to me. And it has been my pleasure to correspond with William M. Calder III and John Dart, from whom I learned some interesting facts about Morton Smith. Although reconstructing the past from scraps of evidence is the standard method of the historian, it is no substitute for asking people direct questions.
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