How a forged ending to the Gospel of Mark gave us Appalachian snake-handling, false promises, and a resurrection scene the original author never wrote.
"Then there’s Mark, the oldest of the four..." I'm sure the order the gospels are presented was chosen for a specific purpose. Chronological order would surely cause more problems (like James and Paul's argument as written, not as printed).
I've always had something of a problem with the synoptic gospels. The excuse that they tell the same stories from different viewpoints doesn't seem quite right to me. What would be the chronological order? I personally go with Mark, Luke, Matthew, John, but past scholars only seem to agree that John comes last. Some think Matthew came first, but others say Mark is the oldest, Luke came from Mark, and Matthew took from Mark and Luke. Others put Mark after Luke. Shuffling the order changes the story, much like the way shuffling the deck changes the game. If Mark is the oldest, it ends abruptly, and it doesn't include snake handling and poison drinking, that matters.
Over two thousand years later, people are still debating what's true, what was intended, and who knows what they're talking about. Am I the only one thinking Jesus is doing a face-palm?
I checked via Google, and here is a pastor who died from a snakebite.
https://abcnews.com/US/snake-handling-pentecostal-pastor-dies-snake-bite/story?id=22551754
Bible literalism at its worst.
"Then there’s Mark, the oldest of the four..." I'm sure the order the gospels are presented was chosen for a specific purpose. Chronological order would surely cause more problems (like James and Paul's argument as written, not as printed).
I've always had something of a problem with the synoptic gospels. The excuse that they tell the same stories from different viewpoints doesn't seem quite right to me. What would be the chronological order? I personally go with Mark, Luke, Matthew, John, but past scholars only seem to agree that John comes last. Some think Matthew came first, but others say Mark is the oldest, Luke came from Mark, and Matthew took from Mark and Luke. Others put Mark after Luke. Shuffling the order changes the story, much like the way shuffling the deck changes the game. If Mark is the oldest, it ends abruptly, and it doesn't include snake handling and poison drinking, that matters.
Over two thousand years later, people are still debating what's true, what was intended, and who knows what they're talking about. Am I the only one thinking Jesus is doing a face-palm?