354 Clarence Russell Williams, 



\-olinnc' wliicli tqiuils it in the prcSL'iitatioii of reproductions of the 

 manuscripts concerned. Abbe Martin closes his argument in defence 

 of these verses with the suggestion that the question of authenticity 

 be decided in their favor by a decree of the next Ecumenical Council. 



Zahn, in his masterly " Geschichtedes Neutestamentlichen Kanons " 

 published in 1890 devoted nearly thirty pages to a discussion of the 

 subject (Vol. II, pp. 910—938). The declaration by this leader among 

 the more conservative scholars that "It may be regarded as one of 

 the most certain of critical conclusions, that the words l'i)o(3oOvTO 'p-? 

 xvi. 8 arc the last words in the book which were written b\- the authcir 

 himself" expresses the opinion of most scholars today. 



Interest in this problem was intensified, and further discussion 

 evoked by the announcement in 1893 of the discovery by F. C. Cony- 

 beare of an Armenian codex in which the verses were ascribed to the 

 Presbyter Ariston, and by the announcement in 1908 of the dis- 

 covery in the Freer Manuscript of the (lospels of the interpolation 

 referred to by Jerome. 



English and American scholars frequently refer to H. B. Swete's dis- 

 cussion of the subject (The Gospel according to vSt. Mark, pp. xcvi— cv, 

 1898) as the best recent presentation of the textual evidence. 



But recent discoveries in manuscripts and the light thrown upon 

 the field by the investigations of textual critics call for a new dis- 

 cussion, not for the purpose of deciding for or against the authent- 

 icity of either of the conclusions found at the end of ]\Iark, but as 

 an aid in solving the problems of textual transmission. 



Since the discussions of Burgon, Hort, and Martin were published 

 a most important witness for that form of the Gospel which ends 

 with verse eight has been brought to light by the disco^■ery of the 

 Sinaitic Syriac by Mrs. Agnes Smith Lewis in 1892 ; and the evidence 

 has been increased by the discovery of three manuscripts containing 

 the Shorter Conclusion preceding the Longer, and one cursive (579), 

 apparently overlooked by Swete ; and, since the latter's discussion, 

 there has been added the evidence of the Freer Logion, announced 

 in 1908 and of a Sahidic MS published in 1911. 



Briefly stated, the results this investigation tends to establish are : 



The Longer Conclusion probably originated in Asia Minor during 

 the early half of the second century (the Armenian scholion assigning 

 the authorship to Ariston being cor sidered late, unauthentic, and 

 probably based on some misunderstanding or confusion). It was 

 carried to Rome about 150 A.D. where it had become accepted as the 

 authentic end of the Gospel by the time Tatian compiled his Diates- 

 saron (170 A.D.). It was through Tatian that it gained a place in the 



