The Know

As Moroni finished up his father’s record, he wrote a message, including a series of six questions (Mormon 9:15–17), that directly targeted the skeptics and unbelievers who scoffed at miracles and revelations. He then personally promised that requests of all who ask, “doubting nothing,” shall be granted, “even unto the ends of the earth” (Mormon 9:21), followed by words spoken by the Savior to his Nephite disciples, in the hearing of all the multitude, promising that signs and miracles would follow them:

For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God … : Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned; And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; (Mormon 9:22–24)

This quotation of the words of Jesus concludes: “And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth” (Mormon 9:25). Moroni then further bracketed this rehearsing of the divine words of Jesus by again asking another series of five rhetorical questions (Mormon 9:26).

The language of Mormon 9:22–24 is nearly identical to that of Mark 16:15–18, where the Savior gives a very similar commission to his Old World disciples. Yet some question whether the Savior really gave such a commission, in either the Old World or the New, since some of the earliest copies of the Gospel of Mark are missing the text in Mark 16:9–20. This textual absence, combined with other complicated textual and stylistic considerations, has led scholars to question whether Mark originally included verses 9–20, commonly referred to as the “long ending” of Mark.

But before jumping to conclusions about the authenticity of either Mark 16:15–18, or Mormon 9:22–24, there are several considerations to keep in mind. First, in recent years, several scholars have argued that the text in Mark 16:9–20 is indeed an authentic part of the Gospel of Mark. These scholars note that many other early New Testament manuscripts contain these verses, and bring a wide array of additional evidence together, making a credible case for the early inclusion of the long ending in Mark’s gospel. Because the textual evidence is extremely complex, legitimate questions about the history of the long ending of Mark remain, but the possibility that it was an original part of the Gospel of Mark is a defensible position to take.

It is also significant that several scholars who reject Mark 16:9–20 as part of the original Gospel of Mark nonetheless believe that the long ending pre-existed its attachment to Mark. This means that even if it was not originally part of Mark’s gospel, it likely stands as an early, independent witness of the resurrection containing the authentic teachings of the Savior’s post-resurrection ministry.

Another important detail to keep in mind is that even among those who reject the authenticity of Mark 16:9–20, there is considerable debate about how the Gospel of Mark originally ended. Some believe it ended as a dramatic cliff-hanger at Mark 16:8. Others, however, argue that there is another “lost ending” or two. It is impossible to know exactly what such other endings would have said, but N. T. Wright argues that it most likely would have been similar to the current ending, including a commission similar to that in Mark 16:15–18.

The Why

Clearly, textual questions about the ending of Mark remain open and unsettled. Overall, the variety of possibilities mentioned here reveals that whether it was originally part of Mark or not, Mark 16:15–18 likely reflects authentic words and teachings of the resurrected Lord in the Old World. If the resurrected Lord gave these words to his apostles in Galilee, it is reasonable to believe, as Moroni states, that the resurrected Savior gave the same teachings and assurances to his twelve Nephite disciples in Bountiful, as quoted in Mormon 9:22–24.

It important to recognize, however, that even though the English translation of Mormon 9:22–24 was possibly influenced by the King James translation of Mark 16:15–18, Moroni’s source was not the Gospel of Mark. Rather, Moroni was drawing on the teachings of Christ recorded among the Nephites (Mormon 9:22). Thus, the authenticity of the words of Jesus in Mormon 9:22–25 is not ultimately dependent on the authenticity of the “long ending” of Mark. Indeed, belief in the authenticity of these words in the ending of Mark may, on the other hand, benefit from the testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Mormon 9:22–24 is consistent with the teachings of Jesus found elsewhere in both New Testament and the Book of Mormon, and those verses appropriately and skillfully fit within Moroni’s message in Mormon 9, both conceptually and compositionally. It is entirely expected that Jesus would have commissioned his Nephite disciples to preach the gospel to all (Mormon 9:22), and stressed the importance of baptizing those who believe (Mormon 9:23).

The promise that those who believe will be able to “take up serpents” and “drink any deadly thing” without harm (Mormon 9:24) receives skepticism from New Testament scholars (Mark 16:18), but may have had unique relevance to the Nephite “disciples who should tarry” (Mormon 9:22; cf. 4 Nephi 1:30–33), as it also did for Paul on the island of Malta (Acts 28:4).

Finally, the Savior’s promise that signs would follow the believers, confirming “all my words even unto the ends of the earth” (Mormon 9:24–25), strengthens Moroni’s powerful message to the future readers of the Book of Mormon that miracles only cease because the people “dwindle in unbelief” (Mormon 9:20).

Thus, on several grounds and for many reasons, in spite of the inconclusive textual and transmission history of Mark 16:15–18, Latter-day Saints can be grateful for these scriptural witnesses that mutually and reciprocally sustain important teachings and promises from the Savior (cf. Mormon 7:8–9).