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ARE THE LAST 12 VERSES OF MARK REALLY MARK’S?
THURSDAY, MARCH 31
Mark 16:9-20

Psalm 12

 

“…as it is written…”

 

ARE THE LAST 12 VERSES OF MARK REALLY MARK’S?
 
Most modern versions of the Bible like the NIV, ESV, NLT, NASB etc. deny the authenticity of Mark 16:9-20. They say that the last 12 verses of Mark should not be regarded as Scripture. We who believe in the verbal and plenary preservation of the Scriptures affirm the authenticity of the last 12 verses of Mark together with Dean Burgon of Oxford who wrote a scholarly 350-page defence of Mark 16:9-20. Burgon wrote, “Recent Editors of the New Testament insist that these ‘last Twelve Verses’ are not genuine…. I am as convinced as I am of my life, that the reverse is the truth…. I insist, on the contrary, that the Evidence relied on is untrustworthy,—untrustworthy in every particular…. I am able to prove that this portion of the Gospel has been declared to be spurious on wholly mistaken grounds.” Burgon affirmed that there can be no question that “these verses must needs be the work of S. Mark.”
 
There is also abundant evidence supporting the authenticity of Mark 16:9–20. Dr E F Hills of Harvard wrote, “They [Mark 16:9–20] are found in all the Greek manuscripts except Aleph [i.e. Sinaiticus], and B [i.e. Vaticanus]… And more important, they were quoted as Scripture by early Church Fathers who lived one hundred and fifty years before B and Aleph were written, namely, Justin Martyr (c. 150), Tatian (c. 175), Irenaeus (c. 180), Hippolytus (c. 200). Thus, the earliest extant testimony is on the side of these last twelve verses.”
 
In light of the above, we believe that the last 12 verses of Mark are the very inspired words of God which have been preserved in Scripture by God’s “singular care and providence” (WCF I:8), and have been kept pure and intact throughout the ages as He promised (Matt 5:18).
 
THOUGHT: For further study, see John William Burgon, The Last Twelve Verses of Mark (Oxford, London: James Parker, 1871). For a summary of Burgon, see D A Waite, Dean John William Burgon’s Vindication of the Last Twelve Verses of Mark (Collingswood, NJ: The Bible For Today, 1994). Read also Edward F Hills, The King James Version Defended (Des Moines, IA: The Christian Research Press, 1984).

PRAYER: (Pray for faith to believe that the Bible is 100% perfect today.)

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