Abstract
This volume brings together scholars on both sides of one of the most contentious issues in the study of Christian origins – the question over whether Morton Smith is the discoverer or creator of the Letter to Theodore ascribed to Clement of Alexandria – in a spirited yet respectful debate. It begins with a foreword by Paul Foster, providing an international perspective on the collection of papers from a group of North American scholars, and an overview of the discovery of the manuscript along with the subsequent scholarship on it by Tony Burke. The major arguments for and against the authenticity of this text are covered. On the one hand, the cited fragments of ‘Secret Mark’ in the Letter to Theodore are explicated as an expansion of canonical Mark in light of the art of imitatio in ancient rhetoric (Hendrick) or, alternatively, as part of an earlier interconnected subplot about a rich young disciple removed from the canonical text with just a few traces left behind (Mark 10:17-22, 46; 14:51-52; 16:1-8) (Meyer). Additionally, Scott Brown argues that the imagery of the epistle itself accords with Clement’s thought about the role of mystical allegorical exegesis in leading to a higher state of Christian gnosis. This contrasts with Peter Jeffery’s view that the framing epistle reflects an anachronistic understanding of baptism in second century Alexandria. On the other hand, the scholars who charge Smith with forging the document insist that it parallels Smith’s prior lines of research as well as the novel The Mystery of Mar Saba published before its purported discovery in 1958 (Evans, Carlson), consists of a number of sexual double entendres (Jeffery), or furnishes further evidence for Smith’s hypothesis about Jesus as an antinomian messiah in the mold of Sabbatai Tzevi (Piovanelli). Yet Charles Hendrick, Scott Brown and Allan Pantuck offer rebuttals to the case for forgery, noting where the alleged parallels may be stretched or misrepresented, and questioning whether Smith had the ability to compose a Clementine letter in an eighteenth century Greek hand, and may instill reasonable doubt in the jury to ward off a guilty verdict. Undoubtedly the stalemate on the authenticity of the Letter to Theodore will continue, but this book is a commendable model of how to engage academic peers on a controversial matter and all future research on this subject must interact with the arguments contained within its pages.