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A review by dean_issov
Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics by Bart D. Ehrman
challenging
informative
slow-paced
5.0
đź“š Description
"Forgery and Counterforgery" is an academic book by Bart D. Ehrman that extensively covers the literary deceit in early Christian polemics. Ehrman investigates further and concludes which of the books in the New Testament are authentic/inauthentic and explains thoroughly why and how he reached to those conclusions.
✔️ What I liked
1. It is very well researched, a great book for in-depth studying of early Christianity.
2. It does not have as much jargon as I thought it would have.
3. The author is clear with his explanations; no word salads.
❌ What I didn't like
1. Some texts discussed weren't as detailed as some of the others.
2. It is VERY dense and slow paced in a lot of places.
3. The author, in my opinion, seems to have a blindspot when it comes to the historicity of Jesus (as shown in my notes).
🧠What I learned
1. Virtually all Christians by the end of the fourth century assumed that the New Testament books were authentic.
2. The alteration of texts was widely condemned in antiquity by authors who were pagan, Jewish, and Christian.
3. At the best of times in antiquity only 10% or so of the population was able to read. By far the highest portion of readers was located in urban settings. Widespread literacy like that enjoyed throughout modern societies requires certain cultural and historical forces to enact policies of near universal, or at least extensive, education of the masses. Prior to the industrial revolution, such a thing was neither imagined nor desired.
4. Among the twenty-seven books that were later deemed Scripture, only eight are orthonymous; one of these, the book of Revelation, was admitted into the canon only because of a quirk of homonymy. The other seven all stem from the pen of one man (Paul). The remaining books are either falsely attributed to early authority figures within the church (the Gospels, Johannine epistles) or forged.
5. A fair critical consensus holds that six of the Pauline letters and the letters of Peter were written by someone other than the apostles claimed as their authors, and that James and Jude were falsely inscribed in the names of Jesus’ brothers.
6. Hebrews is best seen as a non-pseudepigraphic forgery, with the hints in the closing meant to indicate that it was written by Paul, even though his name is not attached to it.
7. Acts and 1 John are also best seen as non-pseudepigraphic forgeries, as they too make false authorial claims without naming a specific author.
đź“‘ Notes
1. "For Speyer, there are also instances in which the religious pseudepigraphy is “false” rather than “genuine.” This is when a later author, cognizant of Greek rationalistic modes of thought and conversant with ideas of authorship, pretended to be under the inspiration of a divine being, and somewhat cynically then produced an imitation of a genuinely religious pseudepigraphon." - Chapter 3
--
How can we know then which one is genuine or not if we can't even know the minds of the author, or more importantly, if we can't even know if their deity is real?
2. "In any event, with only one or two possible exceptions—possibly the letters of Paul and Seneca?35—there are probably no literary fictions among the early Christian writings, produced simply as rhetorical exercises." - Chapter 3
--
What about the Gospels? Is it really a stretch to think that maybe, atleast, most of Jesus' stories (walking on water, turning water to wine, COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD) were fiction?
3. "Not all early Christian fabrications were malicious, of course. Long before we have any written texts of any kind, stories about Jesus were not only altered in the course of oral transmission, but also generated then: stories about his birth, his activities, his teachings, his controversies, his last days, his death and resurrection. And the fabrications continued long after the New Testament period, as so abundantly and irrefutably attested in the noncanonical accounts of his birth, life, death, and resurrection." - Chapter 3
--
So how exactly are we to believe that Jesus was a real person?
4. "Just in terms of the earliest Christian tradition, it is striking, as is often noted, that between Paul and Ignatius there is not a single Christian author who writes in his own name, with the possible exception of the “John” of the Apocalypse (which is homonymous). 20 Every other Gospel, epistle, treatise, or sermon is either forged or anonymous and then falsely attributed. No surprise, then, that K. M. Fischer can label the second half of the first century “the era of New Testament pseudepigraphy.”" - Chapter 4
--
So how can we trust the New Testament AT ALL?
âť“ Would I recommend this book?
Only to the people who are really passionate about the history of early Christianity and who are okay with challenging their Christian faith. This book can easily be very dense and boring if it isn't a subject you're highly interested in.
"Forgery and Counterforgery" is an academic book by Bart D. Ehrman that extensively covers the literary deceit in early Christian polemics. Ehrman investigates further and concludes which of the books in the New Testament are authentic/inauthentic and explains thoroughly why and how he reached to those conclusions.
✔️ What I liked
1. It is very well researched, a great book for in-depth studying of early Christianity.
2. It does not have as much jargon as I thought it would have.
3. The author is clear with his explanations; no word salads.
❌ What I didn't like
1. Some texts discussed weren't as detailed as some of the others.
2. It is VERY dense and slow paced in a lot of places.
3. The author, in my opinion, seems to have a blindspot when it comes to the historicity of Jesus (as shown in my notes).
🧠What I learned
1. Virtually all Christians by the end of the fourth century assumed that the New Testament books were authentic.
2. The alteration of texts was widely condemned in antiquity by authors who were pagan, Jewish, and Christian.
3. At the best of times in antiquity only 10% or so of the population was able to read. By far the highest portion of readers was located in urban settings. Widespread literacy like that enjoyed throughout modern societies requires certain cultural and historical forces to enact policies of near universal, or at least extensive, education of the masses. Prior to the industrial revolution, such a thing was neither imagined nor desired.
4. Among the twenty-seven books that were later deemed Scripture, only eight are orthonymous; one of these, the book of Revelation, was admitted into the canon only because of a quirk of homonymy. The other seven all stem from the pen of one man (Paul). The remaining books are either falsely attributed to early authority figures within the church (the Gospels, Johannine epistles) or forged.
5. A fair critical consensus holds that six of the Pauline letters and the letters of Peter were written by someone other than the apostles claimed as their authors, and that James and Jude were falsely inscribed in the names of Jesus’ brothers.
6. Hebrews is best seen as a non-pseudepigraphic forgery, with the hints in the closing meant to indicate that it was written by Paul, even though his name is not attached to it.
7. Acts and 1 John are also best seen as non-pseudepigraphic forgeries, as they too make false authorial claims without naming a specific author.
đź“‘ Notes
1. "For Speyer, there are also instances in which the religious pseudepigraphy is “false” rather than “genuine.” This is when a later author, cognizant of Greek rationalistic modes of thought and conversant with ideas of authorship, pretended to be under the inspiration of a divine being, and somewhat cynically then produced an imitation of a genuinely religious pseudepigraphon." - Chapter 3
--
How can we know then which one is genuine or not if we can't even know the minds of the author, or more importantly, if we can't even know if their deity is real?
2. "In any event, with only one or two possible exceptions—possibly the letters of Paul and Seneca?35—there are probably no literary fictions among the early Christian writings, produced simply as rhetorical exercises." - Chapter 3
--
What about the Gospels? Is it really a stretch to think that maybe, atleast, most of Jesus' stories (walking on water, turning water to wine, COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD) were fiction?
3. "Not all early Christian fabrications were malicious, of course. Long before we have any written texts of any kind, stories about Jesus were not only altered in the course of oral transmission, but also generated then: stories about his birth, his activities, his teachings, his controversies, his last days, his death and resurrection. And the fabrications continued long after the New Testament period, as so abundantly and irrefutably attested in the noncanonical accounts of his birth, life, death, and resurrection." - Chapter 3
--
So how exactly are we to believe that Jesus was a real person?
4. "Just in terms of the earliest Christian tradition, it is striking, as is often noted, that between Paul and Ignatius there is not a single Christian author who writes in his own name, with the possible exception of the “John” of the Apocalypse (which is homonymous). 20 Every other Gospel, epistle, treatise, or sermon is either forged or anonymous and then falsely attributed. No surprise, then, that K. M. Fischer can label the second half of the first century “the era of New Testament pseudepigraphy.”" - Chapter 4
--
So how can we trust the New Testament AT ALL?
âť“ Would I recommend this book?
Only to the people who are really passionate about the history of early Christianity and who are okay with challenging their Christian faith. This book can easily be very dense and boring if it isn't a subject you're highly interested in.