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Forgery and Counter-forgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics
"Arguably the most distinctive feature of the early Christian literature," writes Bart Ehrman, "is the degree to which it was forged." The Homilies and Recognitions of Clement; Paul's letters to and from Seneca; Gospels by Peter, Thomas, and Philip; Jesus' correspondence with Abgar, letters by Peter and Paul in the New Testament--all forgeries. To cite just a few examples.
Forgery and Counterforgery is the first comprehensive study of early Christian pseudepigrapha ever produced in English. In it, Ehrman argues that ancient critics--pagan, Jewish, and Christian--understood false authorial claims to be a form of literary deceit, and thus forgeries. Ehrman considers the extent of the phenomenon, the "intention" and motivations of ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish forgers, and reactions to their work once detected. He also assesses the criteria ancient critics applied to expose forgeries and the techniques forgers used to avoid detection. With the wider practices of the ancient world as backdrop, Ehrman then focuses on early Christian polemics, as various Christian authors forged documents in order to lend their ideas a veneer of authority in literary battles waged with pagans, Jews, and, most importantly, with one another in internecine disputes over doctrine and practice. In some instances a forger directed his work against views found in another forgery,
creating thereby a "counter-forgery." Ehrman's evaluation of polemical forgeries starts with those of the New Testament (nearly half of whose books make a false authorial claim) up through the Pseudo-Ignatian epistles and the Apostolic Constitutions at the end of the fourth century.
Shining light on an important but overlooked feature of the early Christian world, Forgery and Counterforgery explores the possible motivations of the deceivers who produced these writings, situating their practice within ancient Christian discourses on lying and deceit.
Forgery and Counterforgery is the first comprehensive study of early Christian pseudepigrapha ever produced in English. In it, Ehrman argues that ancient critics--pagan, Jewish, and Christian--understood false authorial claims to be a form of literary deceit, and thus forgeries. Ehrman considers the extent of the phenomenon, the "intention" and motivations of ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish forgers, and reactions to their work once detected. He also assesses the criteria ancient critics applied to expose forgeries and the techniques forgers used to avoid detection. With the wider practices of the ancient world as backdrop, Ehrman then focuses on early Christian polemics, as various Christian authors forged documents in order to lend their ideas a veneer of authority in literary battles waged with pagans, Jews, and, most importantly, with one another in internecine disputes over doctrine and practice. In some instances a forger directed his work against views found in another forgery,
creating thereby a "counter-forgery." Ehrman's evaluation of polemical forgeries starts with those of the New Testament (nearly half of whose books make a false authorial claim) up through the Pseudo-Ignatian epistles and the Apostolic Constitutions at the end of the fourth century.
Shining light on an important but overlooked feature of the early Christian world, Forgery and Counterforgery explores the possible motivations of the deceivers who produced these writings, situating their practice within ancient Christian discourses on lying and deceit.
608 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2012
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556 people want to read
About the author
Bart D. Ehrman
68 books2,102 followersBart Denton Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 9, 2015
This work by Ehrman is one of the most important studies to have appeared in the field in the last decade. Spanning classics, biblical studies, and early church studies, it offers a theoretical discussion, survey, and analysis of Christian forgery. Though there are many individual works on Christian forgeries, Ehrman's is the only one in English to synthesize the massive amount of data and suggest a method of approaching these texts. Especially significant is his destruction of artificial barriers between New Testmant studies and other disciplines dealing with ancient and late antique documents.
The book is divided into two parts, the first of which I find the most significant. Part 1, "Forgery in the Greco-Roman World," provides a vocabulary, taxonomy, and method for dealing with forged documents. I don't think there is anything comparable to these four chapters in English scholarship. This should be required reading for anyone working in ancient or late antique literature.
Part 2, by far the bulk of the book, introduces and groups instances of Christian polemical forgeries. Here is where we meet Ehrman the detective, putting together clues and reconstructing scenarios to show not only which works were forged, but also why, how, and sometimes by whom. It's not necessary to agree with all of Ehrman's conclusions to glean considerable insight into the scholarly process. While he is somewhat minimalist regarding the New Testament, he is far from the fringe of mythicism or Dutch radical criticism. Ehrman's analyses at the very least thrust a group of marginalized texts back into the scholarly spotlight. Non-canonical forgeries tend to be neglected, but the authenticity of a book has little correlation with its historical importance. Ehrman also opens quite a number of doors—not all of which he walks through—for reconstructing the theological diversity of early Christianity, reaching back even into the New Testament era.
The only negative features of this book are its length, redundancy, and occasional sloppy editing. Part 1 is pretty tight, but the thematic arrangement of Part 2 lends itself more to reference than continuous reading. Some analyses and anecdotes recur in multiple chapters, padding an already lengthy tome.
The book is divided into two parts, the first of which I find the most significant. Part 1, "Forgery in the Greco-Roman World," provides a vocabulary, taxonomy, and method for dealing with forged documents. I don't think there is anything comparable to these four chapters in English scholarship. This should be required reading for anyone working in ancient or late antique literature.
Part 2, by far the bulk of the book, introduces and groups instances of Christian polemical forgeries. Here is where we meet Ehrman the detective, putting together clues and reconstructing scenarios to show not only which works were forged, but also why, how, and sometimes by whom. It's not necessary to agree with all of Ehrman's conclusions to glean considerable insight into the scholarly process. While he is somewhat minimalist regarding the New Testament, he is far from the fringe of mythicism or Dutch radical criticism. Ehrman's analyses at the very least thrust a group of marginalized texts back into the scholarly spotlight. Non-canonical forgeries tend to be neglected, but the authenticity of a book has little correlation with its historical importance. Ehrman also opens quite a number of doors—not all of which he walks through—for reconstructing the theological diversity of early Christianity, reaching back even into the New Testament era.
The only negative features of this book are its length, redundancy, and occasional sloppy editing. Part 1 is pretty tight, but the thematic arrangement of Part 2 lends itself more to reference than continuous reading. Some analyses and anecdotes recur in multiple chapters, padding an already lengthy tome.
December 9, 2016
Wow that was a lot of information. For the casual reader, your time might be better invested in something more accessible. 22 Hrs of audiobook. I was turned onto professor Ehrman via his great Teaching Company productions/lectures. Those were A+++ great, very good introductions to the history and theology of early Christianity. This is squarely an academic work, very in depth, and exhaustively cited and fleshed out. But easy to access,... it is not. I'm glad I stuck with it, taken overall it has given me a greater appreciation of how widespread forgery etc was back then. I'm just not sure it was 22 hrs of my time worth. Someone whom knows their Tertullian from Marcion would eat every bit up and want more. Me? I'm glad I had the exposure, but I think about a third of the book went over me.
December 9, 2021
In terms of the sheer amount of historical sources, this is really great. Erhman is no chump, regardless of what you think about him. You will get your history lesson with compelling commentary throughout this work. Were there forgeries in early Christian literature, in particular the Bible? What was the goal of these forgeries? What did they change? What did they keep the same?
The downside is of course that Erhman ends up on the wrong side of the fence while the rest of us enjoy a gentlemanly game of exegetical calisthenics. Forgeries inevitably existed, but there is a continuous stream of historical averment for the recognition of the Canon, the contents of scripture, and the doctrine that set the world ablaze. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, for example, has been forged countless times - but this in no way means that we can't know what the original was, how to spot the differences, and why one costs $87 and the other $870 million.
The downside is of course that Erhman ends up on the wrong side of the fence while the rest of us enjoy a gentlemanly game of exegetical calisthenics. Forgeries inevitably existed, but there is a continuous stream of historical averment for the recognition of the Canon, the contents of scripture, and the doctrine that set the world ablaze. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, for example, has been forged countless times - but this in no way means that we can't know what the original was, how to spot the differences, and why one costs $87 and the other $870 million.
May 23, 2017
The meat of the book dissects the New Testament, trying to find out which books are forgeries - tedious in the long run. But the introductory chapters about forgery in the ancient, those chapters give you something special, that you are unlikely to come across anything else.
Apparently forgery was rampant in antiquity. People would actually hijack somebody else's name to speed up the sales of his own ideas, and there were perverse incentives for fabricating stuff as the libraries competed with each other about who had the most books and were willing to pay good money for previously unknown works by classic authors.
Then we had a phenomenon of scribes "fixing" transcription-errors in books, sometimes it was well meaning, so books could mutate wildly.
This all makes me wonder - how can we trust the books from antiquity? What if the manuscripts that remain, the Socratic dialogues, the history and everything, contains "fixed mistakes" or even were fabrications written to make a buck selling some nonsense to a corrupt/gullible library? And does it matter? Looking at Epictetus I find the Christian tone highly suspicious. Read the first chapter of the discourse - it sounds like an extract from a Christian sermon.
Let us pretend we live 20 years after the death of Plato and several different versions of his books are in circulation. In Athens many are widely seen as frauds, some of which are better than the original, some are disputed, some are legit. What will happen when a book-dealer goes to Carthage? Will he care about which books are legit? No, he will sell the books the market wants. Will anyone remember which books used to be seen as authentic 200 years after the death? No. When the library of Alexandria or some other institution wants to find the original they probably will find that there are dozens of competing versions. (Though this is just my speculation. The manuscripts of Plato and other ancient writers we have are surprisingly few and young. Most earliest known manuscripts are from the middle ages! What if the best-selling version of Plato was a rewrite by someone with better literary style? We cannot tell from our evidence.)
(By the way there is a Gnostic rewrite of one of Plato's major works. Is this weak evidence for my thesis? Perhaps.)
After the lengthy introduction Ehrman goes on to analyzing each book of the new testament, discussing which probably are forgeries, and which might be authentic. Interesting to see the methodology, but I do not see how it matters to a modern exactly who wrote these old deluded books. The interesting thing to me is what this tells us about the society at large, and how fungible reality must have been. If anyone could come with his own version of a historical text, and there was no fool proof way of telling its authenticity - the authorities probably cooked their own history books to match their interests.
It is also fascinating that people felt free to forge and lie about things that were holy to them, or then perhaps they were just entrepreneurs. The founder of Scientology was a sci-fi writer who used to say that some day he'd invent a sect, because that's the way to get lots of money. Maybe the early Christians were just as entrepreneurial? (It is easy to imagine Paul was)
Fascinating book, great style, interesting material, I recommend skimming this for any intellectual, and a close reading for those interested in antiquity.
Apparently forgery was rampant in antiquity. People would actually hijack somebody else's name to speed up the sales of his own ideas, and there were perverse incentives for fabricating stuff as the libraries competed with each other about who had the most books and were willing to pay good money for previously unknown works by classic authors.
Then we had a phenomenon of scribes "fixing" transcription-errors in books, sometimes it was well meaning, so books could mutate wildly.
This all makes me wonder - how can we trust the books from antiquity? What if the manuscripts that remain, the Socratic dialogues, the history and everything, contains "fixed mistakes" or even were fabrications written to make a buck selling some nonsense to a corrupt/gullible library? And does it matter? Looking at Epictetus I find the Christian tone highly suspicious. Read the first chapter of the discourse - it sounds like an extract from a Christian sermon.
Let us pretend we live 20 years after the death of Plato and several different versions of his books are in circulation. In Athens many are widely seen as frauds, some of which are better than the original, some are disputed, some are legit. What will happen when a book-dealer goes to Carthage? Will he care about which books are legit? No, he will sell the books the market wants. Will anyone remember which books used to be seen as authentic 200 years after the death? No. When the library of Alexandria or some other institution wants to find the original they probably will find that there are dozens of competing versions. (Though this is just my speculation. The manuscripts of Plato and other ancient writers we have are surprisingly few and young. Most earliest known manuscripts are from the middle ages! What if the best-selling version of Plato was a rewrite by someone with better literary style? We cannot tell from our evidence.)
(By the way there is a Gnostic rewrite of one of Plato's major works. Is this weak evidence for my thesis? Perhaps.)
After the lengthy introduction Ehrman goes on to analyzing each book of the new testament, discussing which probably are forgeries, and which might be authentic. Interesting to see the methodology, but I do not see how it matters to a modern exactly who wrote these old deluded books. The interesting thing to me is what this tells us about the society at large, and how fungible reality must have been. If anyone could come with his own version of a historical text, and there was no fool proof way of telling its authenticity - the authorities probably cooked their own history books to match their interests.
It is also fascinating that people felt free to forge and lie about things that were holy to them, or then perhaps they were just entrepreneurs. The founder of Scientology was a sci-fi writer who used to say that some day he'd invent a sect, because that's the way to get lots of money. Maybe the early Christians were just as entrepreneurial? (It is easy to imagine Paul was)
Fascinating book, great style, interesting material, I recommend skimming this for any intellectual, and a close reading for those interested in antiquity.
March 26, 2018
While many will be aware of Bart Ehrman's work from his fascinating writings on the New Testament for laypeople, some of his best work is to be found in his scholarly textbooks on the New Testament and this huge volume surrounding forgery in christian and non-christian writings, mainly those of the first four centuries.
The first section of the work, "Forgery in the Greco-Roman World," sets out just how unique a text this will be. Dispelling notions that forgeries and fakery of authorship was somehow not a problem for early writers, Ehrman shows that despite the fact some of the most strident critics of forgeries were to be found themselves in forged works, there were many motivations and not-so-hidden agendas in early pseudepigrapha that genuine scholars have always condemned and sought to purge.
Distinguishing between writings that are anonymous (though later falsely ascribed to an authority), orthonymous (authored by the actual person), homonymous (authored by someone with the same name as a more important authority), and purely pseudonymous (forged in someone else's name); Ehrman takes these observations into the sacred polemical writings of the early christian church scholars. Dealing with the works that are widely accepted as forgeries, Ehrman draws a separate distinction with those works which were pseudonymously written, with polemical intent, to correct or rebuke an earlier forgery, thus becoming a, "counter-forgery."
Where the first section of the work deals with laying out the process whereby this happened, its prevalence in the ancient world, early efforts to curtail the process, and Ehrman's methodology for uncovering or describing certain works as forgeries (in a narrative fashion); the second section on christian writings (from page 150-600) functions more as a reference than a narrative in that you can easily jump from one New Testament writing or non-canonical writing to another and examine the evidence for each without losing any thrust of narrative.
While this textbook will only be read by enthusiasts, scholars, and those taking a class on the subject, it remains one of Ehrman's most unique and thorough works of scholarship. His mass-market book on the subject, "Forged," was a wonderful précis, this is on an entirely different level.
The first section of the work, "Forgery in the Greco-Roman World," sets out just how unique a text this will be. Dispelling notions that forgeries and fakery of authorship was somehow not a problem for early writers, Ehrman shows that despite the fact some of the most strident critics of forgeries were to be found themselves in forged works, there were many motivations and not-so-hidden agendas in early pseudepigrapha that genuine scholars have always condemned and sought to purge.
Distinguishing between writings that are anonymous (though later falsely ascribed to an authority), orthonymous (authored by the actual person), homonymous (authored by someone with the same name as a more important authority), and purely pseudonymous (forged in someone else's name); Ehrman takes these observations into the sacred polemical writings of the early christian church scholars. Dealing with the works that are widely accepted as forgeries, Ehrman draws a separate distinction with those works which were pseudonymously written, with polemical intent, to correct or rebuke an earlier forgery, thus becoming a, "counter-forgery."
Where the first section of the work deals with laying out the process whereby this happened, its prevalence in the ancient world, early efforts to curtail the process, and Ehrman's methodology for uncovering or describing certain works as forgeries (in a narrative fashion); the second section on christian writings (from page 150-600) functions more as a reference than a narrative in that you can easily jump from one New Testament writing or non-canonical writing to another and examine the evidence for each without losing any thrust of narrative.
While this textbook will only be read by enthusiasts, scholars, and those taking a class on the subject, it remains one of Ehrman's most unique and thorough works of scholarship. His mass-market book on the subject, "Forged," was a wonderful précis, this is on an entirely different level.
July 9, 2018
Why do this and "Forged: Writing in the name of God" both exist? I read the latter book first, and reading this afterwards was very much thinking "Is this just a longer, better version of what I already read?"
For the layman, the books are roughly equivalent (were for me, anyway), and the other apparently a much easier read from looking at responses. So, I probably recommend the other, it's definitely about half the length if that is a plus for you.
I really enjoyed both, with a preference to this one.
Highly entertaining.
For the layman, the books are roughly equivalent (were for me, anyway), and the other apparently a much easier read from looking at responses. So, I probably recommend the other, it's definitely about half the length if that is a plus for you.
I really enjoyed both, with a preference to this one.
Highly entertaining.
April 22, 2023
Listened to on Audible and thoroughly enjoyed.
July 26, 2014
This is, as others have noted, a very in depth study. This book is nothing like a popular book that you might read by Ehrman. It is a bit tougher of a read, though I found it fascinating. This is probably due to the many linguistic arguments that are used on some of the canonical books that are covered. All in all this book is great, though you will not endorse all of the conclusions that Ehrman comes to no doubt. The point that was clearly shown was that literary deceit was not acceptable to the ancient cultures anymore than it is today. Therefore, if some of the canonical books were not written by who they are supposed to be, then how would one treat that? One of the results from Ehrman's study, if indirectly, is to show that this is a problem for a high bibliology.
April 25, 2018
Not my Favorite Ehrman book.
Dont get me wrong, this was well researched and is a book one should read if interested in early christian forgeries. It surprised me on occasion.
But, it was at times a tedious book for me, with footnotes. For the casual reader, stay far away.
Dont get me wrong, this was well researched and is a book one should read if interested in early christian forgeries. It surprised me on occasion.
But, it was at times a tedious book for me, with footnotes. For the casual reader, stay far away.
April 11, 2024
This is one of my favorite Ehrman books but tbh I preferred The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament. I heard that the present book was a scholarly treatment of early Christian forgery as opposed to Ehrman’s more popular book Forged: Writing in the Name of God—Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. Honestly I thought the more scholarly book was quite accessible despite the complaints of some reviewers. Ehrman makes a good case that we should view those that forged the various forgeries in the N.T. as dishonest people, despite the general consensus of N.T. scholars that these people generally had honorable reasons for lying. Perhaps this book will change that consensus eventually. If I have any complaint it is that the book is somewhat repetitive due to its topical layout which caused some forgeries to appear in multiple chapters. This, however, was kind of an inevitable consequence of the approach Ehrman took in this book, which I believe was probably the best approach.
September 9, 2025
This book is a deep dive into the shadowy practices of ancient authorship. This book is not an easy read, but it is a fascinating one. It pulls back the curtain on the messy, human side of early Christian writing, showing how writing in someone else name was surprisingly common in the ancient world.
Ehrman does not just make claims. He builds a detailed case, examining text after text from the first centuries of Christianity. He explains the political and theological battles that led writers to create these works. It is not about saying the texts are good or bad. It is about understanding why they were written and what they were meant to do in the heated conflicts of the time.
The material is heavy and demands focus. Just as early religious writings were used as tools in ideological battles, many of the ideas and institutions we engage with today have complex and contested origins. Ehrman's work is a reminder that behind every grand narrative, there are human voices, sometimes honest, sometimes strategic, and often something in between.
Ehrman does not just make claims. He builds a detailed case, examining text after text from the first centuries of Christianity. He explains the political and theological battles that led writers to create these works. It is not about saying the texts are good or bad. It is about understanding why they were written and what they were meant to do in the heated conflicts of the time.
The material is heavy and demands focus. Just as early religious writings were used as tools in ideological battles, many of the ideas and institutions we engage with today have complex and contested origins. Ehrman's work is a reminder that behind every grand narrative, there are human voices, sometimes honest, sometimes strategic, and often something in between.
March 16, 2022
An informative and entertaining book. The first quarter or so on forgery, plagiarism, & friends in the Roman world is quite interesting. The last 3/4 is a giant tour of a ton of ancient Christian literature, some of which is only loosely connected to the "forgery" side (i.e. spiritual writings that vaguely claim they come from the apostles, but only the credulous would probably really believe that - Ehrman is rather dismissive of the idea of a "transparent literary fiction"). But who cares, because it's interesting summaries, and gives a solid overview of the long-forgotten theological debates that roiled the 2nd-5th centuries. Even if you're not interested in forgery per se, seeing the dispute over Gnosticism, Arianism, the incarnation, and so on via the documents produced to support their points is surprisingly interesting.
November 30, 2022
This is the most exhaustive book I know of that deals with forgeries in the New Testament. The book is split into two main parts. The first provides some general information on the existence of forgeries and their place in the ancient Greco-Roman world. The second part dives into forgeries related to the New Testament, some being in the NT, others being outside of it.
Aside from the shallowness of the section dealing with how to define and classify forgeries, this is a great book that I recommend to anyone interested in forgeries and the Bible.
Aside from the shallowness of the section dealing with how to define and classify forgeries, this is a great book that I recommend to anyone interested in forgeries and the Bible.
June 7, 2025
An incredible and seminal piece of scholarship.
It is not without criticisms, and I believe scholars who work in reception history offer equally palatable explanations that are more convincing to many people (specifically I would recommend Annette Reed).
This is required reading for all people in the academic study of religion (specifically Late Antique study of late 2nd Temple Judaism and Early Christianity), and most likely will never cease to be so—for important/apparent reasons.
It is not without criticisms, and I believe scholars who work in reception history offer equally palatable explanations that are more convincing to many people (specifically I would recommend Annette Reed).
This is required reading for all people in the academic study of religion (specifically Late Antique study of late 2nd Temple Judaism and Early Christianity), and most likely will never cease to be so—for important/apparent reasons.
January 9, 2018
2013-07 - Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics. 2012. 624 Pages.
February 15, 2018
Not really a popular science book, it is full of information, but overall enjoyable and revealing.
July 7, 2020
Good information, however fairly dry read. Most likely inevitable given the subject matter.
April 23, 2024
had to read this for my history of forgery class… actually enjoyed it
February 7, 2025
An extremely scholarly read.
June 1, 2013
I found Ehrman’s comprehensive study and analysis to be incredibly thorough, even though it was not exhaustive. There were certainly many more Christian polemical works believed by a majority of historical literary scholars to have been forgeries. However the list of forgeries that Ehrman addressed included those most well-known within the New Testament. As he points out, there were several well-known motivations for producing forgeries in antiquity including but not limited to: the desire to make a profit, as a form of political and religious authorization, as a platform for apologia and/or defamation of character, as a supplement to tradition, and perhaps most importantly to establish the validity of one’s own views.
There were several techniques used in producing these forgeries, that is, various ploys utilized in the attempt for these writers to create a forgery. These strategies included: imitating the style of the falsely named author; using verisimilitudes, first-person narratives, discovery narratives; warning the readers against forged writings (ironically), using various material and literary prophylaxes, and confounding the writings through intercalation with authentic writings.
In order to determine whether or not various works were forged, scholars, both contemporaneous and modern, have used various criteria for detection. A few of the useful criteria include: the style of the writings, anachronisms or any other historical problems present, internal inconsistencies and implausibilities, theological Sachkritik, and comparing the writings to established patterns of usage. With these criteria, one can make a very educated guess as to the authenticity of any writings.
While the analyses of the specific forgeries made up the bulk of this book, I mostly enjoyed Ehrman’s explanation of the aforementioned motivations for forgeries, techniques that forgers used to accomplish their task, and the criteria scholars use to detect a forgery. Ehrman illustrates how ancient readers and critics (whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian) viewed forgeries as a form of literary deceit which was obviously viewed in a negative light. This is the majority view of scholars and authorities studying ancient forgery despite the widespread view among Neutestamentlers that deny it (most of them seemingly for theological reasons). After all, if there are any elements of dishonesty within the canon of scripture, then the whole canon can be discredited. This is just the consensus based on the evidence from antiquity, regardless of the implications to particular religions that assume the New Testament (and other Christian writings) to be inerrant, honest, and entirely pure in motivation. There is overwhelming evidence that proves otherwise, and this book illustrates for the first time, just how convincing that plethora of evidence is.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient Christian literature, forgeries, and the criticism that ensued.
There were several techniques used in producing these forgeries, that is, various ploys utilized in the attempt for these writers to create a forgery. These strategies included: imitating the style of the falsely named author; using verisimilitudes, first-person narratives, discovery narratives; warning the readers against forged writings (ironically), using various material and literary prophylaxes, and confounding the writings through intercalation with authentic writings.
In order to determine whether or not various works were forged, scholars, both contemporaneous and modern, have used various criteria for detection. A few of the useful criteria include: the style of the writings, anachronisms or any other historical problems present, internal inconsistencies and implausibilities, theological Sachkritik, and comparing the writings to established patterns of usage. With these criteria, one can make a very educated guess as to the authenticity of any writings.
While the analyses of the specific forgeries made up the bulk of this book, I mostly enjoyed Ehrman’s explanation of the aforementioned motivations for forgeries, techniques that forgers used to accomplish their task, and the criteria scholars use to detect a forgery. Ehrman illustrates how ancient readers and critics (whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian) viewed forgeries as a form of literary deceit which was obviously viewed in a negative light. This is the majority view of scholars and authorities studying ancient forgery despite the widespread view among Neutestamentlers that deny it (most of them seemingly for theological reasons). After all, if there are any elements of dishonesty within the canon of scripture, then the whole canon can be discredited. This is just the consensus based on the evidence from antiquity, regardless of the implications to particular religions that assume the New Testament (and other Christian writings) to be inerrant, honest, and entirely pure in motivation. There is overwhelming evidence that proves otherwise, and this book illustrates for the first time, just how convincing that plethora of evidence is.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient Christian literature, forgeries, and the criticism that ensued.
October 8, 2014
This book... is a mixed bag.
In general, I've always felt that Ehrman's strong point has been his theology, and his weak point has been his history. So when he makes a book covering a great many works, their historical contexts, and their theological messages, it's a bit of a roller coaster.
For the good stuff, this is really comprehensive, covering dozens of books. And, as always Ehrman's thoughts on the books do make a lot of sense.
For the weaker parts, his historical explanations quite often left me... confused as to his intentions. He seems uncertain of whether he wants to give very comprehensive explanations of everything, or just a short summary of the consensus, and instead seems to alternate between the two modes, even talking about the same work.
There are a few other points that seem important which he only glosses over very briefly.
In all, though, the book is a good read, covering a lot of material pretty well and mostly without getting too dry. Just take it all with a grain of salt.
In general, I've always felt that Ehrman's strong point has been his theology, and his weak point has been his history. So when he makes a book covering a great many works, their historical contexts, and their theological messages, it's a bit of a roller coaster.
For the good stuff, this is really comprehensive, covering dozens of books. And, as always Ehrman's thoughts on the books do make a lot of sense.
For the weaker parts, his historical explanations quite often left me... confused as to his intentions. He seems uncertain of whether he wants to give very comprehensive explanations of everything, or just a short summary of the consensus, and instead seems to alternate between the two modes, even talking about the same work.
There are a few other points that seem important which he only glosses over very briefly.
In all, though, the book is a good read, covering a lot of material pretty well and mostly without getting too dry. Just take it all with a grain of salt.
July 1, 2015
Not all readers will be persuaded by all of Ehrman’s arguments, especially those in which particular canonical texts are understood as forgeries or counterforgeries. Although Ehrman ends up treating some of the New Testament documents as forgeries, he is fair in presenting both sides of the case. Ehrman reviews the arguments for and against apostolic authorship of each of the disputed texts and, if nothing else, shows that there are serious problems to be grappled with when it comes to the authorship of these documents. In all, scholars and upper-level graduate students will be well-served by this exhaustively-researched and incisively-argued survey of forged texts in the first four centuries of nascent Christianity.
From my review forthcoming in the Stone Campbell Journal.
From my review forthcoming in the Stone Campbell Journal.
May 4, 2014
It is really important to understand the difference between historical critique and theological critique. Only then can you appreciate this amazing examination of many historical religious books including 13 of the 20+ that are forgeries in the New(or Greek as some call it) Testament. This is just astoundingly enlightening. Dr. Ehrman also has a lecture series for sale that I would suggest to anyone as a precursor to the pursuit of a book like this without some historical or textual criticism education under their belt. I found it extremely worth the money!
July 11, 2015
I enjoy Dr Erhman's books and have several.This one is not intended for a large popular audience and is a bit tougher read, full of names of authors and references to their works. Not being familiar with the writings of Clement, Ignatius, Tertullian, it was harder for me to understand his discussions of the forgeries done in their names and how scholars know, but overall I got a sense of exactly how much forgery was going on in the second century CE, after Paul and the apostles had surely died.
December 16, 2016
Ehrman has already proved himself as unreliable as he states may documents about Jesus are "in fact" historical, when they are clearly not...so much of this is also just _his_ definition of "forgery".
What is more interesting (for lack of a better word) is what and why those creepy fuckers that assembled what is known as The Bible selected and edited. And since it is claimed to all be the 'word' of a fictional entity...it's all a forgery.
And a great (as in huge) falsification.
What is more interesting (for lack of a better word) is what and why those creepy fuckers that assembled what is known as The Bible selected and edited. And since it is claimed to all be the 'word' of a fictional entity...it's all a forgery.
And a great (as in huge) falsification.
April 30, 2013
Amazing book! I had trouble putting it down. Loved how people would right forgeries debunking people that wrote forgeries because the doctrine being taught wasn't the doctrine they themselves believed in. Anyone interested in religious history must read this book!
December 23, 2021
The historical information presented in this book is of high quality. However, the book is some what not well written. You will learn about forgery in the Bible and how the ancient world felt about forgery, they condemned it. Worth a read, just know it is not Erman's best writing.
May 8, 2019
If you are into history of the early Church and the writings of the first few centuries C.E. then this is the book for you. A quick read if you’re into this kind of thing.
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