A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

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Ben C. Smith
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

Post by Ben C. Smith »

Does the following appeal to anyone?

Aristion, Luke, & the Longer Ending of Mark.png
Aristion, Luke, & the Longer Ending of Mark.png (67.94 KiB) Viewed 14066 times

What speaks for it (besides my previous observations) or against it?
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Bernard Muller
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

Post by Bernard Muller »

Hi Ben,
Don't you think the author of the long ending (Mk16:9-20) knew also about John's gospel: Mk16:9-11 <=> Jn20:14-18?
Cordially, Bernard
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

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Bernard Muller wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:07 pm Hi Ben,
Don't you think the author of the long ending (Mk16:9-20) knew also about John's gospel: Mk16:9-11 <=> Jn20:14-18?
Cordially, Bernard
There is definitely a relationship here. I am not (yet) sure in which direction the arrow of dependence points, however.
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

Post by Bernard Muller »

Hi Ben,
The author of the long ending seems to reconcile Mark with John as follows:
- The women are afraid by what they experienced at the empty tomb and do not tell anyone about it (Mk 16:6, last verse before the long ending).
- Later Mary Magdalene (implied: she returned to the empty tomb) is the first to see the resurrected Jesus and then tell the disciples about it (as per long ending & John's gospel).
Elegant problem solving!
However in Luke, the author departed drastically from Mk 16:6 and has the women tell the disciples and others about what they experienced at the empty tomb.
How to explain Luke did not adopt the elegant solution of the long ending and take the risk to do a major change to Mark's gospel?
And the long ending has a few elements common with Luke's gospel.

My conclusion has always been the author of the long ending knew about Luke & John's gospels. And that's the more natural and simple explanation, as I see it.

Cordially, Bernard
Last edited by Bernard Muller on Sat Feb 29, 2020 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Kunigunde Kreuzerin
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:54 pm What speaks for it (besides my previous observations) or against it?
Bernard Muller wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:58 am ...
- Later Mary Magdalene
...
My conclusion has always been the author of the long ending knew about Luke & John's gospels. And that's the more natural and simple explanation, as I see it.
In conclusion, I agree with Bernard, but for a different reason. It seems to me that the singling out of Mary in PsMark 16:9 may be easier to understand as a Johannine influence than an independent development from the synoptics (or a synoptic gospel or other sources).

I think that the longer ending is clearly more than a "scribal composition". It is in itself an interesting text from the 2nd century. The author seems to have an increased interest in the powerful overcoming of evil (daemons, bombastic signs, snakes, poison).
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

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Bernard Muller wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:07 pm Hi Ben,
Don't you think the author of the long ending (Mk16:9-20) knew also about John's gospel: Mk16:9-11 <=> Jn20:14-18?
Cordially, Bernard
Ben C. Smith wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:26 pm There is definitely a relationship here. I am not (yet) sure in which direction the arrow of dependence points, however.
John 21 has also been proposed as relating to the long end of G.Mark (eg, Evan Powell, “The Unfinished Gospel”, 1994)

[as an aside, apparently Irenaeus mentions Mark 16:19, but doesn’t mention the 21st chapter of John’s gospel? (He mentions John 1-20, but not 21, and Irenaeus says the only ‘fishing’ imagery was in Luke’s gospel further suggesting Irenaeus was totally unaware of John 21).]
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

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Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 12:26 pm
I think that the longer ending is clearly more than a "scribal composition". It is in itself an interesting text from the 2nd century.
Cheers. I agree.
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

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To MrMacSon,
John 21 has also been proposed as relating to the long end of G.Mark (eg, Evan Powell, “The Unfinished Gospel”, 1994)
The miraculous fishing in John 21 might have been inspired by the one in Luke's gospel. However parts of the long ending is more obviously related to elements of John 20 and Luke 24.

Cordially, Bernard
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Ben C. Smith
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Re: A Proposal that the Longer Ending of Mark is Dependent on the Gospel of Luke

Post by Ben C. Smith »

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 12:26 pmI think that the longer ending is clearly more than a "scribal composition". It is in itself an interesting text from the 2nd century.
That is my impression as well.
Bernard Muller wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:58 am Hi Ben,
The author of the long ending seems to reconcile Mark with John as follows:
- The women are afraid by what they experienced at the empty tomb and do not tell anyone about it (Mk 16:6, last verse before the long ending).
- Later Mary Magdalene (implied: she returned to the empty tomb) is the first to see the resurrected Jesus and then tell the disciples about it (as per long ending & John's gospel).
Elegant problem solving!
My problem with this is that I am quite certain that the Longer Ending was not composed with the rest of Mark in mind; it was never originally intended as the ending to the text (according to various internal considerations). Therefore, the reconciliation is blunt, not fine: it is simply a matter of appending an already composed summary to an already composed gospel.
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