Mark 1:1 reads as follows: jArchV tou' eujaggelivou jIhsou' Cristou' uiJou' qeou' (“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”) The last two words in Greek are disputed because of their omission in some important manuscripts. These same manuscripts cannot be charged with being the products of heretics, however, because in 15:39 they all record the centurion as saying, “Certainly this was God’s Son.” The issues at stake must be put on a different plane.

a* Q (28) and a few others omit uiou qeou, while virtually all the rest of the witnesses have the words. Although normally the shorter reading is to be preferred by most textual critics, this rule cannot be applied mechanically. In this case, if a good reason for an accidental omission can be found—especially since the MSS lacking the words are very few, then the longer reading probably should be regarded as authentic. And although a is a major witness to the text of the New Testament, the first corrector of this MS added the words uiou qeou, suggesting the possibility that the omission was simply an oversight. Apart from this lone fourth century MS, the rest of the