2009
I was reading this morning the latest entry on James Tabor’s blog (The Jesus Dynasty 2006) about scholar Morton Smith (Jesus the Magician 1978) and the controversy over the Secret Gospel of Mark. I won’t go into the arguments raised here but rather will provide the links to Tabor’s blog, an article in the most recent BAR (Biblical Archaeology Review) and to an article in The Nation on the subject.
Bart Ehrman also discusses the controversy in his Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew 2003: 67-89.
It is a fascinating debate and whatever your own conclusions, it demonstrates the extent to which early Christianity did not simply appear – like the formation of the United States, it was not an event, but a process, one that took place over many years.
Addendum (11:48 am, 11/2/09): I have updated the Wikipedia entry for the Morton Smith book to provide a more nuanced discussion of the subject raised by Smith.
