Foy E. Wallace, Jr.
True to form—as in the other new versions— This New International Version (NIV) casts doubt that amounts to the repudiation of these last 12 verses of Mark. A cut-off line is inserted below verse 8 to indicate the end of Mark. Then above verse 9, inserted in brackets, is the statement, “the most reliable early manuscripts omit Mark 16:9-20.” This statement carries the fatal admission that some reliable manuscripts do not omit it—and even if one manuscript that is reliable includes it, that would constitute authentication.
But the textual historical fact is that there are 500 manuscripts and 2,000 copies of that category of manuscripts that produced the Bible, and the end of Mark is missing from only two of the 500 manuscripts, and from none of the 2,000 copies! The end of John is missing from the same manuscripts, and Hebrews ends at chapter nine, yet no doubt is indicated in marginal notes or assertions in brackets to cast suspicion or reflection on the authenticity of these portions.
The reason is theological and too obvious to waste ink and exert the effort to examine. The modern theologians want Mark 16:9-20 expurgated and the makers of the NIV have joined the motley combination bent on the mutilation of the New Testament in all of its doctrinal integrity.
