Bart Ehrman, "Forged:...Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are" (2011)

Ehrman is likely one of the best known, if not the currently most popular writer for the general public on Biblical history and textual criticism (I know some will debate this, and I accept that it's a controversial statement).

The full title of Ehrman's latest text is actually, Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. As has been noted by others, the title is somewhat misleading. It is not actually about writers who claim to be writing 'in the name of God', but rather writers who claim to be someone other than who they are, such as 'regular folks' claiming to be Apostles.

Ehrman’s book is not the most compelling of his texts, but nonetheless interesting, as always. The book is written for ‘lay’ readers; those not experts on Biblical history, but will certainly be of interest and informative for those who are interested in how the ancients thought about the act of writing, and of writing history in particular.

For instance, Ehrman explores the ways ancient authors might have used deception in stating or intimating authorship of a text, the reasons they might have forged documents, as well as how forgery was perceived and treated in ancient times.

Of course, the book summarizes some significant assertions regarding the authenticity of goodly portion of the New Testament. Given that its audience is not primarily scholars of Biblical history (Ehrman suggests that a similar book oriented towards scholars may be forthcoming), it progresses in a slow, methodical, straightforward manner that might be frustrating for some readers.

Ehrman explores both canonical and non-canonical texts. As the non-canonical texts are not likely nearly as familiar to ‘lay’ readers as the canonical texts, it is this material in the book that is most interesting, as well as the most controversial, particularly for Christians. Ehrman makes a convincing case for close textual analysis of the New Testament, combined with awareness of the socio-political context of Eastern Mediterranean life during the first ‘Christian’ millennium. Based on this analysis, and his survey of scholarly literature, he summarizes assertions that a number of New Testament books (primarily Pauline) are forgeries. These texts include: 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, and Colossians. He also suggests, in line with a number of other scholars, that some of the gospels are forgeries as well, including: 1 & 2 Peter, James, and Acts.

Read closely after Akenson’s Saint Saul, this book is quite revealing in capturing the revolutionary changes that contemporary Biblical scholarship is offering. That much of this scholarship has not reached the common reader is unfortunate, but understandable. Books such as Forged, much more so than the rather involved and complex Saint Saul, might be a strong contribution to advancing wider knowledge of this scholarship.