THE UNUSUAL ENDINGS TO MARK'S GOSPEL

Does the Gospel of Mark Contain Uninspired Material?

Mark’s gospel ends in 16:8, but there are a number of added ancient endings, many of which are still included in English translations of the Bible. Ancient scribes added endings to the existing book, and these have been copied and transmitted for almost 2000 years. One, known among Pentecostal believers as the “signs following” passage, includes the controversial suggestions that believers “will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all.” We will consider why these endings were added, and what the additions mean for the gospel and our thinking about the canon and inspiration.

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Course curriculum

    1. How to use this course

    2. Before we begin...

    3. In Collaboration with AdventistToday Sabbath School

    1. 1. Introduction

    2. 2. Overview of Mark

    3. 3. The Last Chapter of Mark

    4. 4. An Unsatisfying Ending

    1. 5. Mark's Five Different Endings

    2. 6. The Longer Ending of Mark

    3. 7. The Even Longer Ending of Mark

    4. 8. Is It Satisfying?

    5. 9. So... What's Going On?

    1. 10. Mary Magdalene in the Longer Ending

    2. 11. Snakes and Poison Promise

    3. 12. Some Concluding Thoughts

About this course

  • Free
  • 15 lessons
  • 0.5 hours of video content

Instructor

Visiting Professor Tom de Bruin

Tom de Bruin (he/they, PhD Leiden University) is an Assistant Professor in Early Judaism and Ancient Christianity at Radboud Universiteit. They are the author of the monographs “Fanfiction and Early Christian Writings: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Canon” (Bloomsbury 2024) and “The Great Controversy: The Individual’s Struggle between Good and Evil in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and in Their Jewish and Christian Contexts” (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2015). De Bruin is general editor of the Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies and on the editorial board for the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha.

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