I watched Wes Huff’s Youtube video The Gospel of Mark is missing its ending? Let me explain…, and I found it very interesting. In his video, he explained that Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus are the two oldest copies of the Bible and were produced around 350 AD. Both of these copies have Mark 16:9-20 missing. He went on to explain that both have a strange anomaly at the end of Mark that can best be explained as the scribes having a copy of the ending but had questions about it, as in they were not sure it should be canon, but left room for the ending to be added later.

This led me to do some quick research on the internet, and found that the next oldest copies: Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Washingtonianus, do have those versus, and were made around 400 AD. (I got his from the Dunham Bible Museum web site.) I also found that while the Apostolic Fathers (Christians from the generation after the Apostles) did not quote these verses; Irenaeus the Bishop of Lugdunum (Lyons) did quote them around 180 AD. (I got this from James Snapp Jr’s blog.)  And since Irenaeus quoted it, I think it’s safe to say it these verses predates his quote by at least 30 years.

Now let’s consider when Mark’s Gospel was written. I accept the case that Luke’s Gospel was written before Paul was executed. Most scholars say that Paul was executed around 65AD with some saying 68 AD. Now it’s almost universally accepted that Mark wrote his Gospel before Luke. As a guess let’s ten years before. That would have him writing it somewhere between 45 and 60 AD. That would mean that sometime in the hundred years between the initial writing and Irenaeus, the ending was added and accepted by the church.

I say it was added because Mr. Huff pointed out that due to textual analysis almost every expert (including himself) agrees that Mark didn’t write it. They say this because the word usage and overall style differs with the rest of the book. Since I’m not even close to an expert, I’ll defer to his expertise and agree that Mark didn’t write it.

Now I’ve given you all this background to make this point. At the end of his video, Wes Huff said that since Mark didn’t write it, he didn’t see it as being inspired. And that is the one point that I take issue.

The Divine inspiration that gives us the Bible is directed by the Holy Spirit. This is why that although the Book of Enoch was quoted by Peter and Jude it wasn’t accepted as canon. Divine inspiration is not God giving dictation or performing automatic writing. It is Him presenting what he wants as scripture to the writers through visions, occasionally speaking to them directly, and giving them the burning need to write what they have seen and experienced. It is all that and more. For the Spirit will sharpen the memory on some events while weaking it on others, and He will have a scribe slip the pen to make a segment clearer. Over the passage of time the Spirit has given us the Bible and it’s the Bible, that while not perfect, is adequate for our salvation and redemption. Since Mark 16:9-20 has stood the test of time by being sited and copied for almost two thousand years I have to conclude it is inspired by the Holy Spirit despite not being written by Mark.

#WesHuff, #GospelofMark, #Inspiration