One of the things that pre-occupies serious students of the Bible is the question of where Mark’s Gospel actually ends. The oldest manuscripts that we have end at Mark 16:8 and don’t mention the resurrection of Jesus. New manuscripts add another 11 verses which do include the resurrection, but which don’t sound very Mark-like.
What happened? Was Mark’s original ending lost? Did he realise that he hadn’t quite finished and come back to the Gospel after a few years to add a better conclusion? Did someone else altogether decide that they would complete Mark’s work?
The truth is, we don’t know and as no major doctrine is impacted by the presence or absence of these 11 verses, I’m happy not to worry about it. There is plenty of scholarly literature out there, if you’d like to know more.
However, if you enjoy good fiction, you will enjoy The Sea Walker: A Bible Mystery Story by Cedric Longville. This is an enjoyable story set at the point where Constantine had ordered the first mass production of Christian Scriptures. The plot is obviously speculative, but it is none the worse for that and some of the insights into people and theological issues are fascinating. Unfortunately, it is only available on Kindle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a print publisher picked up on it soon.
2 replies on “Books I have Read: The Sea Walker”
.@authenticmedia I reckon that you should have a look at this http://t.co/BDulcY8DTy Someone needs to pick up this book in print.
The very best study on Mark I have heard dealing with this was by Ethel Wallace at Horsleys Green. It was extremely thorough and deal with the divisions in Mark based on an analysis of και παλιν and other structural features, including the lack of an introduction. You may have it in archives or somewhere.