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See also: [[Apocrypha]]

See also: [[Apocrypha]]

In Biblical studies, pseudepigrapha refers particularly to works which purport to be written by noted authorities in either the [[Hebrew Bible|Old]] and [[Christian Bible|New Testaments]] or by persons involved in Jewish or Christian religious [[study]] or [[history]]. These works can also be written about Biblical matters, often in such a way that they appear to be as authoritative as works which have been included in the many versions of the Judeo-Christian [[scriptures]]. Eusebius of Caesarea indicates this usage dates back at least to Serapion, bishop of Antioch) whom Eusebius records[4] as having said: "But those writings which are falsely inscribed with their name (ta pseudepigrapha), we as experienced persons reject...."

In Biblical studies, pseudepigrapha refers particularly to works which purport to be written by noted authorities in either the [[Hebrew Bible|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s or by persons involved in Jewish or Christian religious [[study]] or [[history]]. These works can also be written about Biblical matters, often in such a way that they appear to be as authoritative as works which have been included in the many versions of the Judeo-Christian [[scriptures]]. Eusebius of Caesarea indicates this usage dates back at least to Serapion, bishop of Antioch) whom Eusebius records[4] as having said: "But those writings which are falsely inscribed with their name (ta pseudepigrapha), we as experienced persons reject...."

Many such works were also referred to as [[Apocrypha]], which originally connoted "secret writings", those that were rejected for [[liturgical]] [[public]] reading. An example of a text that is both apocryphal and pseudepigraphical is the [[Odes of Solomon]], pseudepigraphical because it was not actually written by Solomon but instead is a collection of early Christian (first to second century) hymns and poems, originally written not in Hebrew, and apocryphal because not accepted in either the Tanach or the New Testament.

Many such works were also referred to as [[Apocrypha]], which originally connoted "secret writings", those that were rejected for [[liturgical]] [[public]] reading. An example of a text that is both apocryphal and pseudepigraphical is the [[Odes of Solomon]], pseudepigraphical because it was not actually written by Solomon but instead is a collection of early Christian (first to second century) hymns and poems, originally written not in Hebrew, and apocryphal because not accepted in either the Tanach or the New Testament.

Examples of Old Testament pseudepigrapha are the [[Ethiopian Book of Enoch]], [[Jubilees]] (both of which are canonical in the Abyssinian Church of Ethiopia); the [[Life of Adam and Eve]] and the Pseudo-Philo. Examples of New Testament pseudepigrapha (but in these cases also likely to be called New Testament Apocrypha) are the [[Gospel of Peter]] and the attribution of the Epistle to the Laodiceans to Paul. Further examples of New Testament pseudepigrapha include the aforementioned Gospel of Barnabas, and the [[Gospel of Judas]], which begins by presenting itself as "the secret account of the [[revelation]] that [[Jesus]] spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot".

Examples of Old Testament pseudepigrapha are the [[Ethiopian Book of Enoch]], [[Jubilees]] (both of which are canonical in the Abyssinian Church of Ethiopia); the [[Life of Adam and Eve]] and the Pseudo-Philo. Examples of New Testament pseudepigrapha (but in these cases also likely to be called New Testament Apocrypha) are the [[Gospel of Peter]] and the attribution of the Epistle to the Laodiceans to Paul. Further examples of New Testament pseudepigrapha include the aforementioned Gospel of Barnabas, and the [[Gospel of Judas]], which begins by presenting itself as "the secret account of the [[revelation]] that [[Jesus]] spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot".

==Biblical Pseudepigrapha==

==Biblical Pseudepigrapha==