I am a postdoctoral researcher studying quantum gravity and black hole thermodynamics at UC Santa Barbara. Before that, I studied the Great Books program at St. John's College, Santa Fe, and got my Ph.D. in physics from U Maryland.
comments on physics and theology
Regarding Mark 16:9-20 -- I have done some research on this and I would be glad to send a copy to you, as a sort of couter-point to the textual critics who have argued that it is not part of the original text. My research, published as a Kindle ebook, "Authentic: The Case for Mark 16:9-20," is for sale at Amazon, but if you would like a free digital copy, formatted as a Word document, I would be glad to send one on request.
Yours in Christ,
James Snapp, Jr.
Minister, Curtisville Christian Church
Indiana
Dear James Snapp Jr.
I would indeed be interested in seeing your book; you can send the Word file to the email address which can be found by clicking through the "Website" link on the top bar.
I suppose you must be aware that there exists a manuscript of the Gospel of Mark in which the ending is attributed to a certain "Ariston" who seems to have been a disciple of Jesus, though not one of the 12. My current opinion--though this might of course change after reading your book--is that the long ending probably wasn't written by Mark but nevertheless probably does contain accurate information about Jesus' post-Resurrection sayings and deeds. Of course, when arguing with nonbelievers one has to argue based on what can be proven to their satisfaction, and so I avoided relying on the long ending for that reason. But that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be factually wrong.