{"id":32526,"date":"2021-03-27T05:17:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=32526"},"modified":"2021-03-26T17:56:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T21:56:10","slug":"explaining-fifty-ways-to-forge-a-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/03\/explaining-fifty-ways-to-forge-a-gospel.html","title":{"rendered":"Explaining Fifty Ways to Forge a Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\nI promised to return to the lyrics of the parody song <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/50-ways-to-forge-a-gospel.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cFifty Ways to Forge a Gospel\u201d<\/a>\u00a0I wrote several years ago and explain all the references in it. Here is that post. The annotated lyrics follow, with my comments in square brackets. The names, as in the original song are mostly chosen by rhyme. But each line has an allusion to an actual canonical or extracanonical work that could be considered a \u201cforgery\u201d in one of the many senses of that word.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n50 Ways to Forge a Gospel<\/strong><\/p>\nVERSE \nAt a York symposium, Bart Ehrman said to me<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Forgery-Counterforgery-Literary-Christian-Polemics\/dp\/0199928037?dchild=1&keywords=ehrman+forgery&qid=1616795393&s=books&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=jamefmcgrshom-20&linkId=baac3a4d35720e2695880ebdb14903fb&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0199928037&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=jamefmcgrshom-20&language=en_US\" border=\"0\"><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0199928037\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\">[I attended the 2015 York Christian Apocrypha Symposium, presenting on the Gospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife. Bart Ehrman gave the keynote at the conference on the subject of his book <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3rtpk29\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Forgery and Counterforgery<\/a><\/em>. At dinner after his lecture about the different kinds of forgery, he and I were chatting and I said jokingly that it would make a good parody song, \u201c50 Ways to Forge a Gospel.\u201d He laughed, but I\u2019m pretty sure he didn\u2019t think I\u2019d actually write it!]<\/p>\nDon\u2019t try to whitewash it, just call it forgery<\/p>\n[There is a long history of scholars using terms like \u201cpseudepigraphy\u201d and writing about the subject in ways that suggest that forgery was widely accepted. Ehrman makes the case that isn\u2019t so.]<\/p>\nI\u2019m all for nuance, here\u2019s an argument from me \nThere must be fifty ways to forge a Gospel<\/p>\nDon\u2019t tell me they had no intention to deceive \nWhen Jude used Enoch we can see what he believed<\/p>\n[The letter of Jude in the New Testament quotes the book known as 1 Enoch and shows every sign of believing that it really does come from Enoch.]<\/p>\nAnd who knows who Jude was or what tangled web he weaves<\/p>\n[Jude or Judah or Judas is supposed to have been one of Jesus\u2019 brothers, but we do not know who actually wrote the letter that goes by that name.]<\/p>\nThere must be fifty ways to forge a Gospel<\/p>\nCHORUS \nClaim that he wasn\u2019t dead, Fred<\/p>\n[An allusion to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2P2Hcnz\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Passover Plot<\/em><\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2020\/01\/crucified-with-christ.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Hugh Schonfeld<\/a> and similar alternative accounts of what happened on Easter morning.]<\/p>\nFind his childhood pal, Sal<\/p>\n[An allusion to the novel\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/39jmYN4\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Biff<\/em><\/a>, a modern work that is arguably in the same genre as many ancient extracanonical Gospels, even if much more recent.]<\/p>\nWrite an apocryphon, John<\/p>\n[There is an ancient text called the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/gnosis.org\/naghamm\/apocjn.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apocryphon of John<\/em><\/a>.]<\/p>\nIt just takes a good tale<\/p>\nDialogue with the Savior, Xavier<\/p>\n[A reference to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.earlychristianwritings.com\/dialoguesavior.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Dialogue of the Savior<\/em><\/a>, an ancient pseudepigraphon.]<\/p>\nHave Jesus laugh from the sky, Guy<\/p>\n[In some extracanonical Gospels Jesus mocks those who think they crucify him, since God has substituted someone else in his place.]<\/p>\nWrite \u201cmy wife\u201d on papyrus, Iris<\/p>\n[This is a reference to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2016\/11\/case-closed-on-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-but-theres-more-to-be-said-at-aarsbl16.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Gospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife<\/em><\/a>, a modern forgery on a piece of old papyrus.]<\/p>\nThen say it\u2019s for sale<\/p>\nVERSE \nBart said the ancients knew \nJust what it meant to lie<\/p>\n[Ehrman\u2019s work challenges the idea that one could acceptably write in someone else\u2019s name in ancient times.]<\/p>\nTo fabricate and call it \ntribute wouldn\u2019t fly \nThis kind of thing was enough \nTo make Tertullian cry<\/p>\n[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/2005\/10\/24\/thecla-tertullian-and-controversies-over-womens-leadership-nt-apocrypha-18\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Tertullian accused one of his contemporaries of forging the\u00a0Acts of Paul and Thecla<\/em><\/a>. Ironically, many modern scholars simply take Tertullian\u2019s word on this matter!]<\/p>\nAbout the fifty ways<\/p>\nPeople then as now \nDid not like to be had \nTo say you wrote something \nYou didn\u2019t was still bad \nI realized Bart exposed \nan academic fad \nThere must be fifty ways to forge a Gospel \nFifty ways to forge a Gospel<\/p>\nCHORUS \nYou can claim that you\u2019re Matt, Pat<\/p>\n[Whether the Gospel of Matthew was written by someone named Matthew is unclear. There are also other possible works that may or may not go back to Matthew, as well as ones that are attributed to Matthias, hence the use of \u201cMatt\u201d which could be short for either.]<\/p>\nOr pretend that you\u2019re John, Ron<\/p>\n[There are works attributed to John both in and outside the New Testament whose authorship is uncertain.]<\/p>\nHint you travelled with Paul, y\u2019all<\/p>\n[Ehrman and others view the \u201cwe\u201d passages in Acts as an attempt to imply that the author had traveled with Paul, even though this was not the case.]<\/p>\nAnd you\u2019ll be home free<\/p>\nMake some angels say \u201cHark!\u201d, Mark<\/p>\n[The reference here is to the infancy accounts that expand on Mark\u2019s narrative, alluding to a famous Christmas carol.]<\/p>\nYou might want to use Q, too (or should that be \u201cQ2\u201d?)<\/p>\n[The pun is on Matthew and Luke using a lost source, Q, which some scholars think they can not only identify but further analyze in terms of layers of expansion in that earlier work.] \nAdd a whole second book, Luke \nLet someone else make it three<\/p>\n[I alluded here to the possibility that the author of Luke-Acts intended to write a third volume, with room left for others to come along and fill in those stories, whether claiming to find Luke\u2019s \u201clost third volume\u201d or merely narrating further acts of apostles.]<\/p>\nHave Jesus teach \u2019em discreetly, Dmitri<\/p>\n[Many pseudepigraphal works have Jesus offer secret teaching not recorded in the canonical Gospels.] \nCall it Gospel of Truth, Ruth<\/p>\n[A reference to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/gnosis.org\/naghamm\/got.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gospel of Truth<\/em><\/a>, a Valentinian work.]<\/p>\nAdd in the Demiurge, Serge<\/p>\n[The identification of the creator deity from Genesis as demiurge, a figure inferior to the supreme God, is a trademark of Gnosticism.]<\/p>\nGnosticism galore<\/p>\nHave them kiss on the lacuna, Petunia<\/p>\n[This refers to the spot where the <a href=\"http:\/\/gnosis.org\/naghamm\/gop.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gospel of Philip<\/a> says that Jesus loved Mary and kissed her frequently on the\u2026and then there is a hole in the manuscript! I discuss this is my book\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/39jvKuu\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">What Jesus Learned from Women<\/em><\/a>.]<\/p>\nAdd it to Codex Tchacos, Jackos<\/p>\n[Codex Tchacos included the long-lost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gospels.net\/judas\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gospel of Judas<\/a>. It came to light via the antiquities market but is judged an ancient forgery rather than a modern one, showing how complicated this topic can get.]<\/p>\nThis might need a new chart, Bart \nIf there\u2019s this many more<\/p>\nAlso relevant to this topic:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"wscMVJ9LxW\"><a href=\"https:\/\/markersofauthenticity.com\/2020\/08\/07\/2019-interns-on-the-forging-antiquity-project\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">2019 Interns on the Forging Antiquity\u00a0Project<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201c2019 Interns on the Forging Antiquity\u00a0Project\u201d \u2014 \" src=\"https:\/\/markersofauthenticity.com\/2020\/08\/07\/2019-interns-on-the-forging-antiquity-project\/embed\/#?secret=c39lFRS7Jm#?secret=wscMVJ9LxW\" data-secret=\"wscMVJ9LxW\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\nA <a href=\"https:\/\/works.bepress.com\/jamesmcgrath\/109\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">book chapter I wrote about the\u00a0Gospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife<\/em> and what forgery has to do with the Digital Humanities can be read online<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancient-origins.net\/artifacts-ancient-writings\/gospel-jesus-wife-0011643\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Gospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife was in the news again a while back<\/a> (HT <a href=\"https:\/\/paleojudaica.blogspot.com\/2019\/03\/examining-authenticity-of-gospel-of.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Jim Davila<\/a>).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"9aR0Nr5Ovn\"><a href=\"https:\/\/earlychristiantexts.com\/making-the-mysterious-dialogue-of-the-savior-not-so-mysterious\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Making the Mysterious \u2018Dialogue of the Savior\u2019 Not So Mysterious<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cMaking the Mysterious \u2018Dialogue of the Savior\u2019 Not So Mysterious\u201d \u2014 Early Christian Texts\" src=\"https:\/\/earlychristiantexts.com\/making-the-mysterious-dialogue-of-the-savior-not-so-mysterious\/embed\/#?secret=ipwtgwSTCy#?secret=9aR0Nr5Ovn\" data-secret=\"9aR0Nr5Ovn\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\nOf related interest, see <a href=\"https:\/\/dustinmartyr.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/30\/book-review-part-5-pseudepigraphy-neither-jew-nor-greek-by-james-d-g-dunn\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the section on pseudepigraphy in\u00a0Dustin Smith\u2019s book review<\/a> of James D. G. Dunn\u2019s book, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0802839339\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0802839339&linkCode=as2&tag=jamefmcgrshom-20&linkId=NLTC7IVLHZ2M7BQS\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Neither Jew nor Greek: A Contested Identity (Christianity in the Making vol.3)<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0802839339\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"><\/i>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"oMA6oQyYgM\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sententiaeantiquae.com\/2019\/03\/20\/braver-by-overcoming-some-more-fake-aristotle\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cBraver by Overcoming:\u201d Some More Fake Aristotle<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201c\u201cBraver by Overcoming:\u201d Some More Fake Aristotle\u201d \u2014 SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE\" src=\"https:\/\/sententiaeantiquae.com\/2019\/03\/20\/braver-by-overcoming-some-more-fake-aristotle\/embed\/#?secret=yst4bRIyJH#?secret=oMA6oQyYgM\" data-secret=\"oMA6oQyYgM\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"cH2YS34cRU\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sententiaeantiquae.com\/2019\/03\/23\/fake-aristotle-fakely-rails-against-fighting-inequality\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Fake Aristotle Fakely Rails Against Fighting Inequality<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cFake Aristotle Fakely Rails Against Fighting Inequality\u201d \u2014 SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE\" src=\"https:\/\/sententiaeantiquae.com\/2019\/03\/23\/fake-aristotle-fakely-rails-against-fighting-inequality\/embed\/#?secret=v8yAT0DstA#?secret=cH2YS34cRU\" data-secret=\"cH2YS34cRU\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"lNg1nhY54M\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2019\/07\/nicodemus-and-the-secret-scriptures\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Nicodemus and the Secret Scriptures<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cNicodemus and the Secret Scriptures\u201d \u2014 Anxious Bench\" src=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2019\/07\/nicodemus-and-the-secret-scriptures\/embed\/#?secret=YXXxmpCSWm#?secret=lNg1nhY54M\" data-secret=\"lNg1nhY54M\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\nI somehow completely missed that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3rspoiw\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">my endorsement of Bart Ehrman\u2019s textbook on the Bible was used<\/a>! It is authentic and not a forgery! See also:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"xQltDW7BvN\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2020\/08\/religionprof-podcast-with-tony-burke.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">ReligionProf Podcast with Tony Burke<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cReligionProf Podcast with Tony Burke\u201d \u2014 Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" src=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2020\/08\/religionprof-podcast-with-tony-burke.html\/embed#?secret=2BmuwKF3p2#?secret=xQltDW7BvN\" data-secret=\"xQltDW7BvN\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"BA6K3Y5vJK\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2020\/08\/veritas-by-ariel-sabar.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Interview with Ariel Sabar about his new book, Veritas<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cInterview with Ariel Sabar about his new book, Veritas\u201d \u2014 Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" src=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2020\/08\/veritas-by-ariel-sabar.html\/embed#?secret=z5hHZp02FH#?secret=BA6K3Y5vJK\" data-secret=\"BA6K3Y5vJK\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\nIt perhaps also should be said as a final note that this parody of \u201cFifty Ways to Leave Your Lover\u201d by Paul Simon might be judged as a \u201cforgery\u201d depending on how one defines that term. But for those who may not have gotten the joke thus far, here\u2019s the original\u2026<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Paul Simon - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (from The Concert in Hyde Park)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E8JXiroAi6Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I promised to return to the lyrics of the parody song \u201cFifty Ways to Forge a Gospel\u201d\u00a0I wrote several years ago and explain all the references in it. Here is that post. The annotated lyrics follow, with my comments in square brackets. The names, as in the original song are mostly chosen by rhyme. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":40919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[1024,1312,2900,3533,5530,8739,8840,9706,11570],"class_list":["post-32526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-bart-ehrman","tag-book-review","tag-dustin-smith","tag-forgery","tag-james-d-g-dunn","tag-parody","tag-paul-simon","tag-pseudepigraphy","tag-song"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Explaining Fifty Ways to Forge a Gospel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KbkIlcghscY I promised to return to the lyrics of the parody song "Fifty Ways to Forge a Gospel"\u00a0I wrote several years ago\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/03\/explaining-fifty-ways-to-forge-a-gospel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Explaining Fifty Ways to Forge a Gospel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KbkIlcghscY I promised to return to the lyrics of the parody song "Fifty Ways to Forge a Gospel"\u00a0I wrote several years ago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/03\/explaining-fifty-ways-to-forge-a-gospel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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