INTRODUCTION TO THK AMKIIU'AN EDITION. Ui
The baptismal confession of the eunuch (Acts via. 37), which came in from ecclesiastical use.
The passage of the three heavenly witnesses (1 John v. 7, 8), which is wanting in all the uncials, in all the ancient versions (including the best MSS. of the Vulgate), and in all the Greek fathers. It first appeared in Latin copies, and only in two very late Greek MSS., of no authority. The internal evidence is likewise against it, since John would not have written " the Father and the Word and the Holy Spirit," but " the Father and the -Son," or " God and the Word," etc. Hence it is universally given up by critics.*
endorf and Tregelles. His arguments against X and B prove altogether too much, and would destroy our confidence in all MSS., versions, and citations. Dr. Scrivener also (pp. 507-518), defends the genuineness of Mark xvi. 9-20. It seems impossi- ble that the evangelist should have ended his book so abruptly with ifofiot'vro yap. The oldest versions and lectinnaries con- tain the section in whole or in part. Irenaeus treats it as an inte- gral portion of Mark (Adc. Ifar. iii. 10, 6). The Vatican MS. leaves the whole third column blank, but concludes the Gospel of Mark in the second column, at ver. 8, with the usual ara- besque and the subscription KATA MAPKON, leaving an inter vi-ning space of only three lines (not enough for two verses). Burgon and Scrivener make much of the fact that this blank column is the only vacant column in the Vatican MS.; but Dr. Abbot replies that two columns are left blank at the end of Ne- hemiah, and a column and a half at the end of the book of To- bit, presenting an appearance very similar to that of the end of Mark. Tischendorf and Tregelles set the twelve verses apart ; Westcott and Hort enclose them in double brackets; the Anglo- American Revision properly retains them with a marginal note.
- Even Dr. Scrivener, one of the most conservative critics,
ays (p. 561), "To maintain the genuineness of this passage is simply impossible." More than fifty volumes and pamphlets have been written on this controversy.
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