The Sexy Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is believed to be the oldest gospel in the New Testament. It is also the shortest.

In 1973, Morton Smith, a highly regarded ancient history professor from Columbia University, published a book in which he claimed to have discovered a copy of a letter written by the second century Church Father Clement of Alexandria concerning Mark. In this letter, Clement claims that there was an expanded, secret version of Mark.

Clement provides a quote from the Secret Gospel of Mark, and it is remarkably homoerotic.

This passage is supposedly between Mark 10: 34 and 10: 35...

“And they come into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and says to him, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me.’ But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightway, going in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon him, loved him and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And going out of the tomb they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God. And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan.”

A number of biblical scholars believe that Smith might have perpetrated a hoax, but they’ve not been able to prove it, and other scholars believe that the Clement letter might be legitimate. Smith, who is now dead, claimed to believe the quote from Clement’s letter gave insight into the historic Jesus and that it describes a private baptismal ritual he could have regularly performed on his male disciples.