[German Version]

The only existing fragments of the Secret Gospel of Mark are two quotes in a letter of Clement of Alexandria (authenticity is disputed) copied around 1750, which was discovered by Morton Smith in 1958 in Mar Saba Monastery (Sabas Monastery; 18 km southeast of Jerusalem). The letter is a reply to the question of a certain Theodorus concerning the “Secret Gospel” used by the Carpocratians (Carpocrates/Carpocratians). Clement describes this gospel as a forgery of the Secret Gospel authored in Alexandria by Mark himself, which is only ¶ read by those who “are initiated …