Questions tagged [authorship]
Use this tag for questions about the origin of Christian writings, especially scripture.
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Were the Gospels originally written anonymously? And if they were, how, when and where were they altered?Who assigned the gospel authors originally?
According to the theory of the originally anonymous gospels, the titles of the most ancient surviving manuscripts were added later on.
I would like to know:
For each gospel, how many different, ...
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Is there evidence to support Deuteronomy being written before King Josiah?
this previous question asks for evidence that points to Deuteronomy being written during the reign of King Josiah. A lot of modern scholarship today suggests that Deuteronomy was a much later work, ...
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When Was The Gospel of Luke Written?
I have been trying to search this on the web and it seems I keep getting conflicting information. Apparently, modern scholars believe the Gospel of Luke was written in the second century AD. If this ...
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Why are the gospel writers called the "Four Evangelists" in traditional church commentaries / studies, but not in modern Study Bibles?
In viewing and scanning theological literature and commentaries of the past centuries, the four disciples who wrote the Gospels were called "evangelists", the "Four Evangelists". ...
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Does Papias’ vine statement impact on his reliability?
Papias was a church father from 60-130 AD. It is often said that he represents an authentic chain of tradition back to the original apostles as he has connections to either John, or elders related to ...
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What evidence and authority make The Song of Solomon a work of spiritual inspiration and not an erotic poem?
Is it not true that the place of this book in the Jewish bible was not established until sometime in the early Christian era? If that is so, is it not presumptuous to deem it as being among the so-...
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How did Moses write the events which happened ~2000 years before him?
Except the book of Genesis, I believe that it is possible to make some plausible possibilities on how the books of the Bible were written. Moses wrote about himself, Joshua recorded his conquest of ...
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Is the mainstream scholarly view that the Gospels are anonymous works?
The skeptic, Matthew Wade Ferguson, writes the following at the infidels.org website:
The mainstream scholarly view is that the Gospels are anonymous works,
written in a different language than that ...
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Is the authorship of the New Testament Sacred Tradition in the Catholic and Orthodox churches?
For example, is the tradition that the Gospel of Matthew was "written according to Matthew" considered an infallible Sacred Tradition in the Catholic or Orthodox churches?
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Did Mark write for Peter
I have been told that Peter could not read or write. Mark wrote all of Peters’s stories and scriptures. How can I determine if this true?
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How do Catholics and other Christians respond to the US Bishops' teaching that Matthew was not written by it supposed author?
In its Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew, the website of the US Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) states:
The ancient tradition that the author was the disciple and apostle of
Jesus named ...
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How do non-LDS Christians respond to the stylometry argument for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon?
Multiple sources have put forward this argument.
For example, the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies article Stylometric Analyses of the Book of Mormon: A Short History (link) affirms:
Abstract
The ...
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Can This be a Valid Catholic Imprimatur?
Recently, I came across a book published in 2012 which indicates an "Imprimatur" (i.e., permission to print) from Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Archbishop, Archdiocese of Cincinnati. ...
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Why don’t the gospel authors specifically identify themselves?
It seems to be the mainstream scholarship view today that the gospels were originally anonymous, and gained their attributed authorship through church fathers .
Regardless of whether you believe this ...
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When was the Gospel of Mark written?
We have a variety of questions on when New Testament texts were composed, such as:
When Was The Gospel of Luke Written?
When was the New Testament written, and by who? (unfortunately, the posts here ...
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Who documented biblical events before Moses? [closed]
From the creation until the time of Moses, who documented the events? Abraham? Prophets? Priests?
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Which of the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses and why?
Were the Gospels written by eyewitnesses? Which ones? What do scholars & historians have to say on this?
What are the best arguments for the eyewitness authorship of (some of) the Gospels?
Even if ...
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Are the gospel authors who we believe them to be?
What I'm wondering is whether the actual authors of the book of John, Luke, Matthew, and Mark are who we believe them to be. I go to a Catholic high school, and in our version of the Bible it says, in ...
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Author of the "Imperfect Work" and Where to Find a Copy of It
In the writings of St. Alphonsus Liguori, e.g., Dignity and Duties of the Priest, he often makes mention of the author of the "Imperfect Work" without saying who this author is.
I suspect ...
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When was the New Testament written, and by who?
My question is when the New Testament was written and by whom the New Testament was written?
I guess strongly that there had been so difficulty in writing the Bible at that time, because there must ...
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How does Ehrman support his assertion that the "we" passages in Acts represent a false claim to eyewitness status for those particular events?
A Wikipedia article on the Authorship of Luke–Acts has a quote from Bart E. Ehrman commenting on the stylistic insertions of the "we" passage as indicating a forgery:
According to Bart D. ...
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Among modern critics who believe in the attributed authorship of the Gospels, what are their arguments?
According to the many online lectures by biblical scholars, not to mention entries in Wikipedia and other online sites, whether the experts are on either the liberal side or the conservative side of ...
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What arguments are given that Ephesians was not written by Paul?
According to the opening paragraph of the article for the Book of Ephesians on Wikipedia, it is not universally held that Ephesians was written by Paul. A source on that site says,
Hoehner surveys ...
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What is the term for God's chosen people who were inspired to write the Bible?
God chose men to write different parts of the Bible. What were these men called?
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Who actually were writers of the Gospels? [duplicate]
Who actually wrote the Gospels? Take the example of Matthew, is it Matthew who wrote this book himself or did someone consolidate all the materials from what Matthew had?
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Psalm 14 and psalm 53 are similar?
Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are almost identical with little differences.
Is there any reason why the same psalm is repeated?
Are these psalms composed by the same author?
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Who wrote the Book of Revelation?
More specifically: What authorities claim that the Book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John? What authorities claim otherwise?
This C.SE answer apparently references Pliny and Tacitus in ...
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Was it and is it a common Christian belief to say that the 5 books of the Torah were written by Moses?
Was it and is it a common Christian belief to say that the 5 books of the Torah were written by Moses?
Is there anything in the New Testament or by church fathers (that might be of relevance to ...
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Is the date of final compilation of the books of the Old Testament an integral feature of the Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis?
So, using the Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis scholars argue the books of the OT are finally compiled much later than the "Traditional" view. Are the dates for the final edition critical to the ...
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Does John's Gospel explicitly state that it was written by the disciple John?
Despite the traditional ascriptions all four are anonymous, and none were written by eyewitnesses. [Wikipedia]
Doesn't John's gospel explicitly state that it was written by the disciple John?
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Is Any New Testament Book Undisputed In Its Authorship?
It seems as though every time I turn around, I find that "the majority of scholars" doubt this person wrote this gospel or letter. It seems as though no book of the NT is immune to this doubting and ...
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Does Pope Francis write the books ascribed to him, or are they ghostwritten?
A number of books have been published with Pope Francis as the author, such as The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium in 2013 and Praise Be To You – Laudato Si'; On Care for Our Common Home in 2015. ...
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James first or Paul's letters
Is the letter of James promoting "Faith without deeds . . .is empty" in response to Paul or are the Pauline references to "Faith alone" a response to James? In reading them it seems James might the ...
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What are the arguments that the book of Acts was written after 70 AD?
What are the major reasons, whether theological or secular, for concluding that the book of Acts was written after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD?
Please also view the related question: What ...
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How many authors wrote the Old and New Testament? [duplicate]
I know how many people wrote the Bible, that is, around 40. But what percent of that is Old Testament and what percent is New?
Note: I know I could spend half an hour looking through the lists to ...
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Which NT books were written after the destruction of the temple?
The temple was destroyed sometime around AD 70.
Which New Testament books were written after that catastrophe?
Do these books comment at all on the destruction of the temple?
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What is biblical theology? [duplicate]
My understanding of biblical theology is that it is a theological understanding that is presented by a book of the Bible. Does it automatically become systematic theology when you pull from another ...
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What did Protestant reformers think about the date and authorship of the New Testament?
Biblical scholars state that the different books of the New Testament were written between 49 and 120 AD, approximately. This means - rather uncontroversially - that the activity of the Church (i.e. ...
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Were the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts written by the same person?
Can you please explain why some people would argue that the Gospel of Luke and Acts were written by the same person?
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Did Paul write the Epistle to the Hebrews?
The authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is an open question. The common scholarly opinion is that the author certainly wasn't Paul.
Most modern Bible translations make no mention of the author, ...
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Was the Obadiah in 1 Kings 18 the same Obadiah who wrote the Book of Obadiah?
Pretty straightforward question - In 1 Kings 18, Elijah speaks with a servant of the Lord named Obadiah. Is that the same guy wrote the book of the same name?
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Do Christians believe the gospels were written by some of 12 apostles? [closed]
From studying historical new testament the authors claim the gospels were written 50-100 years after Jesus by people that had no eyewitness connection to Jesus or the 12 apostles (instead collected ...
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Are the Gospels considered anonymous by historians only or by the Catholic Church also?
I have read that the Gospels were anonymous, and much later they were named Mark, Mathew, Luke and John (and Luke, Mark and Mathew very similar compared with John).
Now is this more of from a ...
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Defense of ancient Enoch authorship
According to the Ethiopian and Eritrean Churches, the Book of Enoch was written by Enoch himself around the year 3300 BC. I have seen statements like, "outside of Ethiopia, no one has defended this ...
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What evidence is there to support Deuteronomy being written during the reign of King Josiah?
I was reading an article today, and the author claimed that King Josiah sponsored the writing of Deuteronomy. Here's the exact quote:
In the seventh century BCE, when the Old Testament’s book of ...
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In what year was the letter to the Galatians written?
I found conflicting sources on the internet:
The first source said the Letter to the Galatians was written between 52-55 AD.
The second source said it was written between 48-49 AD.
Just comparing ...
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What are the arguments that Acts was written prior to 70 AD?
What are the reasons, whether theological or secular, for concluding that the book of Acts was written prior to 70 AD?
Please also view the related question What are the arguments that the book of ...
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Who wrote the book of Genesis? (Overview)
I've heard reference in other questions on this site that seem to indicate a belief that Genesis was written by "the same man." What do we actually know about wrote Genesis (whether a single, or ...
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Where does the belief the Bible is written by the Holy Spirit come from?
My pastor mentioned the Bible is written by the Holy Spirit, through man.
Where does this concept come from (rather than just written by wise or experienced men)?
Other than direct references to ...
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For whom did Solomon write Proverbs?
Is there anything in Scripture or Hebrew historical documents that says for whom Proverbs was written? Did Solomon expect his sons to read them or were they for the people of Israel? Please provide ...