Summary
Summary of Secret Gospel of Mark
Secret Gospel of Mark at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 15 min15 min fast, 20 min slow
- Length
- 3,770 words
- Pages
- 32 pages32 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
A handwritten letter opens a dispute
At Mar Saba, Morton Smith opens a seventeenth-century printed book while cataloguing manuscripts. On its back pages he finds a handwritten Greek letter naming Clement of Alexandria as its author and Theodore as its recipient. It quotes a more spiritual version of Mark, almost unknown to the modern world.
The discovery comes with a lasting uncertainty. The handwritten page has not been seen since the 1970s, and only photographs remain. Scholars disagree over whether the letter fits Clement or was made by Smith himself.
Key idea 2
The letter argues against its rivals
The writer praises Theodore for stopping the teaching of the Carpocratians, a group their opponents associated with secret knowledge and freedom from ordinary moral law.
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Key idea 3
Mark serves two levels of teaching
According to the letter, Mark first wrote an account suited to people still learning the faith while Peter was in Rome.
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Key idea 4
A raised youth receives hidden teaching
The first quoted passage brings Jesus to Bethany, where a woman asks for mercy after her brother's death.
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Key idea 5
Small passages invite competing connections
The second quotation places the youth's sister, his mother and Salome at Jericho, where Jesus does not receive them.
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Key idea 6
Early Christianity held many different teachings
The discoveries near Nag Hammadi revealed Christian texts concerned with hidden wisdom, ritual and awakening from ignorance.
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Key idea 7
Authenticity does not settle every question
Scholars studying the photographs disagree about authenticity.
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Key idea 8
Keep quotation and argument apart
The fuller gospel reaches us through a letter attributed to Clement, not through a surviving gospel manuscript.
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Who it’s for
You will enjoy this if you love manuscript detective stories, early Christian history, the Gospel of Mark, or open questions where scholars still argue.
What this book is
What would you do if you found a handwritten page that quotes a gospel almost nobody has heard of? In 1958 Morton Smith, a professor at Columbia University, is cataloguing manuscripts at Mar Saba, a monastery in the Judean desert. In the back pages of a seventeenth-century printed book, he finds a Greek letter. It carries the name of Clement of Alexandria and quotes a version of the Gospel of Mark that the modern world has never met.
The letter is short, and it holds two passages from a more spiritual gospel used in Alexandria. You get the letter, its argument, its setting among early Christian groups, and the quarrel over whether Clement wrote it at all.
In this summary
- 1A handwritten letter opens a disputeFree
- 2The letter argues against its rivals
- 3Mark serves two levels of teaching
- 4A raised youth receives hidden teaching
- 5Small passages invite competing connections
- 6Early Christianity held many different teachings
- 7Authenticity does not settle every question
- 8Keep quotation and argument apart
A professor finds a letter at Mar Saba
The story begins in 1958 at Mar Saba, a monastery set into the rock of the Judean desert. Morton Smith has come to catalogue the manuscripts in its old library. Smith is cataloguing manuscripts in the monastery's ancient library.
Then he opens a printed book from the seventeenth century and looks at its back pages. There, in handwriting, is a Greek text copied into the blank space. It names its author as Clement of Alexandria and is addressed to a man called Theodore. The handwritten letter refers to a more spiritual version of Mark.
The letter speaks of a more spiritual version of Mark kept in the church of Alexandria, and it quotes two passages from it. The letter describes a gospel virtually unknown to the modern world. Most scholars think Mark is the oldest of the four gospels, so a hidden sibling stirs deep questions.
The handwritten page has not been seen since the 1970s, and only Smith's photographs remain. Some scholars argue that Smith himself made the letter. Others reply that the Greek and the habits of thought all fit Clement. The takeaway is that this text calls for real interest and real caution at the same moment.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Check yourself
How does the letter describe Mark's two levels of teaching?
Right. “The takeaway is that the letter describes a gospel in two levels, a public one and a guarded one.”Not quite. “The takeaway is that the letter describes a gospel in two levels, a public one and a guarded one.”
Why does the raised young man stay with Jesus at night?
Right. “He stays that night, because Jesus is teaching him the mystery of the kingdom of God.”Not quite. “He stays that night, because Jesus is teaching him the mystery of the kingdom of God.”
What is the state of the dispute over the letter's authenticity?
Right. “Neither side has settled the matter, and it may stay open until the manuscript is found and tested.”Not quite. “Neither side has settled the matter, and it may stay open until the manuscript is found and tested.”
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 3,770 words
- Reading timeAbout 15 min
Questions about Secret Gospel of Mark
What is the Secret Gospel of Mark?
It is the name for a longer version of Mark's gospel that a Greek letter, attributed to Clement of Alexandria, says was used in Alexandria. Only two short passages are known, and both are quoted in that letter to a man named Theodore.
Who found the Secret Gospel of Mark and where?
Morton Smith, a Columbia University professor, found the letter in 1958 at the Mar Saba monastery in the Judean desert. It was handwritten in the back pages of a seventeenth century printed book in the monastery library.
Who were the Carpocratians in the letter?
They were a group, described by opponents as Gnostic, who are said in the letter to have obtained a copy of the longer gospel and misused it. Historians still debate how fair the charges made against them were.
Is the letter of Clement genuine or a forgery?
Scholars disagree. Some find the Greek, themes and ideas consistent with Clement and see no clear sign of forgery. Others argue it is a modern fabrication. The original page is missing, and only photographs by Smith survive.
What is the main message of the Secret Gospel of Mark?
The letter claims that Mark wrote a more spiritual gospel for those being initiated, and that some teaching should be kept from the unprepared. For readers today it shows how varied early Christian groups were.
Cite this edition
Mark. Secret Gospel of Mark. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-secret-gospel-of-mark.
Mark. (2026). Secret gospel of Mark. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-secret-gospel-of-mark
Mark. Secret Gospel of Mark. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-secret-gospel-of-mark.
@book{mark2026secret,
author = {Mark},
title = {Secret Gospel of Mark},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-secret-gospel-of-mark}
}
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