Evidence for Mark’s Longer Ending

by Perry Hall Should we accept Mark’s longer ending (Mark 16:9-20), or instead concur with a popular scholarly conclusion that verse 8 is the proper ending? Here I will present one argument for why I think the longer ending is fitting to Mark’s gospel. Notice the claim: “the longer ending is fitting to Mark’s gospel”.…

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Do the Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Bible was modified over time?

Question: Hi, You have answered my questions before (thanks for that) and I hope you won’t mind doing so again. I was researching the Dead Sea Scrolls and came across the following: How close is the Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls? 6 Myths About the Dead Sea Scrolls The Quora answer (if you click…

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Quran and Book of Mormon

by Terry Wane Benton These books or the people peddling them as books of God are way too late to be considered as equal to the Bible as inspired books of God. Jesus told His apostles that they would be guided by the Spirit into all truth (John 16:13). All truth from God was therefore…

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The Inspiration and Preservation of Scripture

by George P. Estes Sentry Magazine, December 1999 That Scripture is the word of God is accepted by all who believe in God and in Jesus. This includes the sixty-six books we call the Bible. ln this age, some nineteen hundred years from the apostles of Christ, we need proof of what we have. And…

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Books “Missing” from the Bible?

by Ethan L. Longhenry In recent times we have seen an explosion of material alleging that the Bible that we have is not complete. Many theories have been advanced that speak of all kinds of other books that were “banned” from the Bible, “taken out” of the Bible, and other such ideas, and that such…

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Confidence in the Canon

by Allen Dvorak “The Lost Books of the Bible! Are you missing books from your Bible?” It is not uncommon to see such advertisements in the supermarket rags or at bookstores. Sometimes they hint at the idea that there has been some deliberate and/or covert effort to exclude certain books from the New Testament. Americans…

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How We Know We Have All the Bible, with No Books Added and No Books Lost

by Willie Ramsey The Bible is God’s plan of salvation for mankind (John 17:17; 8:31-32; Mark 16:15-16; Romans 1:16). Its place in our lives is therefore eternally important. God warns us that no one is ever allowed to “add to” or to “take away” (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19), or in any way to “pervert” (i.e., “change” — Galatians 1:7-9), what…

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Notes on the Verification of Mark 16:9-20

The text of Mark 16:9-20 is consistent with inspired text found in the rest of the New Testament Mark 16 Claims Verified 9 He had risen early on the first day of the week Matthew 28:1-4; Luke 24:1; John 20:1 He first appeared to Mary Magdalene John 20:14ff From whom he had cast out seven…

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Can I Trust the Bible?

by Ethan Longhenry via de Verbo vitae By far, the most popular book in our culture is still the Bible, and for the Christian, the New Testament in particular. It is a text that is about 1,900 years old, and for some reason, we see many misconceptions about its textual validity. Common misconceptions, which I hope…

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The Canon of the Old Testament – Part 1

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CanonOfTheOldTestament1.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Deuteronomy 31:9-13 I.         As the last few years of a presidency winds down, people begin to discuss the legacy of the current President. How will the future remember him? What will historians say about him?             A.        So what makes a President great?                         1.         Is greatest determined by the writings of famous historians?…

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New Testament Apocrypha – Infancy Gospels

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/NewTestamentApocryphaInfancyGospels.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:13-21   I.         Reasons for existence             A.        Promotion of a false doctrine because support cannot be found in the Scriptures             B.        Gaps led to speculation                         1.         Have you ever wondered what Jesus’ childhood was like? So have many others, which has lead to infancy gospels to tell us what people imagined…

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Aren’t there inspired books that we’ve lost?

Question: Do you mean to tell me not one of these documents (below) did not exist or ever existed? I would like to read these ‘lost books & or documents.’ How could not one or two documents make it to existence today? Exodus 24:7 – Book of the Covenant Numbers 21:14 – Book of the…

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Is Sirach Inspired?

by Mike Thomas There is confusion over whether or not the Apocrypha are inspired and whether or not they belong in the canon of the Bible. We can have confidence in knowing these books were not authored by God. In between the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New…

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Your lessons made me smile

Question: I have been attempting to find faith in God for some years now. I am off work today due to being very sick with a cold and started to research why some books were left out of the Bible when I came across your website, and I find I really feel good after reading…

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How do I respond to my World History teacher?

Question: In my World History class, there was a woman who was talking about how she wasn’t sure if we had all the books of the Bible. After class, I went to her and tried to explain how most of the false gospels were written by gnostics, sometimes centuries later. Anyhow, we were talking and…

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Could Matthew and John not be eyewitness accounts?

Question: My friend sent me this critique on the gospels of Matthew and John not being eyewitness accounts. He said, according to the majority viewpoint, this gospel is unlikely to have been written by an eyewitness. While Papias reported that Matthew had written the Logia this can hardly be a reference to the Gospel of Matthew.…

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The Book of Jasher

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/BookOfJasher.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Samuel 1:17-27   I.         It is no mystery that people are not happy with God’s word. Through the ages people have sought ought various reasons to modify it.             A.        No long ago, Dan Brown wrote a fictional book called The DaVinci Code. At the core of this book was the…

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Were the Apocrypha books accepted as canon before the Council of Trent?

Question: Again I question your dates. You say that the Catholic Church added the “Apocryphal” books to the Bible in 1546 AD. I’m assuming you are talking about the Council of Trent, the Church’s response to the Reformation. You are correct in saying that the Church affirmed that the “Apocryphal” books are Scripture. However, you…

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Were all the books of the New Testament written by apostles?

Question: I need to know some things. I was reading on your site The New Testament Canon outline. I came across this: I-5. 5.         From these early Christians we learn that Mark took the various stories told by Peter and placed them in a book as accurately as he could. Peter did not dictate the book directly…

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Why does Jude contain quotes not found in the Old Testament?

Question: When we study the book of Jude in our Bible study group, I found that in verse 9 and verse 14, Jude quoted “The Lord rebuke thee” and “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,” but they were not in the Old Testament. A brother told me that they are in…

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Why isn’t “The Tales of the Patriarchs” included in the Bible?

Question: I recently learned about “The Tales of the Patriarchs,” a scroll found among the Dead Sea scrolls. If other books of the Bible were found among the Dead Sea scrolls, why isn’t this book included in the Bible? Answer: It should be noted that the Dead Sea scrolls contained the writings of a Jewish…

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Did Jesus tell the Essenes not to eat breakfast?

Question: Is it true that Jesus told the Essenes not to eat breakfast? If so, why? Answer: I was puzzled by the nature of the question since the Essenes are not mentioned in the Bible, though some claim that the Zealots (of which one apostle was once a member) were a branch of the Essenes,…

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What do you know about the “Acts of Paul and Thecla?”

Question: I was reading some Bible literature and came across a reference book, “Acts of Paul and Thecla”. I was wondering if you could enlighten me and provide some clarification of this book and relevance to the Bible. I understand that is was one of the lost books of the Bible and describes Paul and…

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Who are you to decide which books belong in the Bible?

Question: I read your article on the internet and I think you need to re-read genisis concerning the giants and the fallen angels, sir. Angels were able to trnasform themselves into human beings just read the story  of the two men( who were angels of God) who spoke to Lot and stayed in his home and…

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How do I convince my brother that the Bible is complete?

Question: I was discussing baptism with my brother. He knows he needs to be baptized, but he doesn’t have confidence in the Bible. He says he watches these shows that tell how corrupt men took books out of the Bible that really might be important. One example was that Mary Magdalene was supposedly one of…

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Are any of the Apocrypha truthful?

Question: Thank you for the insight into the Book of Enoch. I have been curious about reading this piece. I was wondering if you know of any other “gospels” that are considered truthful that are apart of the Apocrypha writings, such as the books of Maccabees, Thomas, Mary, etc. Answer: The first and second books…

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The Gospel of Judas?

by Ron Lehde Tonight (April 9, 2006) the National Geographic Magazine is scheduled to present a television program that deals with an ancient work known as “The Gospel of Judas”.  It is a 26-page manuscript (ca. AD 300) that is a Coptic translation of a Greek manuscript that is at least one hundred years older and…

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Reflections on the “Gospel of Judas”

by Ethan R. Longhenry While The Da Vinci Code mania continues to develop and grow throughout the world and while “other gospels” and “alternative Christianities” have become popular, we now see revealed to us yet another “lost gospel,” the Gospel of Judas. The National Geographic Society has done a good job of marketing this discovery and is…

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The Gospel Of Judas

by Boyd Jennings Were you alarmed to hear that another gospel has been discovered?  Before we continue, let’s remember what Jesus told the twelve minus Judas.  “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).  That’s why Paul wrote by inspiration of God—twice, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven,…

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How did the correct books get added to the Bible?

Question: Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with this question I have. I know that in II Timothy 3:16 it says that all scripture is “God breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. This is a wonderful thing, but I have a question about the Bible…

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Why have some books been left out of the Bible?

Question: If the books in the Bible were written by apostles, was Moses considered an apostle? What of Isaiah and Samuel? Were they considered apostles? Is it not said in the book of Matthew that nothing was to be taken from the Old Testament? I’m just curious because if this is true, those books in…

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Was Judas Really a Traitor?

by Bob Prichard via House to House, Vol. 17, No. 5 In conjunction with “Easter season:’ the National Geographic Society released an ancient document dubbed the “Gospel of Judas.” In their news releases, National Geographic indicated the information in this third-century papyrus codex threatened the “official” doctrine of the church by offering an alternative view of…

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