Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 19:2 (Fall 2022)
Article: Revisiting Pseudonymity, The New Testament, And The Noble Lie
Author: Terry L. Wilder

Revisiting Pseudonymity, The New Testament, And The Noble Lie

Terry L. Wilder

Terry L. Wilder serves as professor of New Testament and Greek at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

Introduction

Scholars sometimes defend the purported presence of deceptive pseudonymity in the New Testament with an appeal to an ancient idea known as the “noble lie.” This concept says that deception is permitted when used in the best interests of the person being deceived. The aim of this paper is to scrutinize briefly this theory used by scholars as it relates to pseudonymity and the New Testament.

Some Proponents Of The Noble Lie

This theory first found its popular and current expression primarily in the works of Norbert Brox and Wolfgang Speyer (Falsche Verfasserangaben1 and Die literarische Fälschung,2 respectively). In his magisterial volume on Forgery and Counterforgery,3 though not particularly an advocate of the noble lie, Bart Ehrman has nonetheless contributed to the discussion and will be mentioned later.

According to Brox, the “noble falsehood,” found primarily in the writings of Plato, pervaded Greek culture, and in turn led to Christian pseudepigraphy.4 In other words, for Brox, this idea forms the grounds for the proposal that early Christian authors wrote pseudepigrapha using permissible deception, and the “noble”

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ends of these authors, at least for them, extenuated the means that they used. Brox says that the noble falsehood enabled pseudonymous authors to excuse themselves morally, if they had any ethical qualms concerning their work.5 For Brox, early church leaders were not primarily concerned with a work’s authorship. They simply used the “noble lie” in support of their religion, and thus, they were mainly concerned with the content of writings.6

Speyer’s approach to early Christian pseudonymity is similar. He notes that a distinction existed in antiquity between (1) immoral forgeries composed to provide legal, political, or financial advantages or to satisfy one’s scientific vanity or other egotistical aims, and (2) justifiable forgeries created to achieve recognition for a truth or spiritual value or to defend a legal claim as legitimate.7 Thus, Speyer explains that Christian writers created orthodox forgeries (i.e. using pseudonym...