The New Testament
A Historical and Theological Introduction
Chapter
24. The Authorship Question
Questions for Review
- According to the chapter, why should questions of authorship in the NT not be disconcerting?
- Briefly discuss the authorship issues of the four Gospels.
- What is an amanuensis? How many of Paul’s letters make use of one? Who are these secretaries who helped Paul write his letters?
- How many of Paul’s letters are widely accepted as authentic? Which letters are considered least likely to have come from Paul?
- What sorts of reasons are given for arguing against the Pauline authorship of some of Paul’s letters?
- What is the difference between forgery or deception and pseudonymity?
- According to the chapter, why did the early church reject some pseudonymous writings and not others? List a few of the rejected pseudonymous writings.
- Of the non-Pauline letters in the NT, which one is almost universally believed to be pseudonymous?
- Briefly discuss the issue of pseudonymity with regard to the Johannine corpus.
- When discussing issues of pseudonymity, are we dealing with provable assertions or probabilities? Why does this distinction matter?