Mr. Altier, it should be “Pax Christi” And the rest is fanciful silliness.

Yes, and not only that, but only versions of Mark with the full ending would soon become the accepted version, and hence considered worthy of the laborious task of re-copying. Versions without the ending would soon be of far less value and respect, quickly to be replaced by the “better” or fuller version, which would be be the one re-copied. This would happen throughout Christendom, as the less complete version was considered inferior, incomplete, and of less value The shorter version would hardly survive.

Mr. Altier,

Please look up the Council of Chalcedon, because you are using a Docetist philosophy. I prefer an Anglican like Sir Francis Bacon who invented the scientific method.

Pax Christie

What does any of that have to do with the authenticity of the Long Ending of Mark?

The new testament was not written after the testator died.
To believe the Lord’s will of his new testament was written after he died is a lie.
What court of law would accept such a will knowing the will was written after the testator die.

Learn the meaning of (For where a testament is).

All the words of the Lord were and are settled in heaven for ever.
All 66 books of the counsel of the Lord’s heart were declared by the Lord from the beginning.
The Lord Jesus alone is the author of his book.
The whole book is prophecy and the will of the Lord’s new testament went into effect at the Lord’s appointed time of his death.

Psalm 119:89
For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Isaiah 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Psalm 33:11
The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Proverbs 22:20-21
Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, [21] That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

Psalm 68:11
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

Luke 1:1-4
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, [2] Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; [3] It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, [4] That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Luke 1:68-70
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, [69] And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; [70] As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

1 Peter 1:11-12
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. [12] Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Hebrews 9:16-17
For where a testament is , there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. [17] For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

Hosea 8:12
I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

Thank you for your comments Mr. Wallack

Let’s review the meaning of the passage in light of scripture:

“And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them;”

As an Anglican, I am thankful that I am not led astray by such scriptures, like certain groups in West Virginia, who fail to recognize the true meaning of the passage.

We can see elsewhere in scripture, where the disciples were confused by similar language used by Jesus.

Take for example Matthew Chapter 16 starting with verse 1

“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him (Jesus) that he would shew them a sign from heaven”

Jesus realizes the true nature of Pharisees and Sadducees request and states:

“A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Pay attention to what Jesus says next:

“Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees”

Look how the disciples were confused by such language:

“And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.”

Then pay attention to what Jesus says next:

How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Elsewhere in Scripture (Matthew Chapter 33) Jesus speaking before the multitudes about the Pharisees and scribes calls them

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers”

So when we come to the passage in Mark where it says:

“they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them;”

This passage speaks to the heretical doctrines that will come upon the churches, but the churches will reign victorious over it. Just look at the 7 ecumenical councils of the Greek Orthodox Churches. We had to deal with the Gnostics, Docetism, Arians, Sabellianism, Pelagius, etc…and none of these heretical teachings brought down the churches in the East or the West.

This is the orthodox way of deriving the true meaning of scripture. The reformation understood scripture interpretation in this light as well.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you for your response Mr. Sheffield. Here’s what the LE says,

“And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them;”

Your explanation sounds anachronistic to me. It is possible to survive serpents and poison without having any belief. In ancient times, with the lack of communications and science, it would be relatively easier to maintain the belief in the LE above. In contrast, in our modern times, science has proven that belief in Jesus is no defense whatsoever against snakes and poison, and modern communications have most people, including believers know that. Let’s try to get a related first hand statement from a believer here.

You are a believer in general and you believe that the LE is original, that Jesus said it and it’s true. So you believe that a believer can handle snakes and drink poison and survive. Yet you know that your ability to survive handling a snake or drinking poison is no greater than a non believer. Please explain.

Thank you for your comments Mr. Wallack.

Since Dr. Carrier and I will be providing a fuller treatment on if the immunity clause is the lectio difficilior, I’ll keep my comments brief:

First, I would like to state for the record the Anglican position on canon as defined in our 1562 Articles of Religion; “All the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them Canonical”.

This position is also in line with the North African Churches statement at the Council of Carthage (419) in canon 24 after listing the 27 books of the NT:
“Let this be sent to our brother and fellow bishop, Boniface, and to the other bishops of those parts, that they may confirm this canon, for these are the tings which we have received from our fathers to be read in church”.

Regarding the LE, most of the Apostolic Churches texts (i.e. Peshitta, Vulgate, Greek Text) appear to have the long ending; but a Montanist Church (see Tertullian & Eusebius for info on the Montanists), which believe they were led by the spirit might find a member picking up a viper and quickly becoming dead, so they would just have to take out the lectionary reading.

Just clarifying in line with my First Reply:

Note that the LE betrays knowledge of Luke-Acts, which can’t have been written earlier than the 90s, and knowledge of the four-Gospel edition (e.g. it employs content from John and Matthew as well), which didn’t exist before Marcion’s edition circa 140 A.D. Therefore the LE must date after 140. It could theoretically have been among the edits made in composing that four-Gospel edition, but the evidence strongly suggests it was not. Were it, it would be in the earliest manuscripts, and there wouldn’t be such widespread evidence of it being added to manuscripts and editions later, and second and third century Christian writers would have shown knowledge of it.

It’s possible it originated in the late second century and just wasn’t widely known until the fourth (and even then was only rarely found, as Eusebius and Jerome attest). But it’s also possible it originated in the third century. Whereas it’s very improbable it originated before the late second.

The thing is, the ending could have been interpolated very early on, within the first few decades of the textual tradition. This way you can get widespread agreement on it by later churches and later manuscript lines.