While the theory that the various books in the New Testament may not have been written by people they are attributed to is not new, a well-known author and researcher has presented new arguments to prove that some authors of the Bible actually lied about who they are.Whether this was a case of telling immaterial lies to preach the lasting truth or a blatant misrepresentation of facts that never got corrected, 'the truth’ remains that some epistles had false authors, according to Bart D. Professor Ehrman.
Earlier this month, University of Exeter had presented the argument that the Abrahamic God was coupled with a goddess who was but edited out of the Bible.
Ehrman, who authored books like 'Misquoting Jesus' and 'Jesus, Interrupted', said in an article in he Huffington Post that some of the epistles - or letters of the apostles to the community of the faithful - were forged.
This was especially true in the case of the second epistle of Peter. There was no way apostle Peter would have written this, according to Ehrman. He also says at least six of the 13 epistles written by prolific correspondent Paul were actually authored by others.
Ehrman also reads a feminist subtext into his new arguments to prove bible forgery. He cites the letter to Timothy attributed to apostle Paul.
Ehrman says the letter was written by someone long after Paul's death, and with a vested interest to diminish the status of women.
He says someone tried to use Paul's name to solve a problem for the church - a problem of assertive women. "Women were speaking out, exercising authority and teaching men. That had to stop," he said.
The first epistle of Timothy, chapter 2, verses 11-15 reads as follows in the King James' version of the Bible.
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
"while Ehrman absolves Paul of the label of greatest misogynist on earth, saying he was not the one who wrote those expressly anti-woman verses, he underscores their impact on churches' treatment of women even today. Why are there no women priests in the Catholic Church? Why are women not allowed to preach in conservative evangelical churches? Why are there churches today that do not allow women even to speak?”
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