Published Review or Modern Forgery?

Published Review or Modern Forgery? May 5, 2015

I just received notification that Review of Biblical Literature has published my review of Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery?: The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate: Proceedings from the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium, edited by Tony Burke. This is how it concludes:

I think it is indisputable that this volume represents an extremely important contribution to the study of Secret Mark. We hear from most of the major scholars involved in its study side by side in a single volume and are presented with most of the viewpoints they articulate and arguments they offer. The volume illustrates the difficulties involved in drawing conclusions about the authenticity of Secret Mark. If I had read only the papers that call it a forgery, I would be certain they were right. If I had read only the others, it would baffle me how anyone can still think it is a forgery. Reading both, I think that the case for authenticity is significantly stronger. But within this volume, most of the major questions, pieces of evidence, and difficult challenges are articulated clearly and effectively. The aim of reaching consensus has not been achieved, but the necessary groundwork if future scholars are to have any prospect of reaching that goal is certainly laid here. So I recommend this volume to anyone who is interested in Secret Mark or in the Gospel of Mark or in Clement and Alexandrian Christianity but most of all “to the one who knows” for certain that the work is authentic or inauthentic. The opposing viewpoints you encounter here will certainly provide food for thought, and they need to be considered before drawing a conclusion.

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