Similarities Between Pseudonymity In Hellenistic Judaism And Christian Community

175 Words1 Pages
Pseudonymity occurs when a literary work is written in the name of someone else, who is not identified as the writer (Bethel, n.d.). A literary work becomes pseudonymous when the author, and the date and place of composition is disputed (Harris, 2014, p. 387). Literature, written in someone’s name, other than that of the actual author, would be a crime today, but back in the days when the New Testament was composed, pseudonymity was a common practice. During both Hellenistic Judaism and Christianity communities, pseudonymity was commonly used by authors who wanted to use some type of authority, to write to different communities, about different community issues. These authors would write letters to the community using a well known deceased