ANSWER: Yes! The reason some would like to see it omitted is because it is devastating to the doctrine of salvation by “faith only.” Clearly, from verse sixteen, in order to be saved one must believe and be baptized. Rather than admit the truth of this biblical fact, it seems easier for some to attempt to remove it entirely! They attempt to do this on the basis that two of the three earliest manuscripts (the Vatican and Siniatic) do not include the passage. However, the Alexandrian does. As well, there is a blank space in the fourth century Vatican manuscript where this passage should have been, which simply indicates that the copyist had not yet completed his work! Also, verse eight of Mark sixteen obviously was never intended as a concluding remark.

It is significant to note also that the Vatican manuscript omits many other large passages, which the detractors include as scripture. Honesty in translation would demand that if one omitted passage is excluded, then all such passages should as well be excluded! To do otherwise would be to compromise one’s integrity, which, clearly, some in this matter have done. What these men also fail to properly report is that there are 1,400 other manuscripts and versions in which the passage does appear! Additionally, the early church fathers quoted from the last verse of Mark long before any of the three earliest manuscripts were written. For example: A few years after the first century ended, Irenaeus (a disciple of Polycarp, who was a personal acquaintance of the apostle John) quoted Mark 16:19, when he said, “But Mark in the end of his gospel says, ‘And the Lord Jesus, after that He had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God.’” Without doubt, Mark 16:9-20 is a passage within God’s Word. In fact, His Word would be incomplete without it!