The Secret Gospel of Mark

Finalist for the 2024 Hamilton Book Award, sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin

“A brilliant and compelling book. Systematically, thoughtfully, boldly, The Secret Gospel of Mark sets aside generations of speculation and innuendo. It is difficult to imagine a more expertly researched or more accessible account of this scholarly puzzle.”—Robyn Walsh, University of Miami

“In their reexamination of one of the most controversial textual discoveries of the past few generations, Smith and Landau offer a compelling new theory for the text’s origin, as well as a fascinating study of manuscript transmission, libraries, and scholarly culture.”—Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos, Amherst College

“Written with the verve, pace, and accuracy of a true-crime story, The Secret Gospel of Mark proposes a new, powerfully persuasive interpretation of this mysterious text—now maybe misplaced, quarantined, or destroyed.”—John Dominic Crossan, DePaul University

“Smith and Landau’s Secret Gospel of Mark expertly tackles one of the great modern controversies in biblical studies, along with perhaps the most controversial biblical scholar of the last hundred years. Smith and Landau dive deep into the life and work of Morton Smith and the question of whether he discovered an alternative history of the Gospel of Mark, bringing to light exciting new information and charting a responsible and compelling course through the debate.”—Cavan Concannon, University of Southern California