Synopses & Reviews
In 1958, Bible scholar Morton Smith announced the discovery of a sensational manuscripta second-century letter written by St. Clement of Alexandria, who quotes an unknown, longer version of the Gospel of Mark. When Smith published the letter in 1973, he set off a firestorm of controversy that has raged ever since. Is the text authentic, or a hoax? Is Smiths interpretation correct? Did Jesus really practice magic, or homosexuality? And if the letter is a forgery . . . why?
Through close examination of the discovered” manuscripts text, Peter Jeffery unravels the answers to the mystery and tells the tragic tale of an estranged Episcopalian priest who forged an ancient gospel and fooled many of the best biblical scholars of his time. Jeffery shows convincingly that Smiths Secret Gospel is steeped in anachronisms and that its construction was influenced by Oscar Wildes Salomé, twentieth-century misunderstandings of early Christian liturgy, and Smiths personal struggles with Christian sexual morality.
Review
"The discussion of the ‘Secret Gospel has involved a generation of scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity. Jeffery's book—argued with enormous erudition, careful judgment, sensitivity, and balance—sets the discussion on an entirely new footing."—Harold W. Attridge, Yale Divinity School
Review
"Peter Jeffery's book proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Morton Smith forged the discovered text. It demonstrates that he had the scholarly expertise, the wit, the sense of humor, and above all the motivation to do so."—Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale Divinity School
About the Author
Peter Jeffery is Scheide Professor of Music History, Princeton University, and a Benedictine Oblate of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
CITATION: "The discussion of the `Secret Gospel' has involved a generation of scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity. Jeffery's book-argued with enormous erudition, careful judgment, sensitivity, and balance-sets the discussion on an entirely new footing."-Harold W. Attridge, Yale Divinity School
(Harold W. Attridge)
CITATION: "Peter Jeffery's book proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Morton Smith forged the discovered text. It demonstrates that he had the scholarly expertise, the wit, the sense of humor, and above all the motivation to do so."-Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale Divinity School
(Adela Yarbro Collins)