The False Authors of the Bible

I previously wrote about Bart Ehrman’s new book, "Forged: Writing in the Name of God — Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are," which clearly underscores the ridiculousness of Christianists who rant and rave that the Bible is "the inerrant word of God." While the Bible may contain some good precepts on morality, it likewise justifies vile atrocities, discrimination and its proponents are responsible for the deaths of countless millions over the centuries as they have sought to inflict their reading of the Bible on others. Bob Felton at Civil Commotion - who is amazing in the breadth and variety of his historical reading - has a good summary of just who bogus much of the claims by the "Bible as inerrant" crowd are when one considers the falsity throughout so much of the Bible. It is important that those of who oppose religious based bigotry be able to fire back and undermine the preposterous claims of our hate-filled opponents. Here are some highlights from Bob's summary:
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[B]efore inventorying the plain-vanilla forgeries, take a look at the dubious attributions.
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■The author of not one of the four canonical gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — can be identified with confidence. Those texts appeared in the ancient world without attribution, decades after the crucifixion, and the assignment of those authors were ‘best guesses.’ Nobody knows who wrote those books. What is known is that none of the authors of those books actually knew Jesus, or even spoke the same language. This is not controversial.
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■The author of the gospel of John is not the author of Revelation; nobody knows who wrote either book, but differences in theology and writing style make it impossible that both are the work of just one man. Again, this is not controversial.
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Biblical scholars have known these things for a long, long time — and so does every seminary-educated pastor. But you never heard it in church, amidst all the yammering about inerrancy and inspiration, did you?
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■I and II Peter are forgeries, written after the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E., though Peter was dead long before.
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■I and II Timothy, and Titus, are forgeries and have been known to be so for more than 200-years.
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■II Thessalonians portrays a different End Times scenario than 1 Thessalonians; not Pauline.
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■Ephesians was not written by Paul.
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■Colossians was not written by Paul.
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■Jude was not written by the brother of James, the brother of Jesus, because it speaks of events occurring long after he must have been dead.
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■James was not written by James, because it alludes to events long after his death.
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■Acts was probably not written by a traveling companion of Paul, as claimed.
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Christianity’s first few centuries were characterized chiefly by internecine warfare, endless battles to define the new religion, to gain control of the popular movement, and forged texts were thrown into the battle in an effort to claim authority for one position or another. It’s one thing to say Paul believed such-and-such, and quite another to say, “I, Fred, believe …” whatever.
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Very little is actually known about the authors of the New Testament, including who they were. What is known is that a great many of them were not who they claimed to be. This matters, and so does it matter that your pastor knows that.