I am spending increasing amounts of my day with my visiting mother so I have to make this brief but I wanted to note why Stephen C Carlson's 'conspiracy theory' about to Theodore find such resonance with scholars (aside from the obvious fact that most conservative academics wish Morton Smith's discovery would somehow go away).
Carlson actually provides a definitive explanation for the Letter to Theodore - viz. it was a hoax developed as a kind of revenge by Morton Smith because he was essentially a gay man with an ax to grind against the religious establishment.
While many have endeavored to prove that Carlson's explanation is BS at the very least it has to be acknowledged he provides a clear and concise account of what people should think about To Theodore and Secret Mark.
Read Scott Brown's defense of the discovery and matters aren't so clear cut.
Go through Mark's Other Gospel and the reader is still left wondering - what are we to make of these texts? What are we to believe?
If progress in science consists of the development of better explanations for the causes of natural phenomena, 'better' often gets confused with 'most useful.'
The point is that we can walk away from Carlson's explanation with certainty; Brown can only argues that there is reason to doubt the discovery. Yet the historical circumstances which prompted Clement to write To Theodore are never proved. How Secret Mark relates to our canonical gospel of Mark seems utterly dissatisfying.
One never gets the feeling that Brown actually provides a convincing explanation for the CONTEXT of either To Theodore or Secret Mark. He is like an athlete who goes out looking to play for a stalemate or a draw.
Yet in the real world no one has time for ambiguity. People want simple sound bites and Carlson's "it's a fake" will beat out Brown's three hundred page "you can't prove it's a fake" defense any day.
Sorry, I don't have more time for this post. I have to entertain Mommy ...
If you are interested in reading how this observation fits within my greater understanding of the workings of Secret Mark WITHIN the contemporary Alexandrian Church please go here
If you want to read more about how Alexandrian Christianity was rooted in the Jewish traditions of Alexandria, Philo of Alexandria and more feel free to purchase my new book here
