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Forged writing in the name of God : why the Bible's authors are not who we think they are

"In FORGED New York Times bestselling author, Bart Ehrman, reveals another hidden scandal of the Bible. For centuries, scholars have known that not all of the books in the New Testament are authentic while the general public has been blissfully unaware. The books of the New Testament are widely...

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Main Author: Ehrman, Bart D.
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: New York : HarperOne, c2011.
Edition: 1st ed.
Subjects:
Bible. > N.T. > Authorship.
Bible. > N.T. > Controversial literature.
Bible. > N.T. > Evidences, authority, etc.
Bible. > N.T. > Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Summary: "In FORGED New York Times bestselling author, Bart Ehrman, reveals another hidden scandal of the Bible. For centuries, scholars have known that not all of the books in the New Testament are authentic while the general public has been blissfully unaware. The books of the New Testament are widely assumed to be written accounts of Jesus's life by those who knew him best. However, if the Gospels and letters were not written by memebers of Jesus's inner circle--but by later writers with differing agendas in rival communitites--then the authority of the Bible collapses. Based on new, original research, Ehrman takes the reader on a journey to the ancient world and the forgery battles that raged throughout the Roman Empire. The popular myth is that "writing in the name of another" was a common, accepted practice in antiquity. Not so argues Ehrman. Forgery was as scandalous then as it is now. And yet, at a time when all documents and letters where copied by hand and circulated freely with little or no authorial control, identifying who actually penned a piece of writing-be it political, historical, or religious-was fraught with uncertainty. FORGED exposes the forged letters written in the name of Jesus's disciples for the expressed purpose of gaining acceptance in the early church...which is exactly what happened and why we have the Bible we read today"--
Physical Description: x, 307 p. ; 24 cm.
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. [267]-291) and index.
ISBN: 9780062012616 (hardback)
0062012614 (hardback)
Author Notes: New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and graduated from Wheaton College in 1978. He earned his Masters of Divinity and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and has taught at Rutgers University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor. He has published more than 20 scholarly and popular books, including three New York Times bestsellers, plus numerous articles and book reviews.

(Bowker Author Biography)

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