Subject: ALL Scripture Inspired by God? |
Bible Note: As someone has said earlier, there are not any textual variants on theological statement or passage in the bible. I "know" what is true the same way I know what is false... by determining what other manuscripts say something different, and if that difference really says something important or just says the same thing in a different way. PLEASE understand that I believe in all of the theology and nature of God that the bible has in it. Let me take your examples here and show you the difference: Mark 16:9ff is generally accepted as not being part of the actual manuscript for several reasons: -This account does not exist in the most ancient and reliable manuscripts that are available to us (sinaiticus and vaticanus) nor is it regarded as scripture by Clement, Origen, Eusebius, or Jerome.) - The Greek here is very different from the rest of the gospel -It contains fanciful/mystical references to many beleivers doing miraculous things, when in fact only the apostles did these things (which is intersting, since even they didn't drink poison) - Matthew and Luke, whose gospels were based on Mark's material, include nothing like this in their endings. John 3:16 -Not one manuscript differs from the other in this statement. It is supported by every extant manuscript, both the oldest ones and the younger ones. -This verse is written in a way that is very familiar to John's style, and is in tact with everything else that is said about Jesus in this gospel, as well as in the rest of the bible. |