The New Testament and Forgery
Is there pseudepigraphy in the New Testament and what would it mean?
Several New Testament writings, especially the Pastoral Epistles and 2 Peter, are regarded as ‘pseudepigraphical’ or ‘pseudonymous’. That means that they were falsely or fraudulently attributed to Paul and Peter. Bart Ehrman writes on a lot this topic, arguing that the New Testament is filled with forgeries. You can find one of his videos here.
The practice of writing under the name of a famous person was quite common in the ancient world. In Greco-Roman culture, for example, the physician Galen noted that a lot of forgery occurred when the kings of Alexandria and Pergamum expanded their libraries, including works forged in his own name! This practice was also seen in Jewish literature with examples like the Epistle of Jeremiah, the Epistle to Aristeas, and the visions and writings attributed to Enoch as 1–3 Enoch. In Christian literature, there are clear instances as well, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the letters known as 3 Corinthians, the Letters of Paul and Seneca, and the Letters of Jesus to Agbar.
How much of the New Testament is pseudepigraphical, a fake or forgery, and what would that mean for things like biblical inspiration and authority?