Forgery and Counterforgery

The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics

By: Bart D. Ehrman

Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine

Length: 25 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

"Arguably the most distinctive feature of the early Christian literature," writes Bart Ehrman, "is the degree to which it was forged." The Homilies and Recognitions of Clement; Paul's letters to and from Seneca; Gospels by Peter, Thomas, and Philip; Jesus' correspondence with Abgar, letters by Peter and Paul in the New Testament - all forgeries. To cite just a few examples.

Forgery and Counterforgery is the first comprehensive study of early Christian pseudepigrapha ever produced in English. In it, Ehrman argues that ancient critics - pagan, Jewish, and Christian - understood false authorial claims to be a form of literary deceit, and thus forgeries. Ehrman considers the extent of the phenomenon, the "intention" and motivations of ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish forgers, and reactions to their work once detected. He also assesses the criteria ancient critics applied to expose forgeries and the techniques forgers used to avoid detection.

With the wider practices of the ancient world as backdrop, Ehrman then focuses on early Christian polemics, as various Christian authors forged documents in order to lend their ideas a veneer of authority in literary battles waged with pagans, Jews, and, most importantly, with one another in internecine disputes over doctrine and practice. In some instances a forger directed his work against views found in another forgery, creating thereby a "counter-forgery." Ehrman's evaluation of polemical forgeries starts with those of the New Testament (nearly half of whose books make a false authorial claim) up through the Pseudo-Ignatian epistles and the Apostolic Constitutions at the end of the fourth century.

Shining light on an important but overlooked feature of the early Christian world, Forgery and Counterforgery explores the possible motivations of the deceivers who produced these writings, situating their practice within ancient Christian discourses on lying and deceit.

©2013 Oxford University Press (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Needs to learn to pronounce big words

What made the experience of listening to Forgery and Counterforgery the most enjoyable?

It's an interesting read on early forgeries and the attitudes to them

What three words best describe Noah Michael Levine’s performance?

A scholarly work like this needs a reader who can actually correctly pronounce big words. It was jarring to hear something and to have to think about what word was meant. I thought maybe it was me until I went online to check the pronunciation of some. And even every day words could be wrong. Entrance from context meaning to bewitch was pronounced as if it meant entry way. Someone who reads professionally should know, even if they get the vowels wrong, that when a noun and a verb look alike, the stress will go on the first syllable for the noun and the second for the verb. His style wasn't bad but he was the wrong pick for this work.

Good content, poor reading

The readers cadence is odd, and his inflection flat. Worse, he mispronounces multiple words so poorly that it took multiple times hearing them before I realized what he was saying (example, his pronunciation of 'Thessalonians' is atrocious).
The readers performance seriously damages my enjoyment of this work.

Probably a better read than a listen.

What disappointed you about Forgery and Counterforgery?

While the narrator did a great job, this is just one of those books that doesn't translate well into an audiobook.

What could Bart D. Ehrman have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The book is too detailed for an audiobook with too many quotes and sources. Which is great for a book, but hard to follow while listening.

Hard Hitter

Very convincing. Very thorough as always.

Narrator is pretty weak. It takes a while to get past his inflection. He has some embarrassing pronunciation mistakes. Clearly does not know who Joseph of Arimathea is or Josephus.

Interesting book, poorly narrated

Book interesting, but narration choppy with odd pronunciations ("Marcion" as "Martian" is funniest); be warned.

Frustrating.

I wonder if this was one of Ehrmans first ventures into mass authorship as this book has proven to be a a data dump of esoteric information that almost borders on drivel if not for students of the subject or inhabitants of Ivory Towers. I could only make it 10 hours into the 25 hour plus book before giving up in frustration over his over abundance of obscure information in his over complicated way of stating the obvious.

I am grateful that he has thrown off these shackles of academic writing ad nauseam, and provided us with more fascinating reads like misquoting Jesus, How Jesus Became God, and Did Jesus Exist, just to name a few. But with being a prolific writer, one cannot expect all their writings to be in top form.

Very informative!

I really enjoyed the material. Thorough and balanced treatment of the material. Narrator had a very pleasant voice.

Wish the narrator were as good as the text

This is a book worth anyone's time who is interested in the diversity of Christian thought in the early centuries of the common era.

I wish that the narrator were up to the task. As things stand, there may be a language that he can pronounce correctly, but it is not to be found in this book.

Difficult to follow, narrator speaks too quickly

This is dense material and if you don’t know anything about the content, it’s not going to be easy to follow. The narrator speaks way too quickly, and you can barely keep up with the names and details provided. Not really a good book for narration. The content, I am sure, is excellent for students in this arena, but not for the average person. Couldn’t get past chapter 4.

Engaging and informative

A lot of people seem to complain that this isn’t more entertaining and read with perfect pronunciation on all of the obscure Greek and Latin names. It’s very good!

Horrible narration

The narrator sounds like an automated answer message. Ruined the whole book for me. Terrible