The document discusses the authenticity of Mark 16:9-20 in the Bible. It summarizes that while some of the oldest Greek manuscripts from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE do not include these verses, the majority of later Greek manuscripts and translations in other languages do contain them. It also notes that early Church fathers, such as Irenaeus, quoted from these verses, indicating they were present in the texts during the 2nd century CE. Therefore, while some verses were possibly added later to complete the ending, there is significant evidence that early Christians accepted Mark 16:9-20 as authentic parts of Scripture.

1. The authenticity of Mark 16
By
Brian Birdow
Sermon text: Mark 16:9-20
www.cmcoc.org

2. The Word of God
• Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add unto
the word which I command you, neither
shall you take away from it, that you may
keep the commandments of the LORD
your God which I command you.

3. The Word of God
• Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is
pure: he is a shield unto them that put
their trust in him. Add not unto his words,
lest he reprove you, and you be found a
liar.

4. The Word of God
• Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man
that hears the words of the prophecy of this
book, If any man shall add unto these things,
God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book:
• Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of
the book of life, and out of the holy city, and
from the things which are written in this book.

5. Satan is a LIAR!
• Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said, You shall not eat of it, neither
shall you touch it, lest you die.
• Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto
the woman, You shall not surely die:

6. Jesus Temptation
• Mark 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty
days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild
beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
• Matthew 4:6 And said unto him, If you are the Son
of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall
give his angels charge concerning you: and in their
hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you
dash your foot against a stone.

7. The devil Misleads!
• Psalms 91:9-12 Because you have made
the LORD, who is my refuge, even the
most High, your habitation; There shall no
evil befall you, neither shall any plague
come near your dwelling. For he shall give
his angels charge over you, to keep you in
all your ways. They shall bear you up in
their hands, lest you dash your foot
against a stone.

8. The devil Misleads!
• This is a mutilated quotation of Ps 91:11.
The clause, to keep thee in all thy ways,
Satan chose to leave out, as quite
unsuitable to his design. That God has
promised to protect and support his
servants, admits of no dispute; but, as the
path of duty is the way of safety, they are
entitled to no good when they walk out of
it.

9. Psalms 91:11
• This quotation from, is a metaphor taken
from a nurse's management of her child:
in teaching it to walk, she guides it along
plain ground; but, when stones or other
obstacles occur, she lifts up the child, and
carries it over them, and then sets it down
to walk again. Thus she keeps it in all its
ways, watching over, and guarding every
step it takes.

10. The Apostle Paul
• 1 Thessalonians 2:7 But we were gentle among
you, even as a nurse cherishes her children:
• Thus the most merciful God deals with the children
of men, ever guarding them by his eye, and
defending them by his power. (Mt.23:37)
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it.

11. Mark 16:9-20
• Whenever the subject of baptism is
carefully studied, Mark 16:9-20 certainly
will come up. Mark 16:16 contains a very
strong passage in favor of water baptism
being essential to salvation, so those who
say that baptism is not essential will
usually cast a doubt on the
genuineness of the verses.

12. Truth
• The two oldest and best Greek
manuscripts do not have the verses.
Some textual critics think that the words
were written later, that a part of Mark’s
original was lost, and that later copyists
tried to supply an ending.

13. Truth
• At verse 8 “Aleph and B, the two oldest and best
Greek manuscripts of the New Testament stop. . . “
(Word Pictures In The New Testament, Vol. 1, P.
402.)
• Three Armenian manuscripts also end at verse 8.
• Some documents have a shorter ending than the
usual long one.
• One Armenian manuscript attributes it to one
named Ariston.

14. Lets
Define
WORDS

15. Manuscripts
• Manuscript - Notice! Greek documents
only! Other ancient writings which are
written in a different language are called
versions. So it is often misleading to say
that the oldest manuscripts do not contain
Mark 16:9-20.
• Many, even older, versions may have it.
“Manuscript” is a technical term which
applies only to Greek documents.

16. Definitions
• Genuine - Notice very carefully! A manuscript
is genuine if it is written by the author of the
manuscript. If Peter would have written the
fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans,
the fourth chapter would not be called
genuine. Thus the fourth chapter would be
inspired but not genuine.
• Codex - a manuscript prepared like our
modern day book.

17. Versions
• Versions - translations in other languages than
Greek. Many of them are quite old, older than
many manuscripts.
• Church Fathers - quotations from early
Christians who wrote down scripture in their
writings. Many of these writings are older than
our oldest manuscripts.
• There are over 86,000 quotations from which we
can construct the New Testament.

18. Casting Doubt
• The American Standard Version includes
it with a footnote stating “The two Oldest
Greek manuscripts, and some other
authorities omit verse 9 to the end.
• Some other authorities have a different
ending to the gospel.”

19. Casting Doubt
• The Revised Standard Version concludes the
chapter at verse 8 but adds verses 9-20 in a
footnote.
• The same procedure is followed in the New
English Bible, The TCNT, Moffatt’s version,
Goodspeed’s, Phillip’s. and many more. They all
show doubt indicated by bracketing, footnotes or
a special heading (“Bible League Quarterly”,
April- June, 1973).

20. J. W. McGarvey
• J. W. McGarvey reported that he examined the last
twelve verses of Luke’s Gospel and found nine words
which are not elsewhere used in his narrative, and
among them are four which are not elsewhere found
in the New Testament. He writes:
• . . . none of our critics have thought it worthwhile to
mention this fact, if they have noticed it, much less
have they raised a doubt in regard to the
genuineness of this passage. Doubtless many other
examples of the same kind could be found in the New
Testament; but these are amply sufficient to show
that the argument, which we are considering is but a
shallow sophism. (New Testament Commentary:
Matthew and Mark, p. 380.)

21. Truth Speaks
• Manuscript Evidence.
• Though the verses are not found in Codex
Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, three of
the five oldest manuscripts have the
verses. Not only that, all other of the
hundreds of Greek manuscripts, except
the handful mentioned, have the verses.

22. Truth Speaks
• Apostolic Fathers.
• One of the most significant facts in favor of the
twelve verses is that Irenaeus (140-200) quotes
from the verses in question and states that they
were written by Mark. Now in construction the text of
the New Testament the following are used: Greek
manuscripts, quotations from ancient church writers,
lectionaries and versions. Irenaeus is a witness for
the verses 200 (! ! !) years before Vaticanus and
Sinaiticus were even written.

23. Truth Speaks
• Notice, Irenaeus was a pupil of Polycarp
who was a companion to the apostles and
a pupil of John. This pupil of a pupil of
John says in his day that Mark wrote the
verses. Irenaeus is the oldest witness on
the matter! He is a much older witness
than Vaticanus or Sinaiticus and this must
be kept in mind

24. Truth Speaks
• Versions.
• It is not significant to note that some of the
versions which include the twelve verses
antedate Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, i.e., Peshito
Syriac, the Old Italic, the Sahidic and the Coptic.
Besides that fact, the greater majority of all the
versions contain the verses, and the four we
have mentioned above contain the verses. The
evidence of the versions is overwhelmingly in
favor of the twelve verses.