Ethics and Pseudepigraphy – Do the Ends Always Justify the Means?

• Main Author: Luc Bulundwe Lévy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athens Institute for Education and Research 2019-10-01
• Series: Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts
• Online Access: https://www.athensjournals.gr/humanities/2019-6-4-3-Levy.pdf

Building on the memory approaches of the New Testament, this article analyses the link between pseudepigraphy and ethics. It aims to demonstrate that the period of turmoil of the first communities was a sufficiently destabilising situation that supported and shaped the use of pseudepigraphical literature in the New Testament. The originality of this paper lies in the specific consideration of ethics in pseudepigraphical literature. Focusing on two pseudepigraphical letters of the New Testament –2 Tim and 2 Pt – this study shows that the loss of the Apostles around 60 CE raises a double challenge for the Christian communities. They had to establish clear indications in a chaotic situation and to translate specific ethical concepts in order to be understood and accepted in a hostile environment. Pseudepigraphy gave them the ability to face this double challenge by calling on authoritative figures of the past so as to call their fellow believers to order. Hence, the specific relevance of this paper is to consider the possibility of a conscious use of pseudepigraphical literature in the post-apostolic period.