Forged (38 page)

Greek language proficiency, 71–76, 138–139, 198

Greek Septuagint, 67, 75, 76

Guthrie, Kenneth Sylvan, 258–259

 

Handing Over of Pilate,
157–159

Harris, William, 71

Harrison, A. N., 98

Hebrew Bible.
See
Old Testament

Hebrew language, 72–73, 75, 198

Hebrews, book of, 22, 23, 115, 221, 229

Heliodorus, 41

hell, 7, 18, 65

Hemis monastery, 252–253, 254

Heraclides of Pontus, 16–17, 27, 247

heresiologists, 221

heretical views.
See
false teachings

Herod, King, 27, 29, 40, 56, 149, 239

Herod Antipas, 153–154

Herodotus, 39

Hesiod, 247

Hezser, Catherine, 72–73

historical writing, 44–45, 47–49, 232–234

Hitler diaries, 13–15

Holy Spirit, gifts of the, 100–101

Holy Spirit-inspired forgery, 123–125

Homer, 247

Homilies,
190–192, 204

homonymous writing, 23

homosexual acts by Jesus, 261

hope, forgery to inspire, 29–31

Hosea, 145, 200

human body/flesh, 88–90, 96, 211–212, 214–217

humiliation of rival, 27

humility of disciple, writing to demonstrate, 129–133

 

Iamblichus, 131–133

India, accounts of Jesus in, 253–254

Infancy Gospel of Thomas,
237–239

influence, forgery increasing, 8–9, 31–32

intention to deceive, 25–26, 38–39, 122

Irenaeus, 207, 212, 213, 225–226

Isaiah, 30, 127–128, 145, 146, 162

Israel, king of, 146–147, 224

Issa stories, 252–254

 

James, book of, 192–198

James, brother of Jesus, 60, 61, 62, 187, 193, 197–199, 203, 205, 206, 209, 213, 234, 236

Jenkins, Jerry, 105

Jeremiah, 145

Jerome, 21

Jerusalem's destruction, 56–57, 59, 68, 149–150

Jesus: and the adulterous woman, 160, 242; birth of, 89, 235–236, 239; bringing the sword, 143; childhood miracle accounts, 236–239; divine revelation through, 7; docetists views of, 53–54, 57, 59–60, 86, 89; early church schisms and, 61–63, 182, 183; as engaging in homosexuality, 261; in forged apocalypse, 18; Gnostic views of, 96, 182, 210, 211–212, 214; Golden Rule, 265; in
Gospel of Nicodemus,
150–152, 172–173; James's relationship to, 193–194; as Jewish messiah, 145–149, 224–225; “lost years” stories, 252–254; as misinterpreted, 87; in modern-day hoaxes, 252–254, 259–261; pagan views of, 166, 169; and Paul's conversion, 79–81, 191–192, 202; questioned about the afterlife, 64–65; salvation through, 61, 81, 85, 99, 100, 109–111, 200; in the Sibylline oracles, 175–176; teachings in Gnostic forgeries, 161, 212–215; transfiguration of, 68–69; as truth, 3; as vegetarian, 259; writings attributed to, 8, 18, 31, 159–163.
See also
second coming beliefs

Jesus, crucifixion of: blaming Jews for the, 55–57, 148, 149–152, 163, 171;
Crucifixion of Jesus, by
an Eye-Witness, The,
254–256; Gnostic account of, 213–214; Pilate's
Death Sentence
hoax, 257–258; Roman Empire in accounts of, 55–58, 151, 152, 156.
See also
Pilate Gospels

Jesus, resurrection of: account in
Gospel of Peter,
17, 57–59; adding to the account in Mark, 242–243; as of the flesh, 211–212, 217; in
Gospel of Nicodemus,
152; modern forgery discounting, 254–256

Jesus Seminar, 246

Jewish/Christian conflicts, 145–159; alleged cover-up of Jesus's resurrection, 58, 59; blaming Jews for crucifixion, 55–57, 148–152, 163, 171; Christian forgeries in answer to, 149–152, 163, 177; Jewish reaction to Christian claims, 145–149, 176–177; maligning Judaism in
Barnabas,
149, 229–231.
See also
Pilate Gospels

Jewish law and Christians:
Barnabas
discrediting, 149, 230; early church schism over, 60–63, 181, 218; forgeries addressing, 109–110, 112, 189–190, 195–198, 203–205, 208; James's commitment to, 193; Marcion's views on, 85, 231–232; Paul on salvation through Jesus over, 80–81, 85, 99, 191, 195–196, 231

Jews/Judaism: apocalyptic writing in, 29–30; king of Israel, 146–147, 224; linking Gospels with, 224–225; literacy and language skills, 72–75; pagan views of, 165, 169; as united with Gentile Christians, 109; varied messianic beliefs, 146–147; writing forgeries to support, 28–29, 174–175

John, Apostle (son of Zebedee), 21, 23, 227, 229

John, author of Revelation, 21, 23

John, Gospel of, 9, 10, 23, 56, 150, 160, 162, 193, 223–229, 242, 244, 250

John the Baptist, 153, 154

Jonah, 42

Joseph, husband of Mary, 234–239

Joseph of Arimathea, 255

Josephus, 27, 40, 73

Joshua, 86, 224

Jude, 21, 69, 186–188, 247–248

Judges, 224

justification of forgery.
See
scholarly justification of forgery

Justin Martyr, 149, 169, 176, 225, 226

Justus of Tiberius, 73

 

knowledge of the divine, 96, 210, 211, 214, 215

Kujau, Konrad, 13, 14, 15, 26

 

LaHaye, Timothy, 105

last days.
See
second coming beliefs

Late, Great Planet Earth, The
(Lindsey), 105

Left Behind
series (Jenkins and LaHaye), 105

Letter of Aristeas,
28–29, 67

Letter of Herod to Pilate,
153–155

Letter of Pilate to Claudius,
155–156

Letter of Pilate to Herod,
154–155

Letters of Paul and Seneca,
18, 90–92, 114, 171

libraries, ancient, 26–27

lies and deceptions: ancient views on, 41–42; beyond literary forgery, 219–220, 249–250; Christianity's legacy of, 40–42, 261–265; falsifications, 240–245; forgery as, 9, 10, 25, 36, 37–38, 40; George Washington illustration, 44–45; “noble/medicinal lie,” 41, 42, 263; nuances of falsehood, 45–46; plagiarism, 220, 245–249; to promote “truth,” 144, 216, 217, 218, 250, 265.
See also
early Christian forgery; fabrications; false attribution; modern forgeries and hoaxes

Lindsey, Hal, 105

literary genre, 46

Long-Lost Second Book of Acts,
258–259

Longinus, 154, 155

Lucian of Samosata, 28, 48

Luke, Gospel of, 23, 55, 86–87, 206, 220–221, 223, 225–228, 239, 248

Luke the physician, 206–209

Luther, Martin, 196

lying.
See
lies and deceptions

 

MacDonald, Dennis, 103, 104

Marcion, 84–89, 104, 182, 211, 216, 231–232

Marcion's canon, 86–87

Marcus Aurelius, 134, 136, 137, 167

Mark, Gospel of, 23, 55, 57, 70, 223–228, 242–244, 248, 250, 260–261

marriage, 18, 82–83, 94, 99–100, 103–104, 105

Martial, 29, 37, 39, 247

Mary, mother of Jesus, 89, 234–239, 258–259

Mary Magdalene, 17, 259

Matthew (“Matthaias”), 215

Matthew, Gospel of, 9, 10, 23, 24, 55–58, 63, 69, 143, 151–152, 162, 193, 223–228, 239, 248

Maximin Daia, 173

Meade, David, 126–127, 129

“medicinal lie,” 41, 42, 263

Melito, 149

messianic claims, 145–149, 224–225

Metzger, Bruce, 4, 123

Micah, 145

military forgeries, 27

Minucius Felix, 167–168

miracles: accounts of Jesus's childhood, 236–239; in forgeries about Peter, 49–52, 62; of Jesus, 152, 156, 157, 158, 172

misattribution, 24, 140, 221–222, 249–250

modern forgeries and hoaxes, 252–261;
The Confession of Pontius Pilate,
259;
The Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eye-Witness,
254–256;
The Gospel of the Holy Twelve,
259;
Long-Lost Second Book of Acts,
258–259;
The Passover Plot,
260; Pilate's
Death Sentence,
256–258; Smith's “Secret Gospel” of Mark, 260–261;
The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ,
252–254

Moody Bible Institute, 2, 3, 5

Moses, 229–230

motivation for forgery, 25–32; credibility and being heard, 8–9, 31–32; defending religion, 28–29; humiliation of rival, 27, 29; inspiring hope by apocalypse, 29–31; and intention, 25–26, 38–39, 122; political or military ends, 27–28; profit, 15, 26–27; pulling a ruse, 15–17, 27

Müller, Max, 254

Muratorian Canon, 87–88

mythology, 45, 233

 

Nag Hammadi library, 161, 212–213, 215

Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea,
161

Natural History of the Great Prophet of Nazareth
(Venturini), 256

Nero, Emperor, 67, 68, 70, 91, 92, 155

New Testament: anonymous works of the, 10, 23, 220, 229;
Apocalypse of Peter
and, 63–64; containing fabrications, 239–240; discrepancies in, 5; falsifications in the, 242–245; forged out of conflict, 183; four literary genres, 17; overview on forgeries in, 9–10, 65–70, 118, 262.
See also
canonical Gospels

Nicodemus, 255

“noble lie,” 41, 42, 263

noncanonical books, 17–19

nothos
(illegitimate child), 37, 38, 48

Notovitch, Nicolas, 252–254

Numbers, 115

 

objective truth, 3–4, 5

Old Testament: apocalypse in, 30; attempts to link Gospels with, 224–225;
Barnabas
on broken Jewish covenant, 149, 229–231; deception by God in, 42; forgeries in the, 117, 126–128, 131; Marcion rejecting the, 85–89, 231–232; on the messiah, 145–149; Septuagint, 67, 75, 76; varied early church views on, 182

Onomacritus of Athens, 39

Origen, 42, 169, 234

orthonymous writing, 22–23

 

pagans, 163–176; beliefs of, 6, 164–165; as bowing to Jesus, 151, 237; Christian forgeries to fend off, 145, 170–173, 177–178; converting to Christianity, 169–170, 202; opposition to Christians, 67, 145, 165–170, 177; and the Sibylline oracles, 173–176

Palestine, 72

Papias, 226–227

Parthenopaeus
(play; Dionysius), 16–17, 27

Passover Plot, The
(Schonfield), 260

pastoral letter forgeries, 93–105; absent from Marcion's canon, 86–87; 1 and 2 Timothy copyist view, 97–98; first scholarly suspicions about, 95–96; Harrison's statistics of word usage,
98; looking at historical context, 100–102; overview on, 93–97; possible reasons for, 103–105; and reactualizing the tradition, 128–129; verisimilitude in 1 and 2 Timothy, 102–103; word comparisons, 99–100, 278n14

Paul, Apostle: as aligned with Peter, 199–204, 209; ancient fabrications about, 81–83, 155; associating
Barnabas
with, 231–232; attribution of Luke and, 228; authentic letters by, 22–23, 93; beliefs on the flesh, 90; coauthoring by, 77, 114; controversy surrounding / opposition to, 60–63, 180–182, 188–189, 199–202; conversion of, 79–81, 191–192, 202; death of, 70, 92; on faith, 99, 195–198; falsification of writings of, 244–245; forgeries in support of, 87, 199–202; forgery of Jesus writing to, 161; linked to sexual abstinence teachings, 18, 82, 103–105, 233; modern fictions of, 79–81, 258; Peter and authority of, 190–192, 206; philosophers linked with, 18, 91–92; salvation through Jesus over Jewish law, 80–81, 85, 99, 191, 195–196, 231; second coming beliefs of, 90, 99–102, 106–108, 110–111.
See also
Acts of the Apostles

Paul, forgeries in opposition to, 188–198; book of James, 192–198; noncanonical
Epistle of Peter,
189–190; overview, 188–189; the
Pseudo-Clementine Writings,
190–192

Pauline forgeries, 84–93;
Apocalypse of Paul,
213; Colossians, 112–114, 129–130, 185; deutero-Pauline letters, 92–93; as disciples writing in name of Paul, 129–133; Ephesians, 108–112, 129–130, 143–144; Hebrews, 22, 221;
Letters of Paul and Seneca,
18, 90–92, 114, 171; overview on New Testament, 92–93, 188; perpetrated by Marcion, 84–88; scholars' reluctance to label forgeries, 118, 119; 2 Thessalonians, 19–21, 105–108, 120; secretary hypothesis and, 108, 114, 134–135; 3 Corinthians, 88–90, 216.
See also
pastoral letter forgeries

Pausanias, 29

pen names, 23–24

persecution, 66–67

Peter, Apostle: in
Acts of Peter and Paul,
155;
Acts of Peter
fabrication, 18, 50–52, 233; ancient literacy and education, 70–73; attribution of Mark and, 223, 226, 227, 228; authority and Paul, 190–192, 206; death under Nero, 68, 70; forgeries aligning Paul with, 199–204, 209; forgery of Jesus writing to, 161; Gentile Christians and Jewish law, 60–63, 189–190, 203, 204; as illiterate, 75, 138; miracles allegedly performed by, 49–52, 62; possibility of Greek proficiency, 73–75,
138–139; stories about, 49–52; supposedly appointing Clement, 222

Petrine forgeries, 52–70;
Apocalypse of Peter,
18, 30, 63–65;
Coptic Apocalypse of Peter,
213–214; as disciples writing in name of Peter, 131–133; early church schism and, 60–63;
Epistle of Peter,
62–63; 1 and 2 Peter, 65–70, 75–77, 199–202; and the secretary hypothesis, 118, 134–139.
See also Gospel of Peter

Philemon, 93, 200, 207

Philippians, 80, 81, 93, 110, 113

philosophers: associating Paul with, 18, 91–92; converting to Christianity, 169–170; forgeries of works by, 26–27, 37; on lying, 41; plagiarism by, 247; story of Dionysius, 16; theory of disciples writing in name of, 129–133