A pseudepigraph is a text that is incorrectly said to be written by someone else. The real author of the work may have claimed the text was written by a famous person from the past. Often, the name of the falsely credited person is written with the prefix "pseudo-," such as "pseudo-Aristotle" or "pseudo-Dionysius." These names refer to anonymous authors who wrote works that were later claimed to be written by Aristotle or Dionysius the Areopagite.
In biblical studies, the term "pseudepigrapha" describes a group of Jewish religious writings believed to have been created between about 300 BCE and 300 CE. These writings are separated by Protestants from the deuterocanonical books (used by Catholics and Orthodox Christians) or the Apocrypha (used by Protestants). These books appear in some ancient copies of the Septuagint and the Vulgate but are not included in the Hebrew Bible or Protestant Bibles. In Catholic teachings, the Old Testament books accepted by the Catholic Church are called deuterocanonical books. Catholic writers often use the word "apocrypha" to describe writings that are not considered official or genuine. Two books, the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees, are considered official in some Orthodox Tewahedo churches but are not included in Catholic or Eastern Orthodox canons. Most scholars classify these books as part of the Old Testament pseudepigrapha.
Scholars also use the term "pseudepigraph" for some religious texts that claim to be written by a specific person but are doubted by experts. For example, the Book of Daniel is believed by many scholars to have been written around the 2nd century BCE, about 400 years after the prophet Daniel is thought to have lived. This makes the book pseudepigraphic in that sense. A similar example from the New Testament is 2 Peter, which many scholars believe was written in the early 2nd century. Early Christians, such as Origen, questioned whether this book was truly written by the apostle Peter.
The term "pseudepigraph" has also been used by Quranist Muslims to describe hadiths. Quranists argue that most hadiths were created in the 8th and 9th centuries and falsely claimed to be written by the prophet Muhammad.
Etymology
The word "pseudepigraph" is from the Greek words "ψευδής" (pseudḗs), meaning "false," and "ἐπιγραφή" (epigraphḗ), meaning "name," "inscription," or "ascription." Together, they form a term that means "false title or heading." This is connected to the field of epigraphy, which studies inscriptions and writings on surfaces like stone or metal. The plural of "pseudepigraph" is "pseudepigrapha." Sometimes, the word is written in Latin as "pseudepigraphon" or "pseudepigraphum."
Naming
When a written work is wrongly credited to an author, and the real author is unknown, the text may be named using the prefix "Pseudo-" followed by the name of the person it was mistakenly given to. For example, a historical text known as the Armenian History was incorrectly believed to be written by a 7th-century Armenian historian named Sebeos. Because the true author is unknown, the text is now called Pseudo-Sebeos.
Levels of authenticity
Experts have discovered seven levels of authenticity in a system that goes from actual writing by the real author to completely fake works created by someone else.
Classical and biblical studies
In biblical studies, the term pseudepigrapha refers to writings that claim to be written by important figures from the Old or New Testaments or by people involved in Jewish or Christian religious history. These works often discuss biblical topics in a way that seems as official as the texts in the Judeo-Christian Bible. Eusebius, an early Christian historian, noted that this term was used as early as the time of Serapion of Antioch. Eusebius wrote about Serapion: "We reject writings that are falsely claimed to be written by someone else (ta pseudepigrapha)."
Many of these writings were also called Apocrypha, a word meaning "private" or "not public," indicating they were not officially read in religious services. An example of a text that is both apocryphal and pseudepigraphical is the Odes of Solomon. It is considered pseudepigraphical because it was not written by King Solomon. It is a collection of early Christian hymns and poems from the first to second centuries, originally written in languages other than Hebrew. It is apocryphal because it was not included in the Tanakh or the New Testament.
There is a tendency not to use the term pseudepigrapha for works written after about 300 CE when discussing biblical topics. However, later writings such as the Gospel of Barnabas, the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, the herbal attributed to Pseudo-Apuleius, and the writings attributed to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite are classic examples of pseudepigraphy. In the fifth century, a writer named Salvian published a book called Contra avaritiam ("Against Avarice") under the name Timothy. A letter survives in which he explained this choice to his former student, Bishop Salonius.
The term pseudepigrapha is also used to describe many Jewish religious writings from about 300 BCE to 300 CE, including texts such as the Book of Enoch and Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
Modern scholars have reevaluated many canonical books, especially since the 19th century, and some now believe they may be pseudepigraphical. For example, the Book of Daniel claims to be written by the prophet Daniel. However, evidence suggests it was likely written centuries after his time. This includes the lack of references to it before the second century BCE and its pattern of "predictions" that match events up to the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, which appear to be written after those events occurred.
Christian scholars traditionally believed that no pseudepigraphical works were included in the New Testament canon.
The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that the titles of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are ancient but not necessarily written by the authors themselves. These titles were added later, after the Gospels were written. Early Christian writers like Clement of Alexandria and St. Irenaeus mention these titles in the second century, showing they were already in use. Scholars today believe these titles were not original to the first century and were added after the Gospels were collected together. This is because historical writings, unlike prophecies or letters, were seen as shared knowledge, not tied to specific individuals.
Agnostic scholar Bart D. Ehrman argues that only seven of the letters attributed to the Apostle Paul are likely genuine. Most other New Testament letters were written by unknown authors, not the famous figures they are later associated with. The earliest and best copies of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not include author names. The same is true for the book of Acts and several letters, including Hebrews, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John.
Scholar Dale Martin taught that the four canonical Gospels are anonymous, meaning they do not claim authorship. Their titles were added later by tradition.
Thirteen New Testament letters are attributed to Paul and are still considered by Christians to carry his authority. These letters are part of the Christian Bible and are central to the teachings of many churches. Some scholars question the authorship of six of these letters—Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. These are called the "deutero-Pauline letters" by some scholars because their style, vocabulary, or focus on church matters differ from the letters widely accepted as Paul's. The three "Pastoral Epistles" (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus) are especially similar, leading many to believe they were written by the same unknown author, either in Paul's name or pretending to be him.
The seven letters generally accepted as Paul's are considered the core of his writings and are the main source for understanding his theology. However, in a 2024 study, scholar Nina Livesey argued that these seven letters should be studied as pseudonymous works, written in the mid-second century by followers of the religious leader Marcion in Rome.
Seven New Testament letters are attributed to other apostles, such as Saint Peter, John the Apostle, and Jesus's brothers James and Jude.
Three of these seven letters are anonymous and are traditionally grouped as the Johannine epistles (1 John, 2 John, and 3 John). Most modern scholars believe these were not written by John the son of Zebedee, though no agreement exists on the identity of the author.
Two letters claim to be written by Simon Peter: 1 Peter and 2 Peter. Most scholars believe 2 Peter was not written by Peter, while opinions are divided about 1 Peter.
One letter refers to its author only as "James" (Ἰάκωβος Iákobos). It is unclear which James from the New Testament is meant. A similar issue exists with the Epistle of Jude (Ἰούδας Ioudas), where the writer identifies himself as "a brother of Jesus."
As a literary device
Pseudepigraphy is a storytelling method that makes readers question the truth of the story. It is used by many authors. Examples include James Hogg (The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner), Thomas Carlyle (Sartor Resartus), Jorge Luis Borges ("An Examination of the Works of Herbert Quain," "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote"), Vladimir Nabokov (Pale Fire), Stanislaw Lem (A Perfect Vacuum; Imaginary Magnitude), Roberto Bolaño (Nazi Literature in the Americas), and Stefan Heym (The Lenz Papers).
Edgar Rice Burroughs also used this method in his Tarzan books. He wrote introductions that pretended the books were written by someone else, with Burroughs acting as the editor. J. R. R. Tolkien presented The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as translations from a fictional book called the Red Book of Westmarch. The twelve books in The Flashman Papers by George MacDonald Fraser were written to look like annotated editions of a discovered manuscript. Ian Fleming used a similar approach in The Spy Who Loved Me.