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The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 9, 2014 at 7:19 pm
(This post was last modified: September 9, 2014 at 7:19 pm by ManMachine.)
I’m not sure if this has been posted before but I find this story fascinating. These are the reported facts as they are known.
In 1958 a man called Morton Smith (who would later become Professor of Ancient History at Columbia University) was cataloguing books in a remote Palestinian monastery called Mar Saba. At some point he came across a letter that had been copied into the endpapers of a 17th century printed edition of the works of Ignatius of Antioch. The letter was a handwritten copy of a letter sent by Clement of Alexandria to someone called Theodore. In the letter Clement alludes to a ‘more spiritual’ or ‘secret’ version of the gospel of Mark, and also quotes two excerpts from it. Morton Smith took two low-res photographs and replaced the book in the library.
In 1973 Smith published an academic book about the letter, which included the photographs he took and his translation of the text along with his analysis and commentary. He also published a ‘popular’ book on the same subject at the same time.
Subsequently Smith has been accused of forgery, deceit and even a deliberate hoax. More sensationally, Smith was accused of an attempt to imply Jesus may have been a homosexual, however, there are still a significant number of scholars who do not believe it to be a fraud of any kind.
Anyway, here’s the full tale (including the extracts from Secret Mark).
The Secret Gospel of Mark
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
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RE: The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 9, 2014 at 7:22 pm
Quote:And they come into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and says to him, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.' But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightway, going in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon him, loved him and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And going out of the tomb they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God. And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan.
Oh, he taught that youth alright- all night long. 
Luke: You don't believe in the Force, do you?
Han Solo: Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls *my* destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
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RE: The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 9, 2014 at 7:26 pm
(September 9, 2014 at 7:22 pm)StealthySkeptic Wrote: Quote:And they come into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and says to him, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.' But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightway, going in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon him, loved him and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And going out of the tomb they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God. And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan.
Oh, he taught that youth alright- all night long.
Personally, I'm far more inclined to believe Jesus was a mortal and a gay philosopher who had some decent things to say about people than the son of some made-up god.
MM
(oh, I'm goin' straight to hell for that one)
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
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RE: The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 9, 2014 at 7:31 pm
(September 9, 2014 at 7:26 pm)ManMachine Wrote: (September 9, 2014 at 7:22 pm)StealthySkeptic Wrote: Oh, he taught that youth alright- all night long.
Personally, I'm far more inclined to believe Jesus was a mortal and a gay philosopher who had some decent things to say about people than the son of some made-up god.
MM
(oh, I'm goin' straight to hell for that one)
This is how I imagine people would actually end up in hell, if it existed. 
![[Image: tumblr_inline_n43z2uLpty1snt29q.gif]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=media.tumblr.com%2Fe76ac9127b7fecdb7c725caa80debcb1%2Ftumblr_inline_n43z2uLpty1snt29q.gif)
Luke: You don't believe in the Force, do you?
Han Solo: Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls *my* destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
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RE: The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 9, 2014 at 8:15 pm
Someone did a book exposing the hoax. Can't remember the title now.
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RE: The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 11, 2014 at 4:35 pm
(September 9, 2014 at 8:15 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Someone did a book exposing the hoax. Can't remember the title now.
When I say I find the story fascinating I mean the story of the whole sorry affair, personally I don't care if its a hoax or not it's just so much fun watching the Xtians chasing each other round.
It's a Biblical Piltdown man tale.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
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RE: The Curious Tale of the Secret Gospel
September 15, 2014 at 7:20 am
(September 9, 2014 at 7:26 pm)ManMachine Wrote: Personally, I'm far more inclined to believe Jesus was a mortal and a gay philosopher who had some decent things to say about people than the son of some made-up god. A serious in depth exploration of these various ideas about what Christ was, or wasn't and how offshoots of the original movement have distorted, edited and forged additions to the original message for their own political and economic advantage is examined in "The Dark Side of God: A Quest for the Lost Heart of Christianity" by Douglas Lockhart. (Publ' ElementBooks Limited 1999).
The Human Race is insane.
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