Messianic Secret

The Messianic Secret is a motif in the Gospel of Mark, in which Jesus is portrayed as commanding his followers to maintain silence about his Messianic mission. Attention was first drawn to this motif in 1901 by William Wrede.

Part of Wrede's theory involved statements in the New Testament by Jesus to demons who recognize his divine nature as well as to his followers not to reveal to others that he is the Messiah.^[1]^[2] Wrede suggested that this theme was not historical but was an addition by the author of Mark. Wrede's broad concept of the Messianic Secret also involved the use of parables by Jesus.^[3]

Wrede's theory had an inherent inter-relationship with the hypothesis of Markan priority, which Wrede eventually abandoned, but some of his followers accepted.^[4] The theory of the Messianic secret was strongly criticized in the first years of the 20th century, then gained acceptance in the 1920s. It eventually began to lose support and by the 1970s it no longer existed as Wrede had proposed it.^[3] Since Wrede, attempts to decipher Mark's characterization of the disciples and the "Messianic Secret" have been centerstage.^[5]

^ William Wrede, Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien: Zugleich ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Markusevangeliums, (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1901); English edition, William Wrede, The Messianic Secret, trans. The Rev'd James C. G. Grieg (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 1971).
^ James L. Blevins. The Messianic Secret in Markan Research, 1901–1976. Washington, D. C.: University Press of America, 1981. ISBN 978-0-8191-1606-2
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Dean2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Head was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ The latest scholarship: Bibliowicz Abel M., Jewish-Christian Relations - The First Centuries (Mascarat, 2019); Neufeld, Dietmar Mockery and Secretism in the Social World of Mark's Gospel (2014), Iverson, Kelly R. Wherever the Gospel Is Preached': The Paradox of Secrecy in the Gospel of Mark in Kelly R. Iverson and Christopher W. Skinner eds. Mark as Story: Retrospect and Prospect (2011) 181–209; Watson, David F. Honor among Christians: The Cultural Key to the Messianic Secret (2010)

[Wrede-1] William Wrede, Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien: Zugleich ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Markusevangeliums, (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1901); English edition, William Wrede, The Messianic Secret, trans. The Rev'd James C. G. Grieg (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 1971).

[Blevins-2] James L. Blevins. The Messianic Secret in Markan Research, 1901–1976. Washington, D. C.: University Press of America, 1981. ISBN 978-0-8191-1606-2

[Dean2-3] Cite error: The named reference Dean2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Head-4] Cite error: The named reference Head was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[5] The latest scholarship: Bibliowicz Abel M., Jewish-Christian Relations - The First Centuries (Mascarat, 2019); Neufeld, Dietmar Mockery and Secretism in the Social World of Mark's Gospel (2014), Iverson, Kelly R. Wherever the Gospel Is Preached': The Paradox of Secrecy in the Gospel of Mark in Kelly R. Iverson and Christopher W. Skinner eds. Mark as Story: Retrospect and Prospect (2011) 181–209; Watson, David F. Honor among Christians: The Cultural Key to the Messianic Secret (2010)

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