Purposes of Miracles

The majority of New Testament scholars do not think this verse or the last twelve verses of Mark’s Gospel were written by Mark himself. They think that the original ending to Mark’s Gospel was lost and that these verses were added later by someone other than Mark. Nevertheless, these last twelve verses were written very early in the history of the church, for they are found in several manuscripts of Tatian’s Diatessaron (A.D. 170). They were also quoted by Irenaeus (who died in A.D. 202) and Tertullian (who died in A.D. 220). At the very least, therefore, these verses reflect what the early church thought about the purposes of miracles, even if these verses are not considered part of the original Scriptures.

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, by Jack Deere (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), p. 277.