Loading...Here is my second post dealing with a highly ironic early Christian text, which tells its readers not to be led astray by authors forging books in the names of the apostles, even though this book itself is forged in the names of the apostles. This again is taken from my book Forgery and Counterforgery (Oxford Press), edited a bit.
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The alleged authors of the fourth-century Apostolic Constitutions– the apostles of Christ, including Paul and James — explicitly claim that the books of the New Testament were theirs: διαθήκης (8.47.85). And so the author gives a list of which books those are, a list that includes all of the books that eventually became the New Testament, with the exception of the book of Revelation.
Strikingly, after listing the Gospels and the letters of Paul, James, John, Jude, and Peter, the author indicates that the New Testament is also to include the his own book, the Apostolic Constitutions themselves!
But the author of the Apostolic Constitutions is not only a deceiver; he is also deceived – in this case, about many of the books of the New Testament, which were not written by the apostolic authorities who are claimed as their authors. (That is, some of the letters of Paul along with the letters of James, Peter, John, and Jude are also pseudonymous, but this pseudonymous writer doesn’t know it!)
In making this mistake, our unknown author
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Dear Dr Ehrman- Recently I had the great pleasure of listening to one of your YouTube lectures on the trial of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. As ever, your insights were most welcome. Yet I must confess that I remain a little unclear regarding your view of the Son of Man. Firstly, in your opinion, would you describe the Son of Man as a distinct heavenly being, originating from the divine realm and descending to the world as Judge? Secondly, when you say that the Son of Man is ‘divine’, may I ask what precisely you mean ? Is the Son of Man a manifestation of YHWH, or is he a lower, yet nevertheless very elevated, divine entity existing as an agent of YHWH?
The Son of Man means a range of things in the Bible, but when I talk about the Son of Man as a divine being sent from heaven in judgment on the earth, as in the teachings of the historical Jesus, I mean that it he (the Son of Man) is one being, not God himself, but a divine messenger of God sent to bring God’s judgment — destruction for those opposed to God and salvatoin for those he favors. THe Son of man is a “divine” being, which means he is not a mortal (who lives and dies); he is not God himself but a lesser supernatural being, e.g., a great angel of God, who has his authority in the sense that a human messenger of a king sent by the king on a mission has the authority of the king himself. (“Open up in the name of the King!”)
The water gets even muddier as the distinction between the Son of Man and the Messiah seems to blur, with Christians coming to proclaim Jesus being the latter (“Christ” literally meaning “Messiah”).
never until now has ever defined Son of Man. Only think of slave.
Dear Dr Ehrman-thank you for your reply. From your answer, would you state that the Son of Man is clearly a non human messenger? Finally, would you concur with John Collins assessment of the Son of Man as being possibly the archangel Michael?
Yes, I he is definitely non-human. And I disagree with John on that one. Daniel tells you (see vv. 13-14) that the Son of Man is the people of the saints of the most high — that is, the nation of Israel. (That’s the more common reading, I think, and it sure looks right to me)
Has anyone studied the psychology of pious fraud? I understand fraud for the sake of money or fame. But it’s weird how people who claim to hold to higher principles are willing to ditch those principles by lying. How do they justify their actions to themselves?
I’m sure they have! I deal with the issue at some length at the end of my book Forgery and Counterforgery, but of course I’m not a professional psychologist. I’ts a very interesting issue, though, and evidence already (repeatedly) in the Bible itself, that many religiuos people think that it is sometimes good and right to lie in order to promote the truthy.disabledupes{cebbd91d5bc1cccd6f3cc981c8b902aa}disabledupes
1st Timothy, Titus, 50% of 1st Corinthians and Ephesians 5:22-24 were written by a small group in the Christian community of Corinth, Greece who followed the writings of Aristotle. (Read “Politics”). 2nd Timothy, 2nd Corinthians, 2nd Peter, 1st & 2nd Thessalonians, Jude, and the addendum to 1st Peter were written by the same “Q” Community who was responsible for the “Q” content in the Synoptic Gospels. The “Q” Community was writing to advance their worldview.
The “Q” Community emerged after the death of Jesus from the Essene community. The Essene community emerged in 180 BCE when the Seleucid ruler attempted to eliminate the Jewish religion in Judea. The “Q” Community interpreted the social phenomenon of the last 20 years according to the Essene worldview that had developed for 200 years. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah and more! He was the Prophet of Zoroasterism and the Return of the Buddha.
The “Q” Community joined and influenced the heretics of the Gnostic Christian movement.
Hello Bart,
Wouldn’t 2 Thessalonians fit in this same category (2:2)?
Yup! I talk about it at some length in my book!
It is called “PROJECTION”. Whatever you are doing, accuse others of doing. If you are writing a pseudepigraphal forgery, include warnings against pseudepigraphal forgeries. The pseudo-Paul in Corinth, Greece used other tactics. He insulted and ridiculed anyone who did not accept the inserted verses in 1st Corinthians.
“John of Patmos” was not writing as the Apostle John when he wrote REVELATION, but he knew that he was writing a fabricated narrative. He threatened anyone who would seek to add insertions (or edit his writing with deleted verses) with a good old-fashioned Mediterranean curse (REV 22:18-19).