John A. Tvedtnes addresses the use of Mark 16:16 in the Book of Mormon; argues it may reflect an authentic Jesus tradition based on Matthew 28:19.
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- Reference
John A. Tvedtnes, "A Response to 'Opposition to The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,'" 2002, Shields-Research.org, accessed February 22, 2023
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- SHIELDS: Scholarly & Historical Information Exchange for Latter-Day [sic] Saints
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- Transcription
There are several instances where forgeries by Christian scribes which appear in the King James version of the Bible also appear in the Book of Mormon. Two examples are:
1 John 5:7 which appears in 3 Nephi 11:27,36
Mark 16:16 which appears in 3 Nephi 11:33-34
Neither verse in 3 Nephi really quotes the Johannine Comma of 1 John 5:7. That the members of the Godhead bear witness of each other is affirmed in a number of other New Testament passages (John 8:18; 15:26; cf. John 5:36; 10:25), and in John 10:30, Jesus said "I and my Father are one" (see also John 17:11, 21-22).
3 Nephi 11:33-34 admittedly resembles Mark 16:16, but it is not really a quote of the Mark passage, having verbiage not included in Mark. Scholars are still divided on which of the various endings of Mark is "original" (perhaps none of them), but we must note that the ending in modern Bibles is similar to the one in Matthew 28:19, suggesting that Jesus really did say something like this to his Jewish disciples, so there is no reason why he would not have used similar wording when he commissioned the Nephite disciples.
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