We are on the trail of evidence which might suggest that the so-called 'mystic' gospel of Mark referenced in the Letter to Theodore might have been better known in antiquity than is generally acknowledged. The way scholars treat the discovery at Mar Saba, the letter is a reaction on the part of Clement of Alexandria to a certain 'libertine' sect of Christianity (i.e. the so-called 'Carpocratians') who engage in ritualized orgies in their churches. It was Morton Smith who first developed this formula explaining Theodore's original reference to 'naked with naked' (γυμνὸς γυμνῷ) as a question about homosexuality in Alexandrian Christianity. All subsequent attacks against the Letter to Theodore develop from this same assumption and turn around the interpretation as 'proof' that Morton Smith forged the letter (Smith being an alleged 'homosexual' though no proof is ever given other than his status as a confirmed bachelor).
Yet our explanation of the letter is far superior to that of the so-called 'experts' who are gathering in Toronto for an upcoming one day conference on the discovery. 'Naked with naked' is a well known Platonic reference to the doctrine of the judgment of the dead in the hereafter (Gorgias 523d). The letter makes far better sense as developing from an original question from Theodore regarding a contemporary accusation that St. Mark stole ideas from Plato. Indeed, as we have demonstrated over the last few days Gorgias 523d has never stopped being used by Catholic writers to explain what happens to you when you die. There are allusions to this section of the Gorgias as recently as the current Pope and from him back through an almost unbroken chain to the earliest Fathers, likely including Clement of Alexandria himself.
This is what we know about the original letter from Theodore. He writes to ask Clement about whether or not 'naked with naked' is present in the gospel (or perhaps in the Alexandrian literature related to the gospel). Clement's answer is contained in the Letter to Theodore and he begins by attacking the Carpocratians who are directly or indirectly identified as the source for Theodore's information. Theodore is also said to have 'shut the mouth' of the Carpocratians - so it would seem that he has had contact with other Alexandrians before writing to Clement and was either unhappy or disturbed with their explanation of the 'naked with naked' reference.
The important thing is to realize that 'naked with naked' would naturally be taken as a reference to Gorgias 523d. We have already demonstrated from Maximus of Tyre's Forty First Dissertation that the very same two word phrase could be cited on its own and his hearer would immediately recognize it as an allusion to Plato's understanding of what happened to the soul of the dead - i.e. that they stripped off their physical bodies and stood judged by a naked 'son of God.' Clement of Alexandria would certainly have recognized Maximus of Tyre's allusion if he had heard one of his orations or picked up a written transcript of Dissertation 41. Why then should we continue to promote the Philistinism of Morton Smith, Stephen Carlson, Scott Brown, Birger Pearson, Craig Evans, Peter Jeffrey, Larry Hurtado, Francis Watson and the like.
Let's face it. Outside of a handful of Jewish texts most of the Bible represents the worst kind of writing. None of the prophets were great literary stylists. So yes, these men are experts on a range of texts from the 'Old Testament,' the 'New Testament,' the Jewish and Christian apocrypha but there is only so much that one individual can read and learn. The Greek philosophical tradition represents a more erudite culture and superior expression of sublimity. While Smith, Carlson, Brown et al could likely cite a passage from the Bible with relative ease they wouldn't be able to figure out Yeats's borrow of 'naked with naked' from Gorgias 523d without referring to a copy of Cliff notes.
To this end, these people have done more harm to the study of the Mar Saba document than anyone can ever estimate. The upcoming 'Secret Mark conference' without my presence there only perpetuates this tragedy. Clement isn't a typical Church Father. His books have as many references to Plato as any other Biblical writer. You might expect these Philistines to make sense of Irenaeus or Athanasius but Clement? We need Yeats rather than years of Biblical conferences like the one in Toronto, Maximus of Tyre rather than maximizing irrelevant discussions about Morton Smith's relationship with Sabbatai Tzevi or all other stuff being promoted at this event.
The real question is can we connect a Platonic interpretation of the gospel and Mark chapter 10 in particular to Theodore's original request to Clement. In other words, is Clement actually answering a question about Plato being present in the Alexandrian gospel. I think we can. Of course none of what I am about to write has any bearing on the question of whether my theory is better than the vulgar interpretation of the rest of those who engage in 'Secret Mark scholarship.' They are barbarians or at least have souls soiled with barbarian logic. Clement represents something very different and so do I with my interpretation. It is far more Clementine than the nonsense that they spew. So I bring forward all my investigations already starting from a position of superiority and affinity with Clement's superiority over other Church Fathers and writings which these men study.
So in the spirit of Clementine inquiry let us ask - can one make a case that Clement was responding to an original accusation that the ideas of the Alexandrian gospel were 'stolen' from Plato? Indeed not merely 'the gospel as a whole' but the section which corresponds to Mark chapter 10? Of course we can because the very same argument appears in the writings of another middle Platonist - Celsus - (Clement and Maximus being the other 'middle Platonists'). It has long been noted that Celsus and Maximus share a lot of similarities especially with regards to the Middle Platonist interest in making the daemons the intermediaries between God and man. These similarities are one reason that I still suspect that Maximus of Tyre may well have written his Forty First Dissertation with the Alexandrian Church's doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, speaking inter pares to fellow Platonists who happened to be Christians. Yet that will all have to wait until my next post ...
Stephan Huller has had a life long interest in religion and spirituality 
dating back to conversations with his grandfather, Gaston Frank. "He said we represent one of the last descendants of the Frankist Jewish faith in the world," he muses. "I grew up thinking that our family was something like the Last of the Mohicans."