| Clement passage | Greek cited / alluded to | Synoptic / NT locus | Markan corridor location | Gospel profile | Effect on Secret Mark / Canon thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strom. 5.1–2 | Ταῦτα μὲν ἐν τῷ κατὰ Μᾶρκον εὐαγγελίῳ γέγραπται | Explicit reference to Mark; comparison with other Gospels | Conceptually presupposes corridor | Mark as primary reference; others secondary | Strongly supportive (explicit Markan primacy) |
In Stromateis 5.1–2 Clement makes an unusually explicit and programmatic statement about his gospel sources. He does not merely cite a dominical saying, nor does he introduce a harmonized logion. Instead, he names Mark directly and identifies it as the gospel in which the material under discussion is written: “These things are written in the Gospel according to Mark.” Only afterward does he add that the same teaching appears in the other “acknowledged” gospels, albeit with minor verbal variation.
The structure of Clement’s statement is crucial. Mark is not listed as one witness among equals. It is presented first, independently, and as the baseline text, while the remaining gospels are described collectively and secondarily as exhibiting the same συμφωνία τῆς γνώμης despite μικραὶ ἐναλλαγαί τῶν ῥημάτων. This asymmetry reveals Clement’s operative hierarchy: Mark provides the reference form of the tradition, while the others are confirmatory parallels.
Notably, Clement does not say that Mark agrees with Matthew or Luke; rather, he says that the others agree with Mark in sense. This reverses the later patristic tendency—especially visible in Eusebius and Augustine—to treat Matthew as the narrative anchor. Clement’s language presupposes a Mark-centered comparison, in which variation is measured against Mark, not vice versa.
From the standpoint of the Secret Mark / Canon thesis, this passage is methodologically decisive. It demonstrates that Clement consciously treats Mark as a textual and conceptual control when evaluating gospel agreement. This strongly coheres with his Mark-based exposition in Quis Dives Salvetur and explains why Markan narrative structure—especially within the discipleship corridor—can surface independently of Matthean framing elsewhere in the Stromateis.
Accordingly, Stromateis 5.1–2 should be classified as strong positive evidence. It does not merely show Clement using Mark; it shows Clement thinking with Mark as a primary gospel, against which the others are read. This provides a direct antecedent for the later phenomenon whereby Mark functions as a hidden narrative axis beneath Eusebius’s Gospel Canons, even when Matthew is allowed to appear numerically or visually dominant.
