Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mountainman · 04-09-2013, 06:57 AM

The Problem of Anonymity and Psedonymity in Christian Literature of the First Two Centuries by K.Aland, J Theol Studies (1961) XII (1): [39-49]. It makes an interesting read. The first half a dozen pages 39 to 44 set the groundwork in the discussion of the fact that a great deal of Christian literature is either anonymous or pseudonymous. The author puts forward an hypothesis by which all these problems can be miraculously resolved.

On page 45 he states about the authors of acts and the gospels:

"The one who, in those days, instructed the Christian society
did so according to the Spirit. He was but the pen moved by the Spirit."

On page 46 he develops further ideas and restates his hypothesis:

"Let us remember the hypothesis we have proposed above: viz.
A writer, being nothing but the too of the Holy Spirit, on this account
claims the authorship for an apostle for his writings."

About the apocalypses he states "It needs no argument that it is the Spirit who speaks in the apocalypses".

On page 48 the apocryphal writings he dismisses as "fiction" and associates with "the literary production of novels.".

He summarises his hypothetical solution to this problem on page 49 (last pages) with the comment:

The unknown men, by whom they were composed,
not only believed themselves to be under the sign
of the Holy Spirit; they really were.

Is there anyone here who accepts this hypothesis as true?

And if there is not, are there any other "scholarly papers or articles" which in the period since 1961 have attempted to address this Problem of Anonymity and Pseudonymity in Christian Literature?

AFAIK this is still one of the major outstanding problems in the field of BC&H.

Would anyone like to offer for discussion a solution to it?

εὐδαιμονία | eudaimonia

Toto · 04-09-2013, 02:12 PM

PSEUDONYMITY AS RHETORIC: A PROLEGOMENON TO THE STUDY OF PAULINE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Quote:

Despite the reactions against historical methods at the popular level and the second thoughts that some scholars are currently having about certain kinds of historical criticism, the observation remains that there are numerous problems in biblical texts that can be analysed historically. The likelihood remains that there are differences between the real and supposed authors of some biblical literature, and indeed between the real and supposed authors of much other ancient literature. The phenomenon of pseudonymity has been extensively studied in connection with both Graeco-Roman literature and, more recently, Jewish literature, with a variety of results. That ancient pseudonymity existed, both in the Bible and in other ancient literature, is a fact beyond dispute;(2) but the extent of pseudonymity, the persistent issue of its moral or nonmoral character, and especially the reasons that authors used pseudonymity continue to be under discussion.

mountainman · 04-09-2013, 03:16 PM

Anonymity

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIKI

Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.

Pseudonymity

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIKI

Pseudonymity, a word derived from pseudonym, meaning 'false name', is a state of disguised identity. The pseudonym identifies a holder, that is, one or more human beings who possess but do not disclose their true names (that is, legal identities).

εὐδαιμονία | eudaimonia

mountainman · 04-09-2013, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

PSEUDONYMITY AS RHETORIC: A PROLEGOMENON TO THE STUDY OF PAULINE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Thanks for this reference. Although it is intended to address the problems of pseudonymity in the Pauline letters,
it makes references to broader studies. For example:

Quote:

Pseudonymity in Graeco-Roman Literature

The discussion of pseudonymity in ancient literature has been given major impetus by Wolfgang Speyer's
Die literarische Fälschung im heidnischen und christlichen Altertum, which appeared in 1971.

///

A literary forgery is, as Speyer shows, a subset of the larger category of pseudepigraphy.(28)
His categories for understanding pseudonymity,

* "authentic religious pseudepigraphy,"
* "forged religious pseudepigraphy," and
* "fictional religious pseudepigraphy,"

are problematic(29) but interesting, as are his related proposals concerning the reasons that early Christian writers used pseudonymity.

One wonders how researchers are to determine the difference between these categories.

The author makes reference to and summarises Kurt Aland's article as follows:

Quote:

In a well known article on anonymity and pseudonymity, Kurt Aland argued that early Christian writings were often anonymous because they were the result of prophecy, whereby the Holy Spirit was believed to take control of the writer.

This meant, Aland argued, that the name of the human writer was relatively unimportant, since "a writer, being nothing but the tool of the Holy Spirit, on this account claims the authorship of an apostle for his writings."(36) Aland argues that the reason there was a decline of anonymous Christian writing in the second century (and, consequently, an increase in the amount of literature that was preserved under the name of its correct author) was a decline in the "movement of the Spirit" from the first century to the second.(37)

Aland's theory perhaps explains anonymous early Christian writings, but is more problematic as it treats actual pseudonymity, since it appears that the name of author is of primary importance in (especially) Pauline pseudepigraphy.

The claim that the anonymous early Christian authors were "instruments of the Holy Spirit" imo certainly does not explain anonymous early Christian writings, but rather puts the cart before the horse.

In dealing with the apocrypha, the author quotes Speyer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speyer

Very many if not most of the Christian forgeries from antiquity have been attributed to heretics. In order to give a foundation for and defend their deviant interpretation of the Christian faith, they fashioned holy scriptures to their own liking. Each one of their independently created books corresponds to those which enjoy the prestige of the great church. Since in orthodox circles each book written by apostles or their students was especially respected, the heretics of the second century invented gospels, acts of the apostles, apocalypses, and letters from apostles.

This follows the basic hypothesis that while the books of the canonical new testament were genuine ("authentic religious pseudepigraphy") having been inspired by the Great and Holy Spirit, the books of the non canonical new testament are considered forgeries ("fictional religious pseudepigraphy")

The footnotes in the article point to further studies in these problems of Anonymity and Pseudonymity in Christian Literature, but nothing is reported concerning any resolution to these problems except perhaps introducing rhetoric as another issue to be discussed in dealing with them.

εὐδαιμονία | eudaimonia

04-09-2013, 06:57 AM	#1
mountainman Contributor Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Falls Creek, Oz. Posts: 11,192	The Problem of Anonymity and Pseudonymity in Christian Literature The Problem of Anonymity and Psedonymity in Christian Literature of the First Two Centuries by K.Aland, J Theol Studies (1961) XII (1): [39-49]. It makes an interesting read. The first half a dozen pages 39 to 44 set the groundwork in the discussion of the fact that a great deal of Christian literature is either anonymous or pseudonymous. The author puts forward an hypothesis by which all these problems can be miraculously resolved. On page 45 he states about the authors of acts and the gospels: "The one who, in those days, instructed the Christian society did so according to the Spirit. He was but the pen moved by the Spirit." On page 46 he develops further ideas and restates his hypothesis: "Let us remember the hypothesis we have proposed above: viz. A writer, being nothing but the too of the Holy Spirit, on this account claims the authorship for an apostle for his writings." About the apocalypses he states "It needs no argument that it is the Spirit who speaks in the apocalypses". On page 48 the apocryphal writings he dismisses as "fiction" and associates with "the literary production of novels.". He summarises his hypothetical solution to this problem on page 49 (last pages) with the comment: The unknown men, by whom they were composed, not only believed themselves to be under the sign of the Holy Spirit; they really were. Is there anyone here who accepts this hypothesis as true? And if there is not, are there any other "scholarly papers or articles" which in the period since 1961 have attempted to address this Problem of Anonymity and Pseudonymity in Christian Literature? AFAIK this is still one of the major outstanding problems in the field of BC&H. Would anyone like to offer for discussion a solution to it? εὐδαιμονία \| eudaimonia

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