Terminology Tuesday: Pseudonymity & Pseudepigraphy

Pseudonymity and pseudepigraphy denote the practice of ascribing written works to someone other than the author—that is, the works in question are falsely (pseud-) named (onoma, “name”) or attributed (epigraphos, “superscription”). This must not be confused with anonymity, in which no formal claim is made (e.g., Matthew, John and Hebrews are all formally anonymous). Similarly one must distinguish between pseudepigraphical and apocryphal works. The word apocrypha is tied rather more to notions of canon than to notions of authenticity. The matter of false attribution played little or no part in the identification of the fourteen or fifteen books or parts of books that constitute the Apocrypha, most of which Roman Catholics view as deuterocanonical. A book is either canonical or apocryphal (or, for Roman Catholics, deuterocanonical), regardless of whether or not it is pseudepigraphical.

Although pseudonymity and pseudepigraphy are today used almost synonymously, only the latter term has been traced back to antiquity (as early as an inscription from the second century B.C., found at Priene). Apart from the intrinsic interest of the subject—by what criteria do scholars decide that a document makes false claims regarding its authorship?—its bearing on NT interpretation arises from the fact that a majority of contemporary scholars hold that some of the NT books are pseudonymous. The list of books varies considerably, but a broad consensus would label Ephesians and the Pastoral Epistles (attributed to Paul) pseudepigraphical, as well as 2 Peter (attributed to Peter). Some would add other books: Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Peter.

Carson, D. A. (2000). Pseudonymity and Pseudepigraphy. In Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship (electronic ed., pp. 857–858). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.