Mar Saba letter

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The Mar Saba letter is a Greek document Morton Smith said he found in 1958 at the Mar Saba monastery. It survives only in two sets of photographs today. The letter is said to be written by Clement of Alexandria and mentions a "Secret Gospel of Mark."

Smith announced his discovery in 1960. He claimed the text was hidden in the endpapers of a 1646 edition of the works of Ignatius of Antioch, owned by Isaac Vossius. He published books about the find in 1973 and 1974, which included black-and-white photographs he said were taken at the time of the discovery. In 1976, four scholars visited Mar Saba and saw the manuscript; one of them, Guy Stroumsa, later wrote about the visit.

In 1977 the manuscript volume was moved to the library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. The pages were torn out and photographed separately, with those photographs released in 2000. Since then, scholars have had limited access to the manuscript and have relied on Smith’s photographs, which paleographers date to the late 17th to early 19th centuries.

The letter is addressed to someone named Theodore and discusses a "Secret Gospel of Mark," including two quotes from this gospel, one mentioning "the mystery of the kingdom of God." Clement praises Theodore for opposing the Carpocratians, then addresses questions about the Gospel of Mark. He says there is another secret version of the gospel written by Mark for "those being perfected," but argues that the Carpocratians distorted the original with their own additions. The letter provides two excerpts to illustrate this, but it breaks off before Clement finishes explaining the passages.

Some researchers have noted parallels between the Secret Gospel of Mark and a 1940 novel, The Mystery of Mar Saba. In 1980, the letter was included in a standard edition of Clement’s works. However, doubts about its authenticity have persisted. In 1975 Quentin Quesnell questioned the manuscript’s origin and suggested it might be a forgery, though he did not accuse Smith directly. In 2005 Stephen Carlson published Gospel Hoax, arguing that Smith forged the text. Other scholars have offered a range of views, with no final consensus.

The central idea—an inner initiation and a hidden truth—appears in Gnostic writings and mystery religions of the period. Whether the Mar Saba letter is genuine, and who might have written it, remains unresolved.