BONUS|Defending the Longer Ending of Mark w/ James Snapp Jr.

by John DeRosa · Published January 6, 2021 · Updated December 27, 2020

Summary

What is the Longer Ending of Mark? What are the arguments against its authenticity? Can they be answered? What are the arguments for its authenticity? James Snapp Jr. joins us to discuss the evidence surrounding this contested passage.

Guest Bio

James Snapp, Jr. is a Christian preacher and researcher, specializing in the field of New Testament textual criticism. He graduated from Cincinnati Bible College in 1990 and was a missionary in Central America in the 1990s. He preaches at Curtisville Christian Church in central Indiana.

Topics

What is a textual variant and what are some of the more well-known variants in the New Testament?
How would you respond to the following points made against the authenticity of Mark 16:9-20:
- A) Some of our best and earliest manuscripts end the book after verse 8, and others agree with them in omitting verses 9-20 yet have an alternative ending.
- B) The fact that there are multiple endings, other interpolations, and alternative inclusions, including the “freer logion”, shows that Christians were not confident about the true ending including 9-20. So, scribes probably inserted different endings to satisfy Gospel hearers.
- C) The great fourth-century scholars Eusebius and Jerome testify that the passage is wanting in all of the best Greek manuscripts known to them.
- D) It is only quoted once or twice in the whole Christian literature down to 325 AD (this claim is made in “Saint Mark” by D.E. Nineham, Pelican New Testament Commentaries).
- E) The style and vocabulary, which smack of the second century according to some, are completely different from those of Mark.
What evidence do you bring forth to argue for the authenticity of Mark 16:9-20?