Morton Smith
Morton Smith (born May 28, 1915 in Philadelphia , † July 11, 1991 in New York City ) was an American historian , theologian and university professor . He taught u. a. at Columbia University Ancient History . He was best known for discovering the controversial Secret Gospel of Mark .
Life
Smith earned bachelor degrees at Harvard College and the Harvard University , a doctorate then in history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and in theology at Harvard Divinity School . He then taught at Brown University and Drew University and moved to Columbia University in 1957 . In 1958, during a sabbatical in the Mar Saba monastery near Bethlehem, he discovered a fragment of the controversial Secret Gospel of Mark and published a paper on magical elements of early Christianity in 1960 . He dated the establishment of strict monotheism in Judaism at a relatively late date. He was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1973. After his retirement as a professor in 1985, he held lectures in theology until 1990.
Smith died of heart failure in Manhattan and left no immediate relatives.
Publications (selection)
- Tannaitic Parallels to the Gospels (1951)
- The Ancient Greeks (1960)
- Heroes and Gods: Spiritual Biographies in Antiquity (with Moses Hadas ) (1965)
- Palestinian Parties and Politics That Shaped the Old Testament (1971)
- Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark (1973)
- The Secret Gospel (1973)
- The Ancient History of Western Civilization (together with Elias Bickermann ) (1976)
- Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God? (1978)
- Hope and History (1980)
- Studies in the Cult of Yahweh. Vol. 1. Historical Method, Ancient Israel, Ancient Judaism. Vol. 2. New Testament, Early Christianity, and Magic (edited by Shaye JD Cohen) (1996)
- What the Bible Really Says (edited with R. Joseph Hoffmann ) (1992).
In addition, numerous articles in magazines and other publications.
Awards
- Lionel Trilling Book Award (for Jesus the Magician )
- Ralph Marcus Centennial Award of the Society of Biblical Literature
Web links
- Glenn Fowler Morton Smith, Columbia Professor And Ancient-Religion Scholar, 76 , New York Times obituary , July 13, 1991, accessed August 25, 2011
Individual evidence
- ^ Neusner, Jacob, Christianity, Judaism, and other Greco-Roman Cults. Part 1: New Testament , ed. J. Neusner, Studies for Morton Smith at Sixty, vol 1, New Testament (Leiden: EJ Brill, 1975), pp. Ix.
- ↑ Calder III, William M. “Smith, Morton”, in Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists , Ward W. Briggs, Jr., (ed.) (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), p. 600.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Morton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American historian, theologian, and university professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 28, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 11, 1991 |
| Place of death | New York City |