What are the pseudepigrapha?
The pseudepigrapha are the books that attempt to imitate Scripture but that were written under false names. The term pseudepigrapha comes from the Greek pseudo, meaning “false,” and epigraphein, meaning “to inscribe,” thus, “to write falsely.” The pseudepigraphical books were written anywhere from 200 BC to AD 300. They are spurious works written by unknown…
What is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas?
Most people are familiar with the four canonical Gospels. However, there were other stories about Jesus that circulated in the early church and some that were composed much later. Some of them have only come to light in recent years. These books were not accepted by the early church as inspired Scripture. Some might have…
What is the Acts of Thomas?
The Acts of Thomas is a pseudepigraphal work that supposedly explains the ministry of the apostle Thomas in India after Jesus’ ascension. The Acts of Thomas is one of several such writings, others of which focus on apostles such as Andrew, John, Paul, Barnabas, and Peter. These works are heavily influenced by Gnosticism and were…
What is the Testament of Job?
Job is one of the most well-known figures in the Bible. Readers have always resonated with the Old Testament book that tells his story. People sympathize with Job as he experiences loss, echo the questions he asks about faith amid suffering, and grow alongside him when God finally speaks. Given Job’s legacy, it’s no wonder…
What is the Apocalypse of Adam?
The Apocalypse of Adam is an ancient Gnostic text, likely composed between AD 50 and 150. It is part of the Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of early Christian and Gnostic writings unearthed in Egypt in 1945. The text is written in Coptic and is classified as part of the broader corpus of Gnostic literature.…
What is the Apocalypse of Baruch?
Baruch was the scribe of Jeremiah the prophet who faithfully recorded Jeremiah’s prophecies leading up to the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 32:12; 36:26). Baruch became the subject of Jewish legends around the time of Christ, with several popular pseudepigraphal works in circulation. The Apocalypse of Baruch can refer to either of two of these documents:…
What is the book of Enoch and should it be in the Bible?
The Book of Enoch is any of several pseudepigraphal works that attribute themselves to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah; that is, Enoch son of Jared (Genesis 5:18). A piece of ancient literature is a pseudepigraphon if it makes false claims as to authorship. A pseudepigraphon will purport to have a (usually) well-known author, but its…
What are the Odes of Solomon?
The Odes of Solomon are a series of Christian hymns believed to have been written in the late first century AD. This collection is entirely separate from the Psalms of Solomon, a group of 18 psalms composed sometime around 60 BC in response to the Roman invasion of Israel. The Odes of Solomon were not…
What is the Apocalypse of Moses?
The Apocalypse of Moses, also known as the Life of Adam and Eve, belongs to a category of literature called the Pseudepigrapha, meaning “false writings.” Despite the book’s title attributing authorship to Moses, historians agree that an anonymous writer composed the work in the first century AD. The book contains fictionalized stories about Adam and…
What are the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs?
Beginning in the era between the writing of the Old and New Testaments, various non-canonical writers developed a series of works under assumed names. These are collectively called the pseudepigrapha, since they are clearly not written by their claimed authors. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is part of this genre. The work claims to…