183:
educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artifacts, the elaborate testing process undertaken and our commitment to transparency.' Examination of the remaining fragments was still ongoing, with researcher Kipp Davis claiming that at least seven of the total were most likely forged. In March 2020, after lengthy investigations, MOTB confirmed that all the 16 fragments were forgeries.
105:
and Old
Testament, as well as related Jewish and early Christian writings. Discovery, collection and study of these fragments have been instrumental to – as far as possible – reconstructing the original texts of the Bible and other religious scriptures of high interest, and how they evolved over the
73:
and not intent on deception. In the minority view held by scholars such as Eric Vanden Eykel, even admittedly fictitious 21st-century
Christian texts involving ancient biblical figures written by authors using their real names may be considered "modern apocrypha". Some writings, even canonical ones,
164:
in
November 2017, up to 90% of the 75 Dead Sea Scrolls fragments sold since 2002 could be fakes. Most of these fragments are directly or indirectly connected to William Kando, son of antiques dealer Khalil Eskander Shahin (better known as "Kando"), who bought the Scrolls from the bedouins who found
711:
page 84 "a particular book by
Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a
182:
in
Germany took several months to test 5 of the MOTB's 16 artefacts, and concluded all five were forgeries that could not have been produced in antiquity. Embarrassed by the finding, the MOTB stated that 'Though we had hoped the testing would render different results, this is an opportunity to
69:(a document written with the intention to deceive its readers as to its true origins, or more narrowly, written by someone else than the person the text itself claims to be the author), an apocryphon is not necessarily a forgery; the author can also be
169:
in 2000, and ever since has been selling fragments he claims to be authentic remnants of the
Scrolls to rich American evangelical Christians who are willing to spend huge amounts of money to find out more about the Bible's origins. After the
77:
According to Tony Burke, "scholarly forgery" is "the contemporary creation of a text with the attendant claim of its discovery in an ancient manuscript", a practice which he claims began in the
65:
The term "modern apocrypha" (singular "apocryphon") is closely related to and is often treated as synonymous with "modern pseudepigrapha". But while a pseudepigraphon is by definition a
604:
179:
114:
were discovered. Many forgers and fraudsters have sought to exploit this scholarly desire by fabricating manuscripts to sell them for profit. Therefore, inquiring after their
106:
centuries. The importance of these fragments has considerably raised their market value, and finding an acquiring them became a multimillion-dollar trade after 1945, when the
62:(1945–2018) defined "modern pseudepigrapha" (singular "pseudepigraphon") in 2002 as "writings in the name of biblical personages composed by contemporary scholars."
360:
535:
280:
74:
were originally anonymous, and only later copyists and compilers – either accidentally or intentionally – attributed the wrong authors to them.
579:
785:
is a hoax, probably perpetrated by
Nicolas Notovitch himself. It continues to be printed in new editions and is still passed off as genuine."
736:
102:
837:
Fakes, Forgeries, and
Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha: Proceedings from the 2015 York Christian Apocrypha Symposium
226:
Therefore, papyrologists generally do not rely on testing the material of questionable fragments, but only consider papyri from documented
178:
in
November 2017, academics were skeptical about the authenticity of the 16 Dead Sea Scrolls fragments displayed there. Researchers at the
118:
and testing both linguistically as well as materially whether any newly emerging fragments are authentic has become increasingly relevant.
806:
141:(1926–2016) is considered the second-most famous scholar of modern apocrypha after Goodspeed, starting with his 1985 essay collection
612:
845:
778:
468:
441:
383:
725:(February 2011). "8. Forgeries, Lies, Deceptions, and the Writings of the New Testament. Modern Forgeries, Lies, and Deceptions".
303:
34:
or other religious scriptures, and claiming to be of similar age, but written in a much later (modern) period. They differ from
864:
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338:
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when tested in a laboratory. There are also ways of counterfeiting ink and writing to make the text appear ancient.
309:
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to discourage the usage of any unprovenanced finds, because these can be the result of fabrication or
261:
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38:, which are books from or shortly after the scriptural period but not accepted into the religion's
326:
220:
122:
95:
841:
802:
774:
732:
704:
658:
464:
437:
354:
286:
98:
458:
121:
The systematic study of modern apocrypha is understood to have begun with the publication of
731:(First Edition. EPub Edition. ed.). New York: HarperCollins e-books. pp. 282–283.
265:
200:
192:
175:
111:
66:
59:
794:
344:
248:
are often an effective method to expose modern pseudepigrapha. A text can show linguistic
219:. This saves them time and effort on producing fake papyrus, and it results in a credible
433:
728:
Forged: Writing in the Name of God—Why the Bible’s
Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are
129:(1931), which he later expanded with new chapters, and fully updated with the 1956 book
722:
70:
39:
27:
858:
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when compared to known authentic documents from the same historical period, or to be
766:
371:
350:
160:
43:
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In order to attempt to conceal their deception, fraudsters may simply buy ancient
835:
426:
249:
78:
580:"Museum of the Bible says five of its Dead Sea Scrolls fragments are forgeries"
253:
138:
115:
47:
742:
605:"Exclusive: 'Dead Sea Scrolls' at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries"
35:
199:
was quickly shown to be a modern fabrication, largely plagiarised from the
166:
30:
of recent origin – any book written in the style of the books of the
799:
The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition?
536:"Trade in Dead Sea Scrolls awash with suspected forgeries, experts warn"
649:
235:
212:
365:
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glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"
230:
and papyri with a verifiable provenance to be authentic. There are
31:
644:
216:
697:
New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1: Gospels and Related Writings
840:. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 472.
195:
at a 2012 scholarly conference in Rome, the unprovenanced
42:. Exposing modern pseudepigrapha is part of the fields of
463:. London/New York: Sheffield Academic Press. p. 11.
165:
them in 1945. William Kando opened his family's vault in
534:
Peter Beaumont and Oliver Laughland (21 November 2017).
276:
Works commonly considered to be modern pseudepigrapha:
424:
Metzger, Bruce Manning; Coogan, Michael David (1993).
101:
has led to a hunt for ancient manuscripts containing
180:
Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
425:
830:. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1956
419:
417:
415:
413:
411:
409:
407:
405:
403:
401:
399:
460:First Person: Essays in Biblical Autobiography
8:
638:
636:
634:
632:
630:
361:The Lost Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles
828:Famous Biblical Hoaxes or, Modern Apocrypha
432:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.
256:. For example, the text from the so-called
238:. Whenever undocumented papyri appear, the
529:
527:
525:
523:
304:The Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eyewitness
242:is on those who claim they are authentic.
809:"It remains quite clear that Notovitch's
395:
281:The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ
215:, for example online or in an Egyptian
703:and R. Mcl. Wilson (1 December 1990)
103:textual variants in the New Testament
7:
578:Oliver Laughland (22 October 2018).
158:According to a researcher quoted in
499:Burke (2017), 1–2, footnote no. #2.
133:(subsequent editions were entitled
14:
428:The Oxford Companion to the Bible
384:Historicity of the Book of Mormon
299:The Confessions of Pontius Pilate
783:The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ
94:The rise of the field of modern
611:. 13 March 2020. Archived from
457:Davies, Philip R., ed. (2002).
16:Pseudepigrapha of recent origin
293:Book of Jasher (Pseudo-Jasher)
1:
333:The Gospel of the Holy Twelve
801:. Prometheus Books. p. 93.
773:. Gale Group. pp. 233-234.
645:"Problematische papyrussen"
881:
228:archaeological excavations
353:(allegedly discovered by
310:The Description of Christ
143:Strange Tales about Jesus
58:British biblical scholar
678:Ehrman (2011), p. 283–5.
643:Lendering, Jona (2016).
207:Techniques and exposure
154:William Kando fragments
771:Encyclopedia of Hoaxes
687:Ehrman (2011), p. 288.
339:The Letter from Heaven
315:Essene Gospel of Peace
246:Historical linguistics
135:Famous Biblical Hoaxes
865:Modern pseudepigrapha
811:Unknown Life of Jesus
701:Wilhelm Schneemelcher
321:Gospel of Jesus' Wife
258:Gospel of Jesus' Wife
197:Gospel of Jesus' Wife
187:Gospel of Jesus' Wife
90:19th and 20th century
20:Modern pseudepigrapha
834:Burke, Tony (2017).
826:Goodspeed, Edgar J.
748:on 15 February 2012
490:Burke (2017), xvii.
191:First presented by
186:
172:Museum of the Bible
127:Strange New Gospels
108:Nag Hammadi library
568:Burke (2017), 263.
559:Burke (2017), 232.
517:Burke (2017), 3–4.
327:Gospel of Josephus
262:found to be copied
123:Edgar J. Goodspeed
50:, amongst others.
781:"It appears that
738:978-0-06-207863-6
659:Stichting Skepsis
355:Nicolas Notovitch
287:The Archko Volume
174:(MOTB) opened in
99:textual criticism
872:
851:
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741:. Archived from
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266:Gospel of Thomas
221:carbon-14 dating
201:Gospel of Thomas
193:Karen Leigh King
176:Washington, D.C.
131:Modern Apocrypha
112:Dead Sea Scrolls
60:Philip R. Davies
24:modern apocrypha
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28:pseudepigrapha
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813:was a hoax."
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750:. Retrieved
743:the original
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662:. Retrieved
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617:. Retrieved
613:the original
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599:
587:. Retrieved
584:The Guardian
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543:. Retrieved
540:The Guardian
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474:. Retrieved
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372:Urantia Book
351:Life of Issa
275:
250:anachronisms
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161:The Guardian
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149:21st century
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44:palaeography
23:
19:
18:
752:8 September
260:(2012) was
254:plagiarised
79:Renaissance
54:Terminology
26:, refer to
797:. (2003).
769:. (1993).
709:066422721X
664:30 October
589:25 October
545:25 October
476:1 November
390:References
139:Per Beskow
116:provenance
48:papyrology
264:from the
71:anonymous
36:apocrypha
859:Category
619:13 March
378:See also
357:in 1894)
272:Examples
125:'s book
110:and the
96:biblical
650:Skepter
609:History
236:looting
213:papyrus
85:History
67:forgery
844:
805:
777:
746:(EPUB)
735:
707:
467:
440:
368:(1882)
366:Oahspe
347:(1910)
341:(1922)
335:(1898)
329:(1927)
323:(2012)
317:(1923)
306:(1907)
295:(1751)
289:(1884)
283:(1908)
167:Zürich
657:(3).
40:canon
32:Bible
22:, or
842:ISBN
803:ISBN
775:ISBN
754:2011
733:ISBN
705:ISBN
666:2018
621:2020
591:2018
547:2018
478:2018
465:ISBN
438:ISBN
217:souk
46:and
699:by
137:).
861::
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522:^
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