The Secret Gospel of Mark authenticated by Codex Bezae
Keywords:
Secret Gospel of Mark, Codex Bezae (D 05/d 5), Women disciples of Jesus, Initiation to the Kingdom of God, NT Redaction History, GnosisAbstract
The Secret Gospel of Mark is currently regarded by the majority of scholars as a sophisticated hoax on the part of Morton Smith who claimed to have ‘discovered’ it. Others, however, find the arguments for the hoax as unconvincing as the supposed hoax itself. Working on the text of Mark’s Gospel in Codex Bezae, I was struck by the evidence for the possible authenticity of the document that emerges in the high number of its readings found elsewhere only in the Bezan text of Mark. These are orthographical, lexical and grammatical variants that would not only be difficult but also unreasonable to imitate. Furthermore, according to an analysis of the structure of Mark’s Gospel that I have carried out following the text of Codex Bezae, the Secret Gospel fits well into the arrangement of the pericopes, not only from a linguistic point of view but also from a theological perspective. Indeed, the episodes it contains contribute significantly to the depiction of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and his relationship with his disciples before his death. The proposed paper sets out the detailed evidence, which tip the balance in favour of the authenticity of the Secret Gospel. It also discusses its implications for the study of the Gospel of Mark.
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References
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