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Chapter 6: Forgeries in Conflicts with False Teachers

  1. John J. Gunther,
    St. Paul's Opponents and Their Background
    (Leiden: Brill, 1973).
  2. Thomas Sappington,
    Revelation and Redemption at Colossae
    (Sheffield: JSOT, 1991); Richard DeMaris,
    Colossian Controversy: Wisdom in Dispute at Colossae
    (Sheffield: Sheffield University Press, 1994); Clinton Arnold,
    Colossian Syncretism: The Interface Between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae
    (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995); Troy Martin,
    By Philosophy and Empty Deceit: Colossians as Response to a Cynic Critique
    (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996).
  3. I have taken all translations of the
    Pseudo-Clementine Writings
    from Thomas Smith, “The Pseudo-Clementine Literature,” in Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds.,
    The Ante-Nicene Fathers,
    vol. 8 (reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995).
  4. They are called this because they consist of twenty sermons allegedly given by Clement, in which he tells his tales of journeys and adventures with the apostle Peter.
  5. There has been a spate of books on the historical James in recent years. For a competent treatment by a good scholar (with whom I disagree on a number of points), see John Painter,
    Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History and Tradition
    (Edinburgh: Clark, 1997).
  6. See, for example, the discussion in my
    Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)
    (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009), pp. 53–58.
  7. Scholars have come up with four major possible explanations for these “we passages.” Three of the four explanations simply don't seem to work. The traditional explanation is that the author really was Paul's companion. That view is problematic though, since the author makes so many mistakes about Paul's life and teachings that he doesn't seem to be a close companion. Other scholars have maintained that the author, whoever he was, had access to a companion of Paul's travel itinerary and inserted it in a few places, creating the odd use of “we” on occasion (since that was how the itinerary was worded). This is an attractive option, but it does not explain why the writing style and vocabulary of the “we passages” is virtually the same as the rest of Acts. If the itinerary came from a different author, you would expect the style to be different. Other scholars have argued that the author is using an age-old technique of describing travel narratives—especially those involving sea journeys—in the first person. But still other scholars have pointed out that there are lots of sea-travel narratives not written in the first person, so this does not seem to explain these passages. The fourth explanation is the one that seems to me to have the fewest problems: the author has edited these sections of Acts to make his readers assume that he was actually with Paul for these parts of the story, even though he was not. This would explain why the “we” sections begin and end so abruptly: it was just a stylistic
    device used by the author to insert himself into the story in a few places.
  8. Irenaeus
    Against Heresies
    3.14.1.
  9. See note 6.
  10. Scholars today are widely split on how to discuss Gnosticism or even whether to consider Gnosticism a single broad phenomenon. For three very different perspectives from leading scholars, see Karen King,
    What Is Gnosticism?
    (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005); Bentley Layton,
    The Gnostic Scriptures: Ancient Wisdom for the New Age
    (New York: Doubleday, 1987); and Birger Pearson,
    Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature
    (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007).
  11. For a fresh translation of the Nag Hammadi writings, see Marvin Meyer, ed.,
    The Nag Hammadi Scriptures
    (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2007).
  12. Epiphanius
    The Medicine Chest
    26.
  13. Whether Epiphanius actually knew and read these other books or instead was making them up is anyone's guess.
  14. Both Didymus and Thomas mean “twin” Jude was his name. He is talked about as the twin of Jesus in the ancient Syrian book the
    Acts of Thomas,
    which describes his missionary journey to India after Jesus's death.
  15. For an English translation, see Meyer,
    Nag Hammadi Scriptures,
    pp. 487–97. I have taken my quotations from there.
  16. For an English translation, see Meyer,
    Nag Hammadi Scriptures,
    pp. 235–45. I have taken my quotations from there.
  17. For an English translation, see Wilhelm Schneemelcher,
    New Testament Apocrypha,
    trans. R. McL. Wilson, 2 vols. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1991–92), 1:249–84.

Chapter 7: False Attributions, Fabrications, and Falsifications: Phenomena Related to Forgery

  1. Thus Johannes Quasten,
    Patrology
    (Utrecht: Spectrum, 1950), 2:412–13.
  2. It is included as part of the canon of the New Testament, for example, in a famous biblical manuscript of the fifth century, Codex Alexandrinus.
  3. For the variety of expectations of what the future messiah would be like, see John J. Collins,
    The Scepter and the Star
    (New York: Doubleday, 1995) and my brief discussion in Chapter 5.
  4. Irenaeus
    Against Heresies
    3.7.11.
  5. Papias indicates that he received this information from someone who had known the apostles; that is, it comes to us third-hand. See the next note.
  6. For the full text of Papias's comments, see Bart D. Ehrman,
    The Apostolic Fathers,
    2 vols., Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003), 2:103.
  7. Tertullian
    Against Marcion
    4.5.
  8. I argue this case in my book
    Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don't Know About Them)
    (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009), pp. 102–12, and probably don't need to give all the arguments and information yet again here.
  9. For an argument that the author intends to make his readers think he was Paul, see Clare Rothschild,
    Hebrews as Pseudepigraphon
    (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009).
  10. For an English translation, see Ehrman,
    Apostolic Fathers,
    2:3–83.
  11. For an English translation, see Bart D. Ehrman and Zlatko
    Plese,
    Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations
    (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
  12. See David Dungan and J. K. Elliott,
    Art and the Christian Apocrypha
    (New York: Routledge, 2001).
  13. For an English translation, see Ehrman and Plese,
    Apocryphal Gospels.
  14. For an English translation, see Ehrman and Plese,
    Apocryphal Gospels.
  15. The fullest, most recent study is Reidar Aasgaard,
    The Childhood of Jesus: Decoding the Apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas
    (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2009).
  16. See my
    Jesus, Interrupted
    . As I stress there, this view that the Gospels contain nonhistorical accounts is not just my idiosyncratic idea; it is the consensus of modern critical scholarship and has been for a very long time.
  17. This is the subject of my earlier book
    Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
    (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2005). Here I summarize just a few of the most important points.
  18. See my
    Misquoting Jesus,
    pp. 65–68.
  19. See the discussion in Gordon Fee,
    The First Epistle to the Corinthians
    (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987) or, more briefly,
    Misquoting Jesus,
    pp. 183–86.
  20. Robert Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, eds.,
    The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus
    (New York: Macmillan, 1993), p. 22.
  21. The Architecture of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio,
    trans. Joseph Gwilt (London: Priestley and Weale, 1826).
  22. Polybius
    Histories
    9.2.12.
  23. Martial
    Epigrams
    1.66; trans. Walter C. A. Ker, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1979).
  24. Diogenes Laertius
    Lives
    2.60; 5.93; 8.54; trans. R. D. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931).

Chapter 8: Forgeries, Lies, Deceptions, and the Writings of the New Testament

  1. Edgar J. Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha
    (Boston: Beacon, 1956); Per Beskow,
    Strange Tales About Jesus: A Survey of Unfamiliar Gospels
    (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983).
  2. Discussed in Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha,
    pp. 3–14; and Beskow,
    Strange Tales,
    pp. 57–65.
  3. See Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha
    ; Beskow,
    Strange Tales,
    pp. 20–28; 42–50.
  4. By Roman source I mean any source written by a pagan author of the Roman Empire; Jesus is mentioned in Christian sources, of course, and twice in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, though by no other source of the first century.
  5. See Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha,
    pp. 92–96; Beskow,
    Strange Tales,
    pp. 16–24.
  6. I have taken the translation from Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha,
    pp. 92–93.
  7. See Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha,
    pp. 97–101.
  8. Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha,
    p. 101.
  9. Goodspeed,
    Modern Apocrypha,
    pp. 45–49. This tale is based on old traditions, especially popular in the Byzantine Christianity, about Mary and a red egg, which arguably provide the origin for the custom of coloring Easter eggs.
  10. According to Beskow, this account was written by the Anglican clergyman Gieon Ouseley (1835–1906), a committed vegetarian who wrote ten books on vegetarianism and the occult.
  11. Hugh Schonfield,
    The Passover Plot
    (New York: Bantam, 1965).
  12. See Chapter 1, n. 16.
  13. See Chapter 1, n. 16.
  14. One of Morton Smith's most avid supporters, who argues vehemently that the letter of Clement is authentic, is Scott Brown; his fullest study is
    Mark's Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith's Controversial Discovery
    (Waterloo, ON: Laurier University Press, 2005).
  15. For a popular treatment, see Sissela Bok,
    Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life,
    3rd ed. (New York: Vintage, 1999).

Note: The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

 

Abgar, King, 162–163

Abraham, 30, 42, 194–196

abstinence teachings.
See
sexual abstinence teachings

Acts of Paul (and Thecla),
18, 81–83, 88, 103–104, 128–129, 233, 262, 270n27

Acts of Peter,
18, 50–52, 233

Acts of Peter and Paul,
155

Acts of Pilate,
172–173

Acts of the Apostles, 202–209; authorship of, 23, 206–209, 220–221, 286n7; differing from Paul's writings, 204–206, 208; as a forgery, 208–209; inaccurately aligning Paul with apostles, 63, 202–206; noting Peter's illiteracy, 75; Paul's conversion account, 191; summary of, 202–204

Adam, 30, 94

Aeschines, 247

afterlife, 6, 8, 64–65, 89, 106, 213.
See also
second coming beliefs

Against All Heresies,
221–222

Against Heresies
(Irenaeus), 225

Aland, Kurt, 124

Alexander (son of Herod), 27, 40

Alexander the False Prophet
(Lucian), 28

Anaximenes, 29

Ancient Literacy
(Harris), 70–71

ancient world: copying texts, 240–241; historical writing, 47–49; libraries, 26–27; literacy and education, 70–73; notions of fiction, 45–48; plagiarism, 246–247; religion, 5–7; use of secretaries, 134; view of “noble lie,” 41, 42, 263.
See also
forgery in the ancient world; Roman Empire

angels, 89, 112, 185

anonymous writing: to boost authority, 223–225; as equivalent to forgery, 119–120; included in New Testament, 10, 23, 220; wrongly attributed, 24, 140, 221–222, 249–250

anti-Semitism, 55–56, 59, 151–152

Antitheses
(Marcion), 85–86

Apocalypse of John (Revelation), 21, 30, 64, 105

Apocalypse of Paul,
213

Apocalypse of Peter,
18, 30, 63–65, 274n16

apocalyptic forgeries, 18, 29–31

apocalyptic teachings, evangelical, 105–106

apologetics/apologists, 4, 169–170

apostles: apostolic succession, 7–8; forgeries associated with, 20, 217; Gospels formerly “memoirs of the,” 225; as illiterate, 8; Paul's relationship to the, 61, 89, 199, 202–203, 205, 206; spirit-inspired writing from the, 123–125

Apostolic Constitutions,
20, 22, 35, 37, 160, 248–249

Apostolic Tradition,
249

Aramaic, 72, 74, 75, 76, 198

Aristotle, 26, 27, 31

asceticism, 32, 49, 94, 96, 185

Athenagoras, 169

Augustine, 41–42, 160–161, 263

Aurelian, Emperor, 27–28

authority, attribution and, 222–224

 

Babylon, 68

baptism, 82, 83, 111

Barnabas, 149, 229–232

Beker, J. Christiaan, 109

Beskow, Per, 252, 254

Bible.
See
New Testament; Old Testament

biblical “conduct codes,” 2, 94

biblical infallibility, 3, 5, 115–117

biography, 46, 47

Birth of Mary,
213

Book of Thomas the Contender,
215–216

Brox, Norbert, 102, 123

Bruce, F. F., 109

Brutus, 134, 137

Buddhism and Jesus hoax, 252–254

Bujard, Walter, 113

 

Caldwell, Taylor, 79–81

canonical Gospels: as anonymous, 23, 24, 220–221; cast as continuous with Old Testament, 224–225; and the
Gospel of Peter,
55–59; lack of resurrection accounts, 17, 57–58; misattributions of, 223–228; possible plagiarism in, 248

Capernaum, 74

celibacy teachings.
See
sexual abstinence teachings

Cerinthus, 21, 217

childbearing, 94, 100, 103

Christ.
See
Jesus

Christian apologists, 4, 169–170

Christianity: evangelical, 2–4, 105–106, 115–117, 145–146; legacy of lies and deceptions, 40–42, 261–265; messianic claims, 145–149; second coming beliefs, 105–106; violence and conflict in, 143–145, 176–178.
See also
early Christianity; modern forgeries and hoaxes

Church History
(Eusebius), 52–53, 54, 156, 162

church leaders: authorship of
1 Clement,
222; debates over suspicious documents, 18–19, 21; development of hierarchy, 101–102; encouraging marriage of, 99–100, 103; forged documents to direct, 103; on lying, 41–42; on role of women, 82–83, 94, 103–105

Cicero, 134, 136, 137, 138

Claudius, Emperor, 155

Clement of Alexandria, 42, 261

Clement of Rome, 20, 62, 190, 222

Cleobius, 88, 89, 160

coauthoring theories, 77, 114, 136–137

Colossians, 112–114, 121, 128, 129, 185, 207

“conduct codes,” 2, 94

Confession of Pontius Pilate, The,
259

Coptic Apocalypse of Peter,
213–214

Coptic church, 153

copying texts, 87, 240–242

Corinthian church, 101, 181, 222

creation, 88–89, 95–96

credibility motive, 8–9, 31–32

creeds, 6, 7

crucifixion of Jesus.
See
Jesus, crucifixion of

Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eye-Witness, The,
254–256

 

Daniel, 30, 117, 131

Dante, 64

David (Aristotle commentator), 31

David, King, 146, 224

Dead Sea Scrolls, 255

debates, early Christian, 180–183, 218.
See also
false teachings

deceptions.
See
lies and deceptions

Decius, Emperor, 164

deicide, 149

deutero-Pauline letters, 92–93

Dibelius, Martin, 256

Didache,
248–249

Didascalia,
249

Didymus the Blind, 22

Diogenes Laertius, 29, 247

Dionysius (3rd-century scholar), 21

Dionysius the Renegade, 16–17, 27, 29

Diotimus, 29, 40

discovery narrative, 35

divine authority, 7–8

Divine Comedy
(Dante), 64

divine knowledge/spark, 96, 210, 211, 214, 215

docetism, 53–54, 57, 59–60, 86, 89

Douglas, J. Archibald, 254

 

early Christian forgery: blaming Jews for crucifixion, 55–57, 148, 149–152, 171; church leader debates over, 18–19, 21, 22; emergence of, 8–11; evangelical views on, 115–117; false teachings put down by, 88–90, 94, 95, 103, 183–188, 216–218; falsehood to promote “truth,” 144, 216, 217, 218, 250, 265; to fend off pagan attacks, 145, 170–173, 177–178; by Gnostics, 212–216; miracles in, 49–52; New Testament, 9–10, 65–70, 118, 262; noncanonical books, 17–19; overview on, 19–22, 139–141, 262; possible justifications for, 40–42, 262–265; in support of Paul, 87, 199–202; writings of Jesus, 159–163.
See also
pastoral letter forgeries; Pauline forgeries; Petrine
forgeries; scholarly justification of forgery

early Christian forgery list:
Acts of Peter,
50–52, 233;
Apocalypse of Peter,
18, 30, 63–65;
Apostolic Constitutions,
20, 22, 35, 37, 160;
Book of Thomas the Contender,
215–216; Colossians, 112–114, 129–130, 185;
Coptic Apocalypse of Peter,
213–214; Ephesians, 108–112, 129–130, 143–144;
Epistle of Peter,
62–63;
Epistula Apostolorum,
217;
Gospel of Nicodemus,
150–152, 172–173; Hebrews, 22, 221, 229; James, 192–198; Jude, 186–188;
Letters of Paul and Seneca,
18, 90–92, 114, 171;
Pseudo-Clementine Writings,
62–63, 190–192;
Second Treatise of the Great Seth,
161; Sibylline oracles, 174–176; 3 Corinthians, 88–90, 216;
Timothy to the Church,
32–33.
See also
Acts of the Apostles;
Gospel of Peter;
pastoral letter forgeries; Pilate Gospels

early Christianity: based on conflict, 143–145; challenges of apostolic succession, 7–8; faith and works debate, 194–198; falsifications in, 240–245; marriage beliefs, 18, 82–83, 94, 99–100, 103–104, 105; overview on debates in, 180–183, 218; pagan opposition to, 67, 145, 165–170, 177; question of plagiarism, 247–249; and the Roman Empire, 163–164; rooted in truth claims, 5–7; salvation through Jesus in, 61, 81, 85, 99, 100, 109–111, 200; spiritual gifts and equality, 100–101; splits over sex, marriage, role of women, 82–83, 103–105.
See also
church leaders; early Christian forgery; fabrications; false attribution; false teachings; Gnosticism; Jewish/Christian conflicts; Jewish law and Christians; second coming beliefs; sexual abstinence teachings

Ecclesiastes, 117

Edessa, 162–163

Egeria, 163

Empedocles, 247

Enoch, 30

Ephesians, 108–113, 120, 128, 129, 136, 137, 138, 143–144, 197–198

Epicurus, 29, 40

Epiphanius, 212, 213

Epistle of Barnabas,
149, 229–232

Epistle of Peter,
62–63, 189–190, 204

Epistula Apostolorum,
217

equality, 101, 104

Eros, 27–28

Essenes, 255–256

ethical views, 40–42

Euripides, 26, 27

Eusebius, 21, 52–53, 54, 64, 156, 162, 173

evangelical Christians, 2–4, 105–106, 115–117, 145–146

Eve, 94

evidence, 4

exclusivity, religious, 6, 7

 

fabrications, 232–240; about Peter, 49–52;
Acts of Paul,
81–83;
Acts of Peter and Paul,
155;
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew,
236–237;
Infancy Gospel of Thomas,
237–239; in the New Testament, 239–240; overview on, 232–234;
Proto-Gospel of James,
234–236

faith, and works, 194–198

false attribution, 220–232;
Epistle of Barnabas,
229–232; to increase authority of writing, 222–223; misattribution of the Gospels, 223–228; mistaken, 221–222; New Testament, 220–221, 229; as pseudepigraphy, 24

false teachings, 180–218; attribution of the Gospels and, 225–226, 227; context and authorship, 267n3; and controversy surrounding Paul, 180–182, 188–189, 199–202; early Christian debates overview, 180–183, 218; forgeries to put down, 88–90, 94, 95, 103, 183–188, 216–218; forgery to promote, 8–9; of Marcion, 84–88; targeting Judaism / aligned with Paul, 229–232.
See also
Gnosticism; Paul, forgeries in opposition to

falsehood.
See
lies and deceptions falsifications, 240–245

fiction, 45–48

1 Clement,
222

1 Corinthians, 93, 99, 100–101, 111, 193, 244–245

1 John, 23, 221, 223, 229

1 Kings, 224

1 Peter, 66–68, 75–76, 131, 134–139, 171–172, 199–200, 204

1 Samuel, 115, 224

1 Thessalonians, 93, 106–108, 113, 200

1 Timothy, 22, 94–100, 102–103, 138, 188, 208, 232, 244

Five Gospels, The
(Jesus Seminar), 246

flesh, 88–90, 96, 211–212, 214–217

the flesh, 89–90, 96

forgery, literary: as deceptive, 9, 10, 25, 36, 37–38, 40; defining, 24–25; detection of, 33; Hitler diaries, 13–15; “honest,” 121; intention of, 25–26, 38–39, 141, 249; as multifunctional, 170–171; techniques of forgers, 19–20, 33–35.
See also
early Christian forgery; modern forgeries and hoaxes; motivation for forgery; scholarly justification of forgery

forgery in the ancient world: as accepted practice, 119–120, 123–125; apocalyptic, 30–31; condemnation of, 9, 25, 36–37, 39, 140–141, 262; Dionysius's ruse, 16–17; intention to deceive, 38–39, 119–123, 126; methods of, 33–35; negative words to describe, 37–38, 140; prevalence of, 15, 36; punishment for, 39–40.
See also
early Christian forgery

fundamentalist Christians, 2–4, 105–106, 115–117, 145–146

 

Galatians, 61, 93, 99, 101, 110, 113, 134, 189, 191, 193, 195, 204–205

Galen, 26–27, 36–37, 39

Galilee, 73–74

Genesis, 195, 196

genre, literary, 46

Gentile Christians and the law.
See
Jewish law and Christians

George Washington illustration, 44–45

Gnosticism, 209–217; divine knowledge/spark in, 96, 210, 211, 214, 215; forgeries in opposition to, 216–217; forgeries to promote, 161, 212–216; overview on, 209–212; pastoral letter forgeries linked to, 95–96; salvation through transcendence of the flesh, 96, 211, 214; views on Jesus, 96, 182, 210, 211–212, 214

God: in apocalyptic writings, 30; Bible as inspired by, 115–116, 117; gift of the Spirit of, 100; in Gnosticism, 95–96, 210–211; Marcion's beliefs on, 85–89, 95, 231; messiah from, 146–149; objective knowledge of, 3; as truth, 41; use of deception by, 42

Golden Rule, 265

“good works” teachings, 99, 110, 194–198

Goodspeed, Edgar, 252, 254, 258

Gospel of Nicodemus,
150–152, 172–173

Gospel of Peter,
52–60; account of Jesus's death and resurrection, 17, 55–59; blaming Jews for crucifixion, 55–57, 149–150; early source information on, 52–54; fabrication in, 233; as forgery, 54, 59–60, 233; as fragmentary, 55, 59; as heretical, 88; intention of author, 38; rediscovery of, 52, 54–55

Gospel of Philip,
17, 31, 212, 213

Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew,
236–237, 248

Gospel of the Holy Twelve, The,
259

Gospel of Thomas,
17, 31, 213

Gospels, New Testament.
See
canonical Gospels

Gospels, noncanonical, 17

Grafton, Anthony, 33

Great Lion of God
(Caldwell), 79–81

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