The Christian Theologist Speaks

A new Youtube channel appears.

This chap sounds particularly astute and erudite.

The Transcript

WELCOME to the outrageously popular CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIST channel, where reason and sound exegesis are used to highlight faulty doctrine and practice in the contemporary, English-speaking Church. The title of this video is “Evangelism and Mark 16:15.”

Right, so, let’s begin.

In this video I want to talk about an email that I received from Crossway books, the publisher of the English Standard Version of the Bible.

This latest email was an update on a list of Crossway blog posts, the theme of which was “Evangelism.” The second post on the list was called “7 Tips for Sharing the Gospel with Teens,” by Jaquelle Crowe. Ms Crowe’s brief bio states that she has a BA from Thomas Edison State University, and that she is, quote, “a young writer from eastern Canada, [and also that she is] the lead writer and editor in chief of TheRebelution.com [- that’s “rebel-ution” -] and a contributor to the Gospel Coalition, desiringGod.org, and Unlocking the Bible. [As well,] she’s published a book called: This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years.”

What caught my eye in Crowe’s blog, and provoked this video, was the reference after the statement, “All Christians are commanded to share the gospel - including us young ones.” The reference was Mark 16:15.

Now, the immediate context of that verse is Jesus speaking to his disciples immediately after his resurrection. In Crossway’s own ESV, that verse is rendered: “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’” For me, Crowe’s use of that reference to proof-text that statement sent up a little red flag.

Here’s the problem. If you take a look at the ESV, between vv 8 & 9, you will see the following uppercase notation in square brackets: [SOME OF THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT INCLUDE 16:9–20.]

So, it looks like there is a text-critical issue regarding all the verses after 16:8. Whenever I come across an issue with the manuscripts, my first port of call is the great textual critic Dr Bruce Metzger’s invaluable guide to significant variations called, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. In Metzger’s book, there is a lengthy discussion of the circumstances that prompted that note in the ESV, which he sums up, "On the basis of good external evidence and strong internal considerations it appears that the earliest ascertainable form of the Gospel of Mark ended with 16:8.”

So, in short, this means that everything we have after v. 8 is not original to the Gospel of Mark.

The text of Mark 16:9-20 is referred to by exegetes as the “Longer Ending”. There are actually 4 quite different endings, but this longer ending is the one that found its way into the Latin Vulgate, as well as Erasmus’ 1519 Greek NT. From there it made its way into the Textus Receptus and then, finally, into the Authorised version of 1611 (or, if you prefer, the King James Version); which is why we are all so familiar with it.

Now, in the 1993 United Bible Societies translators’ A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark, Robert Bratcher and Eugene Nida (that’s the same Eugene Nida of Louw & Nida Lexicon fame) write the following on page 522.

It is not difficult, however, to recognize vv. 9–20 as a later addition to the (incomplete) Gospel of Mark which … contributes nothing to the Church’s knowledge of her Lord, and … represents him as speaking in a manner completely foreign to his character, as revealed in the canonical Gospels. The Longer Ending may indeed, as Hort concluded, be founded on some tradition of the apostolic age; however, as he said, “it manifestly cannot claim any apostolic authority.” It would be highly precarious, at the least, for the Church to base her understanding of the events of the post-resurrection period of her Lord’s ministry upon such a document as the Longer Ending.

The final resource I want to cite is James Brooks’ NAC commentary on Mark, at page 275. Here the author writes, again in all uppercase and in square brackets, “[APPENDIX: AN ANCIENT ATTEMPT TO SUPPLY A MORE APPROPRIATE ENDING FOR THE GOSPEL (16:9–20)].” This is followed by an English translation of the verse with, significantly, no further commentary.

Yes, the text of Mark 16:8 is a very unsatisfying ending and the urge to “supply a more appropriate” one is understandable, but the simple truth of the matter is that all of the extant material after verse 8 is not original to Mark’s Gospel. This means that Mark 16:15 is NOT Scripture, NOT a reliable witness as to the wishes of the Lord regarding Evangelism.

So, regardless of what you think of the doctrine of the Great Commission—and I, personally, have a number of reservations about it, which I’ll discuss in a later video—it is long past time for teachers and preachers to stop using Mark 16:15 to lend authority to their conception of it. And to Ms Crowe, and those Ms-guided by her, Jesus did not command all Christians to share the Gospel according to Mark 16:15 ... because there is no Mark 16:15.

Thanks for listening and God bless.