Mnemonic Triangulation and Secret Mark (Part One) – Le Donne

I’ve been tinkering with Morton’s Smith’s famous Secret Mark—at topic that I’ve never touched before—and I found that my take is a bit different from others.  My reading doesn’t provide any great new revelation, nothing worthy of a journal article, but perhaps interesting to work up for a couple blog posts.  This post will simply frame a few particulars.

According to biblical scholar Morton Smith (1915–1991) he discovered an ancient letter written by Clement of Alexandria (c.150–c.215), recopied in the 18^th century onto the back pages of another book, and preserved in a Greek Orthodox monastery called Mar Saba (south of Jerusalem).  What would make this particular letter unique and what would bring Smith unprecedented notoriety for a biblical scholar was this: it included a previously unknown story about Jesus from a purportedly longer version of Mark’s Gospel.  Smith claimed to have discovered this document during his second visit to Mar Saba in 1958 and announced this find in 1960.  He didn’t publish his books on the subject until 1973.

Poll about Secret Mark

If you have an opinion, please take the above poll at the bottom of the page.  Please note the use of the word "probably" and keep in mind that you'll not be asked to give an account of yourself concerning this on judgement day.... well probably.  If you'd like to give an account of your answer, please do so by commenting on this post.

-anthony

King Jesus.... literally?

Tom Verenna has brought a very original thesis to my attention. I can't wait for the documentary on this one!

-anthony

Hugo Chavez will Return on Resurrection Day with Jesus says Ahmadinejad

Hugo Chavez had a friend in Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who apparently held the Venezuelan leader in such high regard that he believes he will "return on resurrection day" with Jesus Christ and will "establish peace, justice, and kindness" on earth.

Full story here.

I would like to formally request for someone to say this about me at my funeral... or, really, whenever.

-anthony

Constructing Jesus, Now in Paperback

If you've been waiting for a reduced price, wait no longer:



-anthony

Jesus the Polygamist, Part II - Le Donne

Yesterday I asked for help regarding Mormon patriarch Jedediah Grant's appeal to Aulus Cornelius Celsus to suggest that Jesus was polygamous.  Help I received!  The mysterious "Mark" writes:

Jesus the Polygamist: A Riddle from the Annals of Mormonism - Le Donne

Allow me to apologize at the start to any Mormons who visit this site.  This post is going to cast a dubious light on at least one Mormon luminary.  I cannot claim to be an expert in Mormonism and (not that this matters much) I don't know any Mormons.  I have no reason to dislike Mormons or insult Mormons.  I have, however, spent the last week studying early Mormon views on "Jesus the polygamist".  This post is my attempt to enlist a bit of help from (a) my classicist colleagues and (b) experts on early Mormon chicanery.

I ask that your comments demonstrate civility.  All religions have embarrassing figures, doctrines, traditions, etc.  By pointing out this one bit of skullduggery, I do not mean to suggest that Mormons are unique.  I'm simply trying to get to the bottom of a riddle.  Also, I've been looking for a chance to use the word skullduggery.

When the early "Mormonites" emerged from the mainline/evangelical primordial ooze, there was no evidence of polygamy.  In fact, the Book of Mormon suggests that monogamy ought to be the default.  From 1829, through the 1830s: no plural marriage.  Then, in the mid-1840s, prophet Joseph Smith started acquiring "spiritual wives" in secret (polygamy was illegal in most states including Illinois where the sect was based).  It wasn't long before the cat was out of the bag and the sect was persecuted for this practice.  The first public advocate for the doctrine of plural marriage, Orson Pratt, made his case in a 1853 publication.  A year later, Jedediah M. Grant made a similar defense.  One of the standard arguments (and there were many) in support of the doctrine was that Jesus was a polygamist.  Here is a quotation from Grant:

Kyle Hughes on the Pericope Adulterae in NovT—Chris Keith

Kyle Hughes, a Dallas Theological Seminary student and soon-to-be PhD student at the University of Virginia, kindly sent me an early copy of his forthcoming Novum Testamentum article “The Lukan Special Material and the Tradition History of the Pericope Adulterae.”  Kyle argues from Lukanisms in the Pericope Adulterae that an early version of the text was in “L,” the source Luke allegedly used alongside Q and Mark.  In so doing, he adds further argumentation to a view associated at various times with Henry Cadbury, Bart Ehrman, and Josep Rius-Camps.  Hughes takes a couple shots at some of my publications on the Pericope Adulterae, specifically the fact that I don’t think arguments based on linguistic style are ultimately persuasive.  He hasn’t changed my mind there.  At the end of the article he agrees with my argument about the Pericope Adulterae’s insertion into John’s Gospel, so it all balances out!  All in all, this is an impressive contribution for a piece of work that I suspect was originally a ThM paper!  Dan Wallace is clearly investing heavily in his students, and he has bright ones in which to invest.  Congrats to Kyle. 

The Bible: Not as Bad as it Used to Be! - Le Donne

Peter Enns reflects on the new History Channel series:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peterenns/2013/03/the-bible-on-the-history-channel-not-the-absolute-train-wreck-i-thought-it-would-be/

If you got a chance to see it, chime in over at Pete's blog with your thoughts.  If, like me, you didn't watch it, chime in below and let us know what you did instead.  I played a board game called "Telestrations" with my wife, 8-year-old daughter, and 5-year-old son.  I'll admit to being unnerved when I was forced to draw the phrase "french kiss".  Here in America, we "freedom kiss" my friends.

-anthony

Dedicated to Chris Keith:

~love anthony

Holocaust Numbers Eclipse Previous Estimates

A few years back, I introduced a friend of mine who works at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to another friend who works in social memory and modern history.  The first guy asked the second, "Have you ever considered working on the Holocaust?" The second guy replied, "No, there really isn't anything more to say." The conversation that followed illustrated that there is very much more to say indeed.  Perhaps I'll detail it later this week.  Today, I'll just point you to this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/sunday-review/the-holocaust-just-got-more-shocking.html

Still unbelievable after all these years.

-anthony

Quarterly Quote of the Month about Jesus for this Week

“In the specially Christian case we have to react against the heavy bias of fatigue. It is almost impossible to make the facts vivid, because the facts are familiar; and for fallen men it is often true that familiarity is fatigue. I am convinced that if we could tell the supernatural story of Christ word for word as of a Chinese hero, call him the Son of Heaven instead of the Son of God, and trace his rayed nimbus in the gold thread of Chinese embroideries or the gold lacquer of Chinese pottery, instead of in the gold leaf of our own old Catholic paintings, there would be a unanimous testimony to the spiritual purity of the story. We should hear nothing then of the injustice of substitution or the illogicality of atonement, of the superstitious exaggeration of the burden of sin or the impossible insolence of an invasion of the laws of nature. We should admire the chivalry of the Chinese conception of a god who fell from the sky to fight the dragons and save the wicked from being devoured by their own fault and folly. We should admire the subtlety of the Chinese view of life, which perceives that all human imperfection is in very truth a crying imperfection. We should admire the Chinese esoteric and superior wisdom, which said there are higher cosmic laws than the laws we know.”                                                                        
                                                               
                                                                                    ~G.K. Chesterton

From the Pen of Lord Byron

They say that Hope is happiness;

   But genuine Love must prize the past,

And Memory wakes the thoughts that bless;

   They rose the first—they set the last.

And all that Memory loves the most

    Was once our only Hope to be,

And all that Hope adored and lost

    Hath melted into Memory.

Alas! it is delusion all:

   The future cheats us from afar,

Nor can we be what we recall,

   Nor dare we think on what we are.

                                               1815