Problem: Luke writes that Zacharias and Elizabeth were “righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Lk. 1:6). However, the rest of the Bible teaches that none are righteous (Rom. 3:10, 23).
Have all people sinned or not? The Bible seems to suggest that some people never sinned. So, what is the answer?
Textual critics argue over the ending of Mark. Some argue for the longer ending (LE) and others for the shorter ending (SE). The LE extends the gospel to 16:20, while the SE stops at 16:8. Is Mark 16:9-20 a later scribal insertion, or was it written by Mark? Mark 16:9-20 was a later scribal addition. We hold this view for several reasons:
Problem: According to Mark, Jesus appeared here in “another form.” From this, some argue that after the resurrection Jesus assumed different bodies on different occasions, but did not have the same continuously physical body He had before the Resurrection. But this is contrary to the orthodox understanding of the Resurrection, as is indicated by many other verses (see comments on Luke 24:34).
There is a dispute over Mark 16:9-20 and whether or not it should be included in the New Testament. It is found in many old manuscripts but is omitted in two of the earliest complete copies of the Bible, known as the Vaticanus (350 AD) and Sinaiticus (375 AD). Additionally, there is another ending to Mark in some old manuscripts that is substituted for 9-20. The alternate ending reads as follows:
Problem: Most modern Bibles contain this ending of the Gospel of Mark, including the kjv, asv, nasb, and the nkjv. However, both the rsv and the niv set it off from the rest of the text. A note in the niv says, “Most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9–20.” Were these verses in the original Gospel of Mark?
The first one to see Jesus after His resurrection was Mary Magdalene just as it says
They told what happened
Matthew 28:8, “And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.”
Problem: Critics argue that our earliest gospel (Mark) doesn’t contain eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Some even go so far as to say that Mark doesn’t affirm Jesus’ resurrection at all. Is this the case?
Problem: Mark says that the women returning from the empty tomb “said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (16:8). But Matthew asserts that they “ran to bring His disciples word” (Matt. 28:8; cf. v. 9).