Pseudepigraphical Literature Definition

Protestants also applied the word apocrypha to texts in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox scriptures not found in Hebrew manuscripts. Catholics call these “deuterocanonical books.” As a result, in some Protestant Bible studies, an expanded use of the term pseudepigrapha appeared for works which, because of the authorship attributed to them, seemed to be part of the biblical canon, but which were outside the two biblical canons recognized by Protestants and Catholics. These works were also outside the special series of books which Roman Catholics called deuterocanonical and to which Protestants in general had applied the term apocryphal. As a result, the term pseudepigraphy, as it is often used today among Protestants and Catholics (supposedly because of the clarity it brings to the discussion), may make it difficult to unbiased discussion of questions of pseudepigraphic authorship of canonical books with a lay audience. To further complicate the matter, Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the books as canonical, which consider Roman Catholics and most Protestant denominations to be pseudepigraphic, or at best much less authoritarian. There are also churches that reject some of the books that Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants accept. The same is true for some Jewish religious movements. Many “apocryphal” works are also considered authentic. [ref. needed] There were probably pseudepigrapha almost from the invention of complete writing. For example, ancient Greek authors often refer to texts claiming to have been written by Orpheus or his pupil Musaeus of Athens, but whose attributions were generally ignored. Already in antiquity, the collection known as “Homeric Hymns” was recognized as pseudepigraphic, that is, not written by Homer. [ref.

needed] The only surviving ancient Roman book on cooking is pseudepigraphically attributed to a famous gourmet, Apicius, although it is not clear who actually compiled the recipes. The term pseudepigrapha is also commonly used to describe many works of Jewish religious literature written from around 300 BC. A.D. to 300 AD. Not all of these works are really pseudepigraphic. It also refers to the books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is distorted. These works are as follows:[3] Many of these works were also called apocrypha, which originally referred to “secret writings” that were rejected for public liturgical reading. An example of both apocryphal and pseudepigraphic text is that of Solomon`s Odes. [7] It is considered pseudepigraphic because it was not actually written by Solomon, but is a collection of early Christian hymns and poems (first to second century) that were not originally written in Hebrew, and apocryphal because they were not accepted in either the Tanakh or the New Testament.

Authors of Christian legends have often used a very popular form of storytelling, the romance novel of Greek literature. This genre can be known today by fairy tales, westerns, harlequin romance novels and soap operas, with the usual plot with the following elements: Pseudepigrapha, in biblical literature a work that influences the biblical style and usually wrongly attributes authorship to a biblical figure. Pseudepigrapha are not included in any canon. See Apocrypha. There are thirteen epistles in the New Testament attributed to Paul that are still considered by Christians to be Paul`s authority. These letters are part of the Christian Bible and are fundamental to the Christian church. Therefore, letters that some consider pseudepigraphic are not considered less valuable to Christians. [13] Some of these letters are called “controversial” or “pseudepigraphic” letters because they do not appear to have been written by Paul. Instead, they seem to come from disciples who wrote in Paul`s name, often using material from his surviving letters. Some choose to believe that these disciples may have had access to Paul`s letters that no longer survive, although this theory still depends on someone other than Paul writing these books. [14] Some theologians prefer simply to distinguish between the letters “undisputed” and “contested”, thus avoiding the term “pseudepigraphic”.

[13] Although the term often refers to books written between the Old Testament and the New Testament, New Testament scholars will also use the term to describe later books supposedly written by New Testament figures. The so-called “Gnostic gospels,” which claim to have been written by Peter, Thomas, and other disciples, would fit this definition. Pseudepography was a respectable and ornate literary craft, and it constitutes much of early Christian literature – including the Gospels, which included the Christian religious expression of ecstatic behavior, such as “speaking in tongues,” the possession of the mind that led to prophecy and developed rules and regulations for the use of the body. Christian behavior has been framed with the concepts of celibacy (no marriage contract) and chastity (no sexual intercourse) as ideal behavior. Sharis (“gifts”) were understood as gifts of the Spirit of God. Scholars describe this literature as a particular viewpoint known as “charismatic Christianity.” In these stories, the concept of charismatic gifts served as a backdrop for performing miracles, healings, and conversions. All Christian characters remain chaste and single. Some Christian scholars claim that nothing known to be pseudepigraphic has been included in the New Testament canon.

Many Bible scholars, such as Bart D. Ehrman, note that only seven of Paul`s epistles are convincingly authentic. [10] The other 20 books of the New Testament appear to have been written to many scholars by strangers who were not the well-known biblical figures to whom early Christian leaders originally attributed authorship. [10] The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that in the 2nd century AD, when Christianity was on the verge of becoming an independent religion, a literature emerged that scholars classify as apocryphal and pseudepigrapha. The apocrypha (Greek: apocryptein, “to hide”) are the books considered outside the canon, meaning they were not included when the New Testament became official after Constantine`s conversion to Christianity. The first four historical books of the New Testament have titles which, however ancient, do not come from the respective authors of these sacred texts. The Canon of Muratori, Clement of Alexandria and St. Irenaeus clearly testify to the existence of these rubrics in the second half of the second century AD. In fact, the way Clemens (Strom. I, xxi) and St. Irenaeus (Adv.

Haer. III, xi, 7) implies that at this early stage our current titles on the Gospels had been in use for some time. It can be concluded that they preceded the Gospel narratives as early as the first half of the same century. However, the fact that they do not date from the first century of the Christian era, or at least are not original, is a position that is generally maintained today. It is believed that, since they are similar for the four gospels, although the same gospels were written at some distance from each other, these titles were not framed and, therefore, did not precede each individual narrative until the collection of the four gospels was actually made. In addition to Professor Bacon, “the historical books of the New Testament differ from its apocalyptic and epistolary literature, just as those of the Old Testament differ from its prophecy in that they are invariably anonymous and for the same reason. Prophecy, whether earlier or later, and letters of authority must relate to an individual; The bigger the name, the better. But history was considered a common good. The facts speak for themselves. It was only when the sources of common memory began to decline and clarify the differences between well-informed and accurate Gospels and untrustworthy Gospels. It is helpful for the Christian teacher or apologist to specify whether the presentation given to this tradition was “according to this or that particular compiler” and indicate his qualifications. It seems, therefore, that the current titles of the Gospels do not go back to the evangelists themselves.

[11] The idea is that all these punishments are eternal; Somehow, tongues grow back every night so that the punishment can continue. We don`t really know what Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) knew about this text when he wrote Inferno, but he incorporated the same concept in medieval literature that sin carries the appropriate punishment. The Zohar (Hebrew: זֹהַר, lit. Brilliance or Radiance), a seminal work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought, known as Kabbalah,[30] first appeared in Spain in the 13th century and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses de León. De León attributed the work to Shimon bar Yochai (“Rashbi”), a 2nd century rabbi during the Roman persecution[31] who, according to Jewish legend,[32][33] hid in a cave for thirteen years and studied Torah and was inspired by the prophet Elijah to write The Zohar.