Description
Book SynopsisDid the evangelist Mark write two versions of his gospel? According to a letter ascribed to Clement of Alexandria, Mark created a second, more spiritual edition of his gospel for theologically advanced Christians in Alexandria. Clement's letter contains two excerpts from this lost gospel, including a remarkably different account of the raising of Lazarus.
Forty-five years of cursory investigation have yielded five mutually exclusive paradigms, abundant confusion, and rumours of forgery. Strangely, one of the few things upon which most investigators agree is that the letter's own explanation of the origin and purpose of this longer gospel need not be taken seriously.
Mark's Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith's Controversial Discovery calls this pervasive bias into question. After thoroughly critiquing the five main paradigms, Scott G. Brown demonstrates that the gospel excerpts not only sound like Mark, but also employ Mark's distinctive literary techniques, deepening this gospels theology and elucidating puzzling aspects of its narrative. This mystic gospel represents Mark's own response to the Alexandrian predilection to discover the essential truths of a philosophy beneath the literal level of revered texts.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- The Letter to Theodore
- Clement's Citations from the Longer Gospel
- Part One: Rethinking the Dominant Paradigm
- Chapter 1: A Longer, Esoteric Version of Mark's Gospel
- Scholarly Assessments of the Longer Gospel
- A Literary Thesis
- Chapter 2: The Question of the Authenticity of the Letter to Theodore
- The Manuscript
- The Possibility of Modern Forgery
- The Possibility of Ancient Forgery
- Conclusions
- Chapter 3: Longer Mark's Relation to Other Gospels
- Longer Mark's Basis in Oral Tradition
- Longer Mark's Relation to John
- Longer Mark's Relation to Matthew and Luke
- Longer Mark's Relation to Non-Canonical Gospels
- Longer Mark's Relation to Canonical Mark
- Chapter 4: The Nature of the Longer Gospel
- Clement's Conception of the Genre of the Longer Gospel
- The Reason for the Discretion Surrounding the Use of the Longer Gospel
- Conclusions
- Chapter 5: The Original Purpose and Later Use of the Longer Gospel
- The Baptismal Reading of LGM 1b
- The Baptismal Reading of the Letter to Theodore
- Alternative Cultic Interpretations
- The Need for a Literary Perspective on LGM 1 and 2
- The Original Purpose and Later Use of LGM 1 and 2
- Conclusions
- Part Two: Analysis of Markan Literary Techniques
- Chapter 6: Longer Mark's Use of Intercalation
- The Formal Characteristics of Intercalation
- The Hermeneutical Significance of Intercalation
- Excursus on the Relevance of Intercalation to the Question of the Authenticity of the Letter to Theodore
- Chapter 7: Longer Mark's Use of Framing Stories
- What Constitutes an Inclusio?
- Do Mark 10:32 and 16:7-8 Create an Inclusio?
- LGM 1 and 2 and Mark 16:18 as a Frame for the Passion
- Chapter 8: Longer Mark's Use of Verbal Echoes
- Reminiscences of the Man with Many Possessions
- “And After Six Days”
- The “Great Cry” from the Tomb
- “The Mystery of the Kingdom of God”
- LGM 1:12 as an Elaboration of Themes Introduced in Mark 4:11-12
- The Mystery of the Kingdom of God and the Markan Gospel's Imperative of Spiritual Understanding
- Deeper Understanding as a Literary Agenda Shared by the Longer and Shorter Gospels
- Chapter 9: Conclusions
- The Nature and Original Purpose of the Longer Gospel
- Who Wrote the Longer Gospel?
- How and When Was the Longer Gospel Composed?
- Longer Mark's Relevance to Scholarship
Notes
- Bibliography
- Modern Authors Index
- Ancient Sources Index
- Subject Index
