"The Secret Gospel of Mark"

The Secret Gospel of Mark continues to be in the news, with the imminent departure of Sue Laden and Herschel Shanks to Egypt to consult with handwriting experts about the possibility that Prof. Morton Smith forged the letter from Clement of Alexandria that quotes from, and denounces the "Secret Gospel of Mark".

Morton Smith claimed the have discovered the letter in the binding of a book while he was cataloging documents at the monastery of Mar Sabah.  The letter, which has been described as plausible by experts on Clement, accuses the Carpocratians of having added spurious material toe the Secret Gospel.  The letter in fact talks of an original gospel by Mark, while in Rome with Peter, and states that Mark then traveled to Alexandria to produce an expanded version, and then a "secret version" of the gospel.  Clement cites parts of the Carpocratian version, which is our only source for this material.

The idea that gospels were produced by compilation is confirmed by scripture, particularly the opening of Luke's gospel. Evangelicals such as F.F. Bruce follow Clement’s view that the original gospel was subject to amendment by various parties . It is, of course, commonplace that Matthew and Luke have material common with Mark, and is commonly accepted that they were based on Mark, with the addition of such sources as “Q”.   Smith reverses this position, and sees canonical Mark as the result of censorship by what became orthodox Christianity. His book “The Secret Gospel of Mark” is largely about his view that magic played a role in the early church, and this is developed further in his book “Jesus the Magician”.

We noted that Seneca the Younger was a noted Roman philosopher, writer, and politician.   His date of birth is uncertain, but may have been between 4 BCE and 1CE.   His death, by judicial suicide, was in 68 CE, perhaps six years after Paul's execution.

The Paul-Seneca correspondence was accepted by Jerome and Augustine.  Tertullian refers to "our Seneca".  In recent times the letters have almost unanimously been declared fictitious.  However, some of the arguments put forward for falsity, such as vocabulary counts, have recently be shown to be erroneous. 

We looked at the first seven items in the "Paul-Seneca" correspondence.

We notes that the extant manuscripts are in Latin, and there was little evidence that Paul spoke or wrote Latin.  However, at one point he writes of "hearing" Seneca's letters, which may indicate the use of a translator, since Paul could and did write in Greek.

We had some difficulty in placing the letters in Paul’s life; he appears to be able to move freely in Rome, though the end of Acts shows him under house arrest in Rome.  Equally, if he were under arrest by imperial forces, Seneca should have had no difficulty in commanding his appearance.   However, there is a (minority) view that Paul survived his first arraignment, and that he went to Spain.  If this be so, there could have been a period when he was at liberty in Rome.

The reference to Poppaea, Nero’s wife, is interesting.  Poppaea is known to have been a Jewess, and the comment that she was angry at Paul’s presentation would have been in character.

November 14, 2010

 The Epistle to Diognetus

This epistle, known from a sole 14th century copy, is full of puzzles.

The addressee is unknown, though a tutor to Marcus Aurelius and a 2/3 century Procurator of Alexandria have both been suggested.

Equally the writer is unknown.  He uses language that is very close to the Pauline epistles, and also to the Gospel of John.

The document is in letter form, but is similar to Third Century apologetics.

The opening condemns "idol-worshippers" and Jews in simplistic terms, but the core of the document powerfully puts forward the concept of Christians as temporary sojourners who are citizens of a heavenly kingdom.  We theorised that this might not be the best way to approach a Roman official; third century persecutions fixated on the "disloyalty" of Christians.

At Troas, Ignatius writes another letter to Smyrna, this time to the venerable bishop, Polycarp. Polycarp is by now a semi-legendary figure, being over 80 years old, and, according to Eusebius and Irenaus, having learned Christianity from John and other apostles.

Nevertheless Ignatius lectures Polycarp on his episcopal duties. He even goes so far as to enjoin the biushop to "Flee evil arts". Chapter 6 either shows Ignatius forgetting his audience, or is a fragment from another letter; since it enjoins the readers to "obey their bishop".

The fact that Ignatius uses the image of a ship's "pilot" is consonant with his having recently been on a ship, as is his mention of "tempests". Ignatius specifically says that he is having to restrict his letter-writing because he is being hurried to "set sail" for Neapolis, the port of Philippi. We played with the idea that some of the letters got mixed in the confusion of his departure.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

(There were no classes February 7 or 14, because of snow)

Ignatius to Smyrna

Ignatius is in Troas, and he writes back to Smyrna (present-day Izmir) which he had recently visited.

He seems concerned with Docetic tendancies at Smyrna, and essays a joke that if Christ only "seemed" to exist, than his own trials only "seemed" to be. More seriously he even expresses the hope that his opponents, once they have lost their mortal bodies, will be left as demons. Docetists, it seems, refused communion and abstained from prayer. In language reminiscent of the Epistle of James -- "I will show you my faith by what I do" -- Ignatius notes that they "have no regard for love, no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed, of the bond or the free, of the hungry or the thirsty".

He uses the term "Catholic Church" for the first time, though Protestants prefer to believe that he was referring to the Church Universal. Ignatius also states that only bishops can baptize or celebrate communion; this is not in accord with current Catholic practice, but john pointed out that he may be writing in a time when "bishop" and "priest' were synonymous.

We looked at an excerpt from a somewhat suspect document -- the Martyrium of Ignatius. In what purports to be an transcript of Ignatius' interview with the Emperor Trajan in Antioch, Ignatius offends Trajan by referring to his gods as "demons" is condemned to death, and sent off to face the lions in the Coliseum in Rome. At least one commentator assumes that Ignatius made most of the journey by sea, and this might explain why time was found on the journey for his many meetings with church officials, in spite of the unfriendly nature of his guards. However, the existence of the imperial edict would be difficult to contravene, even when news arrived from Antioch that persecution had ceased. The only place where effective action could be taken on Ignatius' behalf would be in Rome itself, and it appears from his letter that this is exactly what happened, as his friends rallied to his defence. Ignatius, however, is determined on a course of martyrdom, and begs his friends not to defend him.

Catholics quote Ignatius' Letter to Rome as the earliest document from a non-Roman claiming overall authority for the Roman church; however we found it difficult to draw this from the text, either from the Greek, or from a Catholic-approved translation.

Tralles is a small town on the highway into Ephesus. Confusingly, it has had several names -- in Roman times it was renamed Caesarea, and under Turkish government became Aydin, which is its current name.

It is not clear that Ignatius actually visited the church of Tralles, but he did meet their Bishop, Polybius, in Smyrna. Polybius seems to have told him about unorthodox ideas that were current in Tralles.

The first is mentioned in Chapter 5, and seems to imply some kind of Gnosticism, including esoteric information about angels and heavenly principalities. Ignatius rather charmingly says that he is too young in the faith to have any knowledge of such ideas, but counsels against pursuing them.

He is more forceful in countering a form of Docetism, which believed that Jesus was pure spirit, and any observation of his body, and particularly of his suffering and death, was illusory. Ignatius drily observes that if Jesus only "seemed to exist" then perhaps the Docetists only "seemed to exist" and perhaps he and his suffering were only illusions.........

As an aside, why was Ignatius still travelling to Rome for execution, when persecution in Syria appeared to have ceased? However, those in the group with first-hand experience of the ways of bureaucracies had little difficulty with the thought that once the mechanism of sending him to Rome was under way, it would be difficult -- and perhaps nobody's responsibility -- to reverse.

We started 2010 well back on our schedule. We had not completed the quiz on December 13, the December 20 class was canceled by snow, and Dec 27 had never been scheduled.

A review of the final quiz on Clement's letter to Corinth reminded us of Clement's emphasis on obedience in the early church. Clement's letter (though the second, possibly forged, letter) has always been popular with the church, and is contained in many collections of early writings, though not in the definitive Canon of the New Testament prepared by the Council of Carthage in 397. We noted Clement, like Paul, described secular powers as having derivbed from God; we wondered whether someone writing after the state-run persecutions would write this way, and discussed whether this implied that the letter is earlier than usually accepted, or whether the persecutions had less impact than we assume. Clement's reference to his messengers having grown old in the faith may possibly suggest a later date.

We opened the series of Ignatius' letters with his letter to Ephesus. His letters appear to have been written during his journey from Antioch to Rome, under armed guard, to face execution in the Colesseum. It is striking in these letters how much he seems to be looking forward to his execution and to gaining the status of martyr.

Ignatius' imagery is often unexpected; in this letter he compares the Holy Spirit to a rope, and the Eucharist as medicine -- not current images. He compares the ideal state of the church to that of a choir.

The letter to Ephesus contains the evocative account of the nativity in Chapter 51. We reviewed the accounts of the nativity in Matthew and Luke, and discussed their differences, together with the non-evangelical view that Matthew was inventing, or at least selecting, stories to fit existing prophecies -- the ex eventu approach. With its emphasis on the cosmological significance of the incarnation, this ection is also reminiscent of the kenotic passage in Philippians 2.

We spent some time looking at the use that Clement makes of the Old Testament. His repertoire seems wider than Paul's, though he shares Paul's propensity for merging different excerpts together to make a new quotation! His (unattributed) quotes from the gospels are interesting, and we toyed with the idea that his excerpts may predate the redaction of the gospels themselves.

Chapter 59 starts with some of his usual threats, but segues into what may be an early Christian hymn.

We`were struck by Clement's description of God as the "prime cause of all animals", and compared it with Robinson's use of Tillich's phrase "the ground of our being".

Clement mentions the messengers who are carrying the letter to Corinth. They have patrician names, and it has been suggested that they were members of the imperial court, and Clement himself may have been an office-holder.

We reviewed the evidence for Clement having actual authority over the Corinthian church (Catholics, of course, accept him as the fourth Pope). We does use very direct language, but early in the letter says that the Corinthians had wishes to "consult" him. Although he enjoins them to obey the presbyters, he makes no such demand that they should obey him.

We looked at the contrast with our usual view that church officers should be replaced from to time with Clement's position that "presbyters" were appointed for life, and were owed total obedience by church members. Clement characterises opposition to the presbyters as "sedition" and quotes violent threats from the Wisdom literature in Proverbs. Catholics quote this material as establishing the Doctrine of Apostolic Succession.

We glanced at Clement's use of the doctrines of the Elect.

We were impressed by the amount of literature that Clement apparently had at his disposal -- I Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, and Romans. One commentator said that Clement appeared to have access to all NT scriptural sources other than the Johannine tradition.

We puzzled over his use of "King Sacrifice" material, and wondered about his sources; John suggested that Clement might know Euripedes' play "Alcestis".

Clement refers to sacrifices being made by the high priest in Jerusalem. This is unequivocally in the present tense; yet it is known that temple sacrifices ceased, once and for all, when the Roman occupied the Temple in 70CE. On the face of it, then it would appear that I Clement was written before 70 CE, some 25 years earlier than the usual date assumed for Clement's installation as Bishop of Rome.

We discussed some possibilities:

That there is a scribal error, and that the original is in a different tense

That Clement is quoting from some earlier document.

That sacrifices were made after 70 AD.

Dr. Isobel Combes suspects that we are overstating the issue:

We reviewed the known history of the letter known as I Clement, and discussed why it has never been thought be pseudonymous.

We enjoyed Clement's description of the Phoenix cycle, and wondered where he got his information.

We puzzled over Clement's references to the resurrection and his insistence on this as a future event. Apparently, there was a section of the Christian Church that believed that the general resurrection had already occured. Colossians 2:12 can be read this way, but Paul appears to oppose that view in Romans 6:4-5 .

Clement quotes Deuteronomy 32: 8-9 as "When the Most High divided the nations....... he fixed the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." NRSV translates this as "he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods" -- which suggests a quixotic image -- "I'll take Israel, you, Baal, take Syria; Artemis, you can have Greece; Odin, take Germany........"

Clement to Corinth 1-12

There is argument as to whether Clement was a Pope, with authority over other churches, or just a leader of a particular church, asked to give an opinion on a issue at another.

He makes fluent use of Old and New Testaments, although the canon of scripture was not be established for a few hundred years.

There are interesting references to Paul and Peter, including a reference to Paul as having reached "the limits of the West" Since there is no reference to this in Acts, it may mean that Paul survived his first trial in Rome, and went on to visit Spain.

Clement's letter refers, apparently, to the expulsion of presbyters from the church at Corinth. It is unclear what the point was at issue. Clement takes the view that churchmembers should be loyal to their presbyters, even "approaching them on bended knee". Whatever view one takes of the extent of the authority vested in Clement, it does seem that the church is well on it way to having an authoritative clergy.

(We also looked at CS Lewis' poem "A Cliche Escapes From Its Cage" in reference to last week's item in the Washington Post about paganism.)