Secret Gospel of Mark

Published by 1c15 on 25th December 201925th December 2019

This letter is attributed to Clement of Alexandria (150-215AD) with some dating the letter 100-205AD. Despite this, the current manuscript we have is heavily attacked as a forgery by many scholars. There are no manuscripts for this and is a quote by Clement referencing a Gospel about a heretic named Carpocrates trying to expand Mark’s Gospel.. 

Reasons for rejection/non-inclusion

1. The letter is widely regarded as a forgery by Morton Smith who claimed to find the letter at Mar Saba monastery. They noted it sounded like a 1940 novel story “The Mystery of Mar Saba”
2. The text has no external support as no other Church Father mentions this book, never mind positively!
3. It appears to be a Gnostic adaptation of Mark’s Gospel from Clements illusions and references.
4. It is late and outside the apostolic period of the 1st century
5. Not inside a single Biblical canonical list