The Secret Gospel Of Mark

This week’s writings, while enjoyable as always, continue the intellectual headache of the synoptic problem for me. Perkins’ writing on the Gospel of Mark is organized in a similar fashion as her writing on Matthew’s Gospel as she delves into Mark’s narrative shape, literary features, character portrayals, Mark’s view of Jesus, and the implied gentile community for which it is written. She even briefly covers some more juicy controversy worthy of the tabloids such as the additional endings found in some versions of Mark and the Secret Gospel of Mark supposedly found in the Mar Saba monastery library by Morton Smith, which I will discuss later.

Fuchs’s contributions further my pain into an intellectual migraine. While the gist of his views

The first is obvious; is there a way to navigate the Greek and Hebrew words used without having any training with these languages? The second question is a bit lengthy in that I need to describe in more detail the basis from which the question arises. The use of a poem to base a Christological argument gives me pause. I find myself wondering why these authors would treat a poem with as much absoluteness as say a commandment given at Sinai. The argument is so succinct and absolute that it appears the authors believe that even a poem from Psalms is a true canon and to be treated as such. Many of today’s American followers, among others, have used the bible in a similar, absolute fashion to justify war and the abuse of minority groups within society, just to name a few abuses. Is this exegesis on the part of the gospel authors a sort of proto-ideology that the bible is infallible and inerrant even before the canonization of today’s bible? If it is, are there any resources for the history of biblical inerrancy and

I feel that I am not alone in this fascination. After all, the History Channel seems to have a controversial, romantic, and sexy spin on a “secret” text or other secrets of the bible on any given Sunday. People, at least in terms of sweeps week, appear to be taken in by such controversy. As I reflect on the idea of a Secret Gospel of Mark, I wonder how many more “secret” texts might miraculously appear during my lifetime. How will I address questions that congregants may have? In the case of Mark’s expanded text, I could point out that it is plausible for ancient Christian groups to have separate versions for baptized believers. Even in today’s world, Scientology has this hierarchical construct for receiving information. However, without an original manuscript, a study to attain its authenticity is next to impossible. It is enticing to think of the implications of Mark’s “secret” additions. The idea of Jesus spending the night with man in the linen robe would drive some believers wild with anger while others may rejoice in such a controversial topic, by United States’ conservative standards. From a scholarly standpoint, the inclusion of such a healing story would most likely throw Matthew securely into the number one spot in the Synoptic Problem, assuming the scholars would argue a parallel as close to the Lazarus story in John as this one is puts it closer to the authorship date as John, chronologically