A Scribal Fabrication? A Text-Critical Defense of Mark 16:9-20 as Divinely Inspired and Canonically Authoritative

The variant endings of Mark 16 continue to capture the interest of scholars and readers alike. The two main contenders for the authentic ending to Mark’s Gospel are the Short Ending (16:1-8) and the Longer Ending (16:1-20). Although some struggle with whether vv. 9-20 should even be read and preached in church, it is the goal of this paper to put such confusion and doubts to rest. This paper contends that the overall text-critical evidence (both external and internal) points to the authenticity of Mark’s Longer Ending. It also explores how the other variant endings entered the manuscript record and concludes with a final defense of the Longer Ending as the divinely inspired and canonically authoritative ending to Mark’s Gospel. As such, the Longer Ending, as with the rest of Scripture, remains “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, NIV)