Introduction: Holier Than Thou or Holier Than Honest?
The New Testament is hailed as “God’s Word,” but let’s be real: much of it is anonymous, pseudonymous, or forged. Early Christians lived in a world where writing under someone else’s name was a power move—meant to claim authority, shut down rivals, and win theological battles. Think of it as the original form of identity theft, with a halo.
Paul: The Real vs. the Fake
Authentic Paul (7 letters): Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon. These bear Paul’s raw, fiery voice—half-mystic, half-activist.[1]
Imposter Paul (the rest):
Deutero-Pauline: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians. These smooth-talking letters sound like Paul on decaf.[2]
Pastorals (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus): Widely regarded as forgeries. Vocabulary and style don’t fit, the church hierarchy looks too developed, and Paul suddenly obsesses over bishops and “sound doctrine.”[3]
Peter: The Fisherman Who Couldn’t Spell Greek
1 Peter: Its sophisticated Greek and rhetorical polish make it unlikely that an uneducated Galilean fisherman wrote it.[4]
2 Peter: Almost universally labeled a forgery, composed in the 2nd century, and heavily plagiarizing Jude.[5]
The Johannine Mix-Up
Gospel vs. Revelation: The Gospel of John is smooth, mystical Greek; Revelation is rough, broken Greek. Not the same author.[6]
1–3 John: Anonymous letters later attributed to “John” for borrowed authority.[7]
The Interpolations: Cutting Room Floor Additions
Some passages look like late insertions—pious frauds with staying power:
Mark 16:9–20: The “long ending” with snake-handling and poison-drinking is absent in earliest manuscripts.[8]
John 7:53–8:11: The woman caught in adultery. A moving story, but added later.[9]
1 John 5:7 (Comma Johanneum): Explicit Trinitarian formula—medieval addition, not found in Greek manuscripts.[10]
Luke 22:43–44: Jesus sweating blood in Gethsemane—missing from earliest copies.[11]
The Gospel Truth: They’re Anonymous
The gospels never name their authors. “Matthew,” “Mark,” “Luke,” and “John” were attached in the 2nd century as authority branding.[12] In the ancient world, name-dropping was marketing: “Buy this scroll! Endorsed by an apostle!”
Why It Matters
Here’s the punchline: the church has been preaching against “bearing false witness” while canonizing forged documents. Hypocrisy much? But here’s the Franciscan Clarean twist: truth doesn’t need forgery to shine. The Spirit works even through messy, forged, and human documents. God’s love doesn’t require a flawless manuscript.
Conclusion: Holiness Over Forgery
If anything, forged and interpolated texts remind us that Christianity was always messy, political, and human. Faith isn’t about pretending our Scriptures dropped from heaven shrink-wrapped. It’s about hearing God’s call in the cracks, the edits, and yes—even the forgeries.
Because if God can work through forged letters, then God can work through us—hot messes, imposters, and all.
References
[1]: Bart D. Ehrman, Forged: Writing in the Name of God—Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are (New York: HarperOne, 2011), pp. 95–118.
[2]: Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church’s Conservative Icon (New York: HarperOne, 2009).
[3]: Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), pp. 668–681.
[4]: Ehrman, Forged, pp. 122–124.
[5]: Werner Kümmel, Introduction to the New Testament (London: SCM Press, 1975), pp. 430–433.
[6]: Elaine Pagels, Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation (New York: Viking, 2012).
[7]: Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 387–393.
[8]: Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1994), pp. 102–106.
[9]: Ibid., pp. 187–189.
[10]: Metzger, Textual Commentary, pp. 647–649.
[11]: Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (New York: HarperOne, 2005), pp. 187–189.
[12]: Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), though defending authenticity, still acknowledges anonymous origins.
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