he same as Matthew until I come to the
16th verse of the 16th chapter, and then I strike an interpolation, put
in by hypocrisy, put in by priests, who longed to grasp with bloody
hands the sceptre of universal authority.

Let me read it to you. And it is the most infamous passage in the
Bible. Christ never said it. No sensible man ever said it. "And He
said unto them"--that is, unto His disciples--"Go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned."

Now, I propose to prove to you that that is an interpolation. Now how
will I do it? In the first place, not one word is said about belief in
Matthew. In the next place, not one word is said about belief in Mark,
until I come to that verse. And when is that said to have been spoken?
According to Mark, it is a part of the last conversation of Jesus
Christ--just before, according to the account, He ascended bodily
before their eyes. If there ever was any important thing happened in
this world, that is one of them. If there was any conversation that
people would be apt to recollect, it would be the last conversation
with God before He rose through the air and seated Himself upon the
throne of the Infinite. We have in this Testament five accounts of the
last conversation happening between Jesus Christ and His apostles.
Matthew gives it. And yet Matthew does not state that in that
conversation He said: "Whoso believeth and is baptized shall be saved,
and whoso believeth not shall be damned." And if He did say those
words, they were the most important that ever fell from His lips.
Matthew did not hear it, or did not believe it, or forgot it.

Then I turn to Luke, and he gives an account of this same last
conversation, and not one word does he say upon that subject. Now it
is the most important thing, if Christ said it, that He ever said.

Then I turn to John, and he gives an account of the last conversation,
but not one solitary word on the subject of belief or unbelief. Not
one solitary word on the subject of damnation. Not one.

Then I turn to the first chapter of the Acts, and there I find an
account of the last conversation; and in that conversation there is not
one word upon this subject. Now, I say, that demonstrates that the
passage in Mark is an interpolation.

What other reason have I got? That there is not one particle of sense
in it. Why?