Pseudepigraphy, Authorship, and Authority: The Historical Context of a Literary Phenomenon and its Impact on Canon Formation

Jeremy Duff

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Chapter 10 Pseudepigraphy, Authorship, and Authority: The Historical Context of a Literary Phenomenon and its Impact on Canon Formation

in The New Testament Canon in Contemporary Research

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Jeremy Duff

Jeremy Duff
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Art:: Kapitel

Seiten:: 225–246

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004751071_012

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Abstract

Pseudepigraphy is a key phenomenon in understanding the New Testament that is often understood to have impacted canon formation. Over the last two decades, scholarship has undermined previous claims that writing under a false name was an “accepted literary technique” at the time. This essay summarizes the current consensus, and outlines four areas for further work: definitions and terms; the possible impact of a Jewish frame of reference among the earliest Christians; the challenge caused by the fact that there is far more direct evidence from the third and fourth centuries, but it is the period 50–150 CE which is of prime importance for the New Testament; and issues of “complex authorship” involving the use of scribes, secretaries, and co-authors. Particular attention is given to the matter in which lecture notes and compilations of a teacher’s work might be published. Here the consensus is that the content must go back to the teacher (“what he would have said” was not sufficient), but there is a disagreement within recent scholarship as to whether the precise wording needs to be from the teacher. With regard to canon formation, it is noted that whatever complexities there might have been in the authorship and original reception of texts, a work’s author and perceived authority were seen as closely linked. It would not have been credible in that culture to assert that the authorial claim in a text was false, and that the text should be given canonical authority.

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The New Testament Canon in Contemporary Research

Reihe: Texts and Editions for New Testament Study, Band: 21

ISBN:: 9789004751071

Verleger:: Brill

Print-Publikationsdatum:: 10 Mar 2026

Fachgebiete
- Bibelauslegung

Front Matter

Part 1 The Formation of the Canon

Part 2 The Components of the Canon

Part 3 The Witnesses of the Canon

Back Matter

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	Insgesamt	Letzte 365 Tage	In den letzten 30 Tagen
Aufrufe von Kurzbeschreibungen	194	194	77
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Afrikanistik	Internationale Beziehungen	Nahost- und Islamwissenschaften
Altorientalistik und Ägyptologie	Internationales Recht	Pädagogik
Amerikanistik	Judaistik	Philosophie
Asienwissenschaften	Klassische Altertumswissenschaft	Religionswissenschaft
Bibelauslegung	Kunstgeschichte	Slawistik und Eurasienkunde
Biologie	Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften	Sozialwissenschaften
Biowissenschaften	Medienwissenschaft	Sprachen und Linguistik
Buchgeschichte und Kartographie	Menschenrechte und humanitäres Völkerrecht	Theologie und Christentum
Geschichte	Musikwissenschaft

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Chapter 10 Pseudepigraphy, Authorship, and Authority: The Historical Context of a Literary Phenomenon and its Impact on Canon Formation

Abstract

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The New Testament Canon in Contemporary Research

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