Originally posted by Shoonra
There have been entire books written about the ending of Mark. This is hardly news.

In the two (only two) oldest mss of Mark (the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus codices), Mark ends abruptly with verse 16:8 ("they spoke to no one because they were afraid."). Similarly the ancient versions in Syriac, and Sahidic and some others end at this point. Scholars and others are divided on whether the Gospel originally ended at this point or whether there had been more but somehow the manuscript being used had lost its last page (or two).

Medieval copies frequently had what is called the Longer Ending, which is what appears in the KJV (it includes a verse about snake handling). There are stylistic differences between the Longer Ending and the rest of the Gospel of Mark, so some people suspect it was written by someone else, possibly centuries after the original Gospel was written.

Some other medieval copies have what is called the Shorter Ending, which is only two sentences long ("And they quickly reported to Peter and his companions all that they had been told. And, afterward, Jesus himself used them to send out, everywhere, the sacred and deathless proclamation of eternal salvation."). It is so brief that it is unclear whether or not it is written in the same style as the rest of the Gospel. Some manuscripts and ancient versions contain the Shorter Ending, some combine it with the Longer Ending (sometimes the Shorter first, sometime the Longer first), and some have even other changes to the ending. The Shorter and Longer Endings are, both, very old, perhaps as far back as the 6th century, but apparently not earlier.

All I can say about the authenticity of the Longer Ending is that a great many church congregations in the US have relied on the KJV's inclusion of the verse on snake handling to use snakes in their ceremonies -- but, unlike the assurance in the Longer Ending, many have been bitten and died as a result. One case very recently.

Originally posted by NOTurTypical
.... Irenaeus quotes from those verses in his commentary on the book of Mark in 155 AD. And Hypoleteus quotes from those verses too in the 2nd century.

Originally posted by Shoonra

Originally posted by NOTurTypical
.... Irenaeus quotes from those verses in his commentary on the book of Mark in 155 AD. And Hypoleteus quotes from those verses too in the 2nd century.

I seriously doubt either of those authors were writing as early as you date them.

Originally posted by redneck13
Bring me the knuckle of John the Baptist: Scientists claim 'positive' tests on 1st-century relics which are from one man, from the right place at the right timeDNA tests on three bones confirmed they were probably from someone of Middle East origin - where John the Baptist came from
They also established they were likely to be from a man

Originally posted by Blue Shift
I have located the missing verses:

"And then the Lord raised his hand
and in the sky there appeared a luminous disk.
Like a feather the disk set itself on the ground
and in it a glowing door appeared.
'Tell your children to tell their children I shall return,'
sayeth the Lord. And with that he stepped
into the door and was carried aloft by the disk.
So it was witnessed and affirmed to by me
and a curse be to any who claim it false."

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
Excellent find my friend. It seems that a lot of the original gospels are missing and corrupted away from the true religion of Christianity.

BBC did a documentary on this called "The Lost Gospels" You can watch it on YouTube

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