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by Bart D. Ehrman

“good works” teachings, 99, 110, 194–198

  Goodspeed, Edgar, 252, 254, 258

  Gospel of Nicodemus, 150–152, 172–173

  Gospel of Peter, 52–60; account of Jesus’s death and resurrection, 17, 55–59; blaming Jews for crucifixion, 55–57, 149–150; early source information on, 52–54; fabrication in, 233; as forgery, 54, 59–60, 233; as fragmentary, 55, 59; as heretical, 88; intention of author, 38; rediscovery of, 52, 54–55

  Gospel of Philip, 17, 31, 212, 213

  Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, 236–237, 248

  Gospel of the Holy Twelve, The, 259

  Gospel of Thomas, 17, 31, 213

  Gospels, New Testament. See canonical Gospels

  Gospels, noncanonical, 17

  Grafton, Anthony, 33

  Great Lion of God (Caldwell), 79–81

  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

  Pilate Gospels, 152–159; Handing Over of Pilate, 157–159; Letter of Herod to Pilate, 153–155; Letter of Pilate to Claudius, 155–156; Letter of Pilate to Herod, 154–155; overview on, 152–153; purpose of, 159, 171; Report of Pontius Pilate, 156–157, 158

  plagiarism, 220, 245–249

  Plato, 26, 27, 31, 37, 39, 41, 42, 71

  Plutarch, 34, 39, 269n13

  poetry, epic tragic, 45–46, 48

  political forgeries, 27–28

  Polybius, 48, 246

  polytheistic religions, 6

  Pontius Pilate, 3, 55–56, 58, 150–153, 169, 172–173, 257–258, 259. See also Pilate Gospels

  Porphyry, 130, 131

  Procla, 154–155

  profit motive, 15, 26–27

  Proto-Gospel of James, 234–236, 248

  Psalms, 145, 146, 236

  pseudepigraphal writing, 24–25. See also forgery, literary

  Pseudo-Clementine Writings, 62–63, 190–192

  pseudonymous writing, 23–24, 140

  pseudos (falsehood), 37–38

  Pythagoras, 130–133, 247

  Rahab, 42

  rapture beliefs, 105–106

  reactualizing tradition, 125–129

  Reed, Jonathan, 74

  reincarnation, 258–259

  religion, ancient, 5–7

  religious conflict, 143–145, 176–178

  religious forgery, 28–29

  Report of Pontius Pilate, 156–157, 158

  resurrection of Jesus. See Jesus, resurrection of

  resurrection of the faithful. See second coming beliefs

  Revelation, 21, 30, 64, 105

  Rhossus congregation, 53–54

  Richards, E. Randolph, 134–138

  Roman Empire: Christianity unique in, 6–7; consulting Sibylline oracles,
173–174; destruction of Jerusalem, 56–57, 68, 149–150; and Jesus’s trial and crucifixion, 55–58, 151, 152, 156; lack of records on Jesus, 256–257; literacy in, 72–73; Paul unknown in, 91; treatment of Christians in, 67, 163–164; use of secretaries, 134–138

  romances, 45–46

  Romans, book of, 86, 93, 99, 134, 138, 200

  Rome, 68, 92

  Salome, 235

  salvation: Gnostic transcendence of the flesh, 96, 211, 214; through Jesus, 61, 81, 85, 99, 100, 109–111, 200

  Salvian, 31–33, 262

  Sarah, 42

  Schleiermacher, Friedrich, 95–96

  scholarly justification of forgery, 119–140; coauthoring theories, 77, 114, 136–137; disciples writing as act of humility, 129–133; nondeceptive intent view, 119–123, 126; overview on, 118, 139–140; pseudepigraphy in the Spirit, 123–125; reactualizing the tradition, 125–129. See also secretary hypothesis

  Schonfield, Hugh, 260

  scribes, 87, 240–244, 250

  scribes, forgeries by. See secretary hypothesis

  second coming beliefs: docetist, 89; Gnostic, 211–212; messianic predictions and, 148; mocked by scoffers, 69–70; modern rapture beliefs, 105–106; Paul’s views, 90, 99–102, 106–108, 110–111; as spiritual / already occurring, 111, 112, 113

  2 Corinthians, 93

  2 John, 23, 221, 223, 229

  2 Kings, 86, 224 2

  Peter, 21–22, 68–70, 75, 76, 127, 128, 131, 134, 135, 138, 201–202, 204, 247–248, 275n23

  2 Samuel, 224 2

  Thessalonians, 19–21, 22, 35, 37, 105–108, 120

  2 Timothy, 22, 86, 93–98, 102–103, 115, 188

  Second Treatise of the Great Seth, 161

  Secret Book of John, 213

  Secret Gospel of Mark, 27, 260–261

  secretary hypothesis, 133–139; arguments against, 138–139; four uses of secretaries theory, 135–138; overview of, 133–134; and Pauline/Petrine forgeries, 108, 114, 134–139

  self-knowledge, 96, 210, 211, 215

  Seneca, 18, 91–92, 114, 171

  Septuagint, 67, 75, 76

  Serapion, 53, 54, 57, 59–60, 233

  sexual abstinence teachings: apologists supporting, 170; divided views on, 82–83, 103–105; in forgeries about Peter, 49–50; forgers linking to Paul, 18, 82, 103–105, 233; of the Gnostics, 96

  Sibylline oracles, 173–176

  Silvanus, 76, 200

 

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