The Secret Gospel of Mark refers to a version of the Gospel of Mark being circulated in 2nd century Alexandria, which was kept from the Christian community at large. This non-canonical gospel fragment was discovered in 1958, by biblical researcher Morton Smith at the Mar Saba monastery.
In this fragment, Clement of Alexandria explains that Mark, during Peter's stay in Rome wrote an account of the life of Jesus. Mark selected those events that would be the most helpful to the Church. When Peter died a martyr, Mark left Rome and went to Alexandria. He brought both his own writings and those of Peter. It was here that Mark composed a second more spiritual Gospel and when he died, he left his composition to the Church. The Carpocrates got a copy of this Gospel and they misinterpreted it, which caused problems for the early Church.
Some modern scholars maintain the Secret Gospel is a clumsy forgery, while others accept this text as being authentic. The nature of the Secret Gospel of Mark as well as Morton Smith's role in its discovery are still being debated.
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