In The
King James Only Controversy (second edition 2006), James White discussed
some external evidence about Mark 16:9-20, on pages 316-318. He concluded that “Given the external
evidence, we believe every translation should provide the passage. However, we also believe that every
translation should note that there is good reason to doubt the passage’s
authenticity.” This effectively erases
the passage’s doctrinal force, as if to tell the reader, “Maybe it’s inspired
and authoritative, but maybe not.”
Some
aspects of White’s description of the external evidence need adjustment – not
least of which is what White doesn’t say:
he does not mention the testimony of the second century writers Justin,
Tatian, and Irenaeus. Irenaeus specifically
quoted Mark 16:19 in Against Heresies
Book III, Chapter 10, paragraph 5, in about 180, over a century before the
production of the two fourth-century manuscripts in which the text of Mark ends
at 16:8. White only mentions one
patristic writer, Jerome – and instead of mentioning that Jerome included Mark
16:9-20 in the Vulgate, White only says, “Jerome was aware of manuscripts lacking
the passage.” Other patristic writers –
Aphrahat, Ambrose, Apostolic
Constitutions, and Augustine, for example – are not called to the witness
stand, and the jury – White’s readers – never hears their testimony.
White
stated that 16:9-20 is not in “some manuscripts of the Sahadic Coptic version,”
by which the Sahidic version is
meant. Perhaps someone somewhere has
confirmed that more than one manuscript of the Sahidic version lacks Mark
16:9-20, but as far as I know, the Sahidic codex P. Palau-Ribes Inv. Nr. 182
is the only Sahidic manuscript that fits such a description. It is one of the three non-Greek manuscripts
of Mark 16 made before the 700s in which there is no text from verses
9-20. (The other two are the Sinaitic
Syriac manuscript and the Old Latin Codex Bobbiensis – both of which White
mentions by name, with no mention of the Curetonian Syriac, the Syriac Peshitta,
the Gothic version, and the Old Latin manuscripts that include Mark 16:9-20.)
There
is a detectable correlation here: statements
from patristic writers, and individual versional manuscripts, that do not
support Mark 16:9-20 are mentioned; statements from patristic writers, and individual
versional manuscripts, that support Mark 16:9-20 are not mentioned. For someone who says, “The reader should be
given all the information available,” White has done a remarkably poor job of
presenting the evidence that supports Mark 16:9-20.
My defense of Mark 16:9-20 is available as an e-book at Amazon. |
White
also perpetuated a
common error about asterisks or obeli, stating, “f1, 205 and
others” include Mark 16:9-20 “along with critical marks (such as asterisks or
obeli) indicating that the scribe knew of its questionable nature.” Regarding this claim (which was spread by
Bruce Metzger), see Points #3 and #4 in my 2016 post Mark
16:9-20 – Sorting Out Some Common Mistakes, and for additional details
see my book, Authentic: The Case for Mark 16:9-20.
White
referred to “l, 1602,” among the
witnesses for the double-ending (i.e., witnesses that attest to both the Shorter
Ending and 16:9-20). This is an
editorial or typographical mistake. The
italicized letter “l” when standing
by itself should be used to refer to the Old Latin manuscript Codex Rehdigeranus.
However, the intended reference here is
not to Codex Rehdigeranus: it should be
an abbreviation for the word “lectionary,” and “1602” should be combined with
it, so as to refer to just one witness:
the Greek-Sahidic fragment l1602. For details about the unusual annotations which
l1602 shares with 099, L,
and 083 (indicating that their combined testimony echoes a rather narrow line of
transmission), see
my book. (White’s reference to “l, 153” in his discussion of Mark 1:2
should likewise be corrected to refer to lectionary 153.)
White
also states that “Some Old Church Slavonic manuscripts (from as far along as
the tenth century) include only verses 9-11 of the longer ending.” The fourth edition of the UBS Greek New
Testament only lists one Old Slavonic manuscript that fits such a description. But, whether one Old Slavonic manuscript or a
dozen, how can this be construed as evidence against Mark 16:9-20? Suppose
someone falls into a pit full of hungry lions, and afterwards, only an arm is
taken out of the pit. Should we conclude
that only an arm fell into the pit? No,
and likewise this Old Slavonic evidence is evidence of a damaged exemplar which,
when made, contained the entire passage.
White
also attempted to use the inclusion of the Freer Logion in Codex W as evidence
against the inclusion of Mark 16:9-20, but surely this is backwards: Codex W supports the inclusion of Mark
16:9-20, and if Metzger’s estimate of the date of the Freer Logion’s creation
is accepted, then it shows that 16:9-20 was in the copy used by the creator of
the Freer Logion in the 100s or 200s (i.e., prior to the production of
Vaticanus and Sinaiticus) – as well as in the Greek codices to which Jerome
referred when (in 417, in Against the
Pelagians) he mentioned the Freer Logion and said that he found it “In
certain exemplars, and especially in Greek codices, near the end of the Gospel
of Mark.”
White
employs a somewhat problematic approach when he states, “It is the multiplicity
of readings that causes so many experts to reject the longer ending’s
originality.” Textual critics routinely
encounter variant-units that involve a multiplicity of readings, without
concluding that they must all be scribal corruptions. White says, “There simply would be no need
for all these different endings if verses 9 through 20 were a part of the
originally written gospel.” This is both
an exaggeration and an oversimplification.
In
over 1,600 Greek manuscripts of Mark, the text flows straight from 16:8 to
16:9. In three manuscripts (Vaticanus,
Sinaiticus,
and the medieval
minuscule 304), the text stops at the end of 16:8. The Shorter Ending is in a total of six Greek
manuscripts (albeit just in the margin in the case of the medieval minuscule
274). And that is all the distinct
endings of Mark that exist in Greek manuscripts. Codex
W does not give us a different ending; it presents 16:9-20 with an
interpolation between v. 14 and v. 15. White’s
phrase “all these different endings” is just tricky rhetoric.
When
phrased realistically, the question “Why
these three endings?” is not difficult:
though present in the autograph in Rome , Mark
16:9-20 was absent from an exemplar used in Egypt ; this accounts for the form
of the text in B and À. The Shorter Ending was then composed there to
compensate for the otherwise abrupt conclusion to Mark’s narrative; this
accounts for the form of the Latin text in Codex Bobbiensis (k); then the usual ending began to
circulate in Egypt again, and it eclipsed the Shorter Ending, sometimes being
grafted to 16:8 and sometimes to the Shorter Ending; this accounts for the
double-ending in Egyptian and Ethiopic sources.
A
focused and thorough study of the evidence in this case is conducive to a
conclusion in favor of Mark 16:9-20. However,
when evidence is misrepresented, and when it is hidden and silenced, it is easy
to convince readers that Mark 16:9-20 should only be given a “maybe, maybe not”
status. In White’s world, to take away
the authority of a reading found in 99% of the Greek manuscripts, one does not
have to prove that it is spurious.
Simply (1) point out that it
has a rival, and (2) inflate the
importance of that rival, and voila: the
task of eroding the authority of the passage is complete; it is doomed to a
bracketed existence in the land of
“Maybe, Maybe Not.”
Now
let’s briefly take a broader look at how James White misrepresents the evidence
in other passages. He has avoided
sharing important evidence in the course of rejecting readings in the following
passages: Matthew 1:25, Matthew 17:21, Matthew
21:12, Matthew 23:14, Mark 1:2, Mark 10:24, Mark 11:26, Mark 15:28, Mark
16:9-20, Luke 2:14, Luke 23:17, Luke 23:34, John 1:18, John 3:13, John 5:4, and
John 7:53-8:11.
One
example may suffice. In his list of
evidence against Luke 23:34a, White
lists “sy” instead of “sys).
This little difference is the difference between saying (a) the Peshitta, the Curetonian Syriac,
the Harklean Syriac, the margin of the Harklean Syriac, the Sinaitic Syriac,
and the Palestinian Aramaic version omit
this passage, or (b) the Sinaitic
Syriac omits this passage. The latter is
the actual case. Of course White does
not bother to mention the Syriac evidence that supports the passage anywhere in
his discussion of this textual contest. He also avoids letting his readers know that
Justin Martyr refers to this passage in the middle of the 100s.
Such evidence-molding is widespread in
White’s descriptions of textual contests:
Irenaeus is not mentioned in his discussion of Mark 16:9-20. The early Old Latin chapter-summaries, and
Jerome’s testimony that he found the pericope
adulterae in many manuscripts, both Greek and Latin, go unmentioned in
White’s discussion of John 7:53-8:11.
Minuscule 1424 is listed as a witness for the non-inclusion of the pericope adulterae but White does not
mention its margin-note which affirms the legitimacy of the passage. The forgery 2427
is still listed by White (in a discussion of Mark 1:2) as if it is a legitimate
witness. And so forth.
Also, White
argues repeatedly that modern translations present a stronger case for the
deity of Christ than the KJV does. This
proposal, however, collides with White’s other proposal: the idea that passages which are considered
dubious should not be relied upon (i.e., treated as Scripture) as the basis for
a doctrine. All arguments that a version
such as the NIV presents a strong case for the deity of Christ in Mark 1:1,
John 1:18, John 14:14, Acts 16:7, Acts 20:28, Romans 9:5, First Timothy 3:16
(regarding which White states on page 261 that he prefers the usual reading, “God was manifest in the flesh”), First
Peter 3:14-15, Jude v. 5, et al, are
undermined by White’s maxim to the effect that when you have a serious textual
variant, you should not built theology upon it.
In
conclusion, while I have no objection to The
King James Only Controversy’s protests against Ruckmanism and similar
varieties of KJV-Onlyism, White has consistently molded the evidence in such a
lop-sided way in his discussions about textual variants that this book really should
not be considered a text-critical resource even as a last resort. White’s approach has not only misled many
readers about the evidence relevant to many textual variant-units, but it has
also encouraged them to exile many passages of genuine Scripture to the land of
Maybe, Maybe Not – and will continue to do so as long as it is sold. The publisher is Bethany
House, a division of the Baker Publishing Group.
5 comments:
Solid and well-researched and presented, James. Thanks so much!
Thank you James. If we don't use James White's book to refute Ruckman and the KJV Only cult, then what book should we be using.
There was an interesting debate concerning this ending between Jonathan Sheffield and Richard Carrier: https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/14997
Jesus was crucified and buried on preparation day , so we have 1 day in the Tomb before sabbath sundown friday then sabbath saturday through to sundown saturday , then sabbath over new day first day after subdown saturday. 3 days in tomb therefore.
Sabbath being over now the third day Jesus now can rise but must rise on this the third day before dawn when still dark yet . With dawn approaching in time but still dark. As marks gospel is forged after verse 8 and also we see it was tampered with as Marks gospel contradicts the three's witness of it being still dark by the spirit of truth speaking it being near dawn but not yet dawn but instead dark as John by the spirit of truth states .
The lie
Berean Literal Bible
And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb, the sun having arisen They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb"?
Those words to end Marks Gospel with a resurrection account with the sun having risen when the women reached the Tomb are Vatican fraud words added by the Mother of harlots for purposes of sun worship instead of the worship of the true light Jesus christ the son of God
https://biblehub.com/mark/16-2.htm
The truth is it was still dark , yet as the other two accounts state as dawn time approached
John 20:1
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
https://biblehub.com/john/20-1.htm
This is where Marks Gospel ends
https://biblehub.com/blb/mark/15.htm
46And having bought a linen cloth, having taken Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which was cut out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the tomb. 47And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching where He was laid.
5And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it
Jesus rose from the dead while it was still dark and was born while it was dark
8And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by NIGHT. 9And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy, which will be to all the people. 11For TODAY in the City of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this is the sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, and lying in a manger.”
13And suddenly there came with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:
14“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!”
The shepherds at night are told it was that same day Jesus had been born. It being night meant after sundown which was a new day, so Jesus was born at nighttime on that new day.(a new day for Jews started after sundown i.e , evening , dark , at night)
And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and TRUTH
Also doctrinally the last part of the forgery of mark has Jesus saying he who does not believe shall be condemned which is a verdict after judgment not before judgment, the true doctrine is as we read in johns gospel, that those who believe are not judged and those who do not believe are judged already ( the process of decision being already underway) until the last judgment where the verdict condemnation or blessings will be given. So the fraud ending of marks gospel is clear based upon doctrine contradiction and not only on the basis of textual criticism.
Hello James,
I discovered your blog recently and read some of your recent posts. Very informative! The lists you publish are very helpful, and thanks for taking the time to compile them. It's likely more time-consuming than just making unsubstantiated statements, but it's so much more convincing! The last paragraph of this article made me smile.
"Just Imagine", you could try the book Differences Between Bible Versions, by Gary Zeolla. It's in its third edition. I wish it would have been given to a good editor before it was published, but it's a relatively good book, nevertheless, on the KJV-only issue. Or if you have lots of time and like lists and lists of words and references, you could try Rick Norris' The Unbound Scriptures. Finding the right book is important, since you don't want to take a person from being KJV-only to being CT-only, with all of its inconsistencies.
Thanks for writing, James.
Matthew
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